nds, the house to
which, as 'a queer, small boy,' he looked forward as the possible reward
of an industrious career, and in which he passed the later years of his
life; and near Rochester, still approached by the 'delightful walk'
here described, is Cobham, one of the most charming villages in that
part of Kent. Down the lanes, and through the park to Cobham, was always
a favourite walk with Charles Dickens; and he never wearied of acting as
_cicerone_ to his guests to its fine church and the quaint almshouses
with the disused refectory behind it."

Happily the weather again favours us on this delightful excursion. It is
just such a day as that on which we made our visit to Gad's Hill. As we
have had much tramping about Rochester during the morning, we prudently
take an early afternoon train to Higham, to save our legs. The short
distance of about four miles consists almost entirely of tunnels cut
through the chalk.

Alighting at Higham Station, we make our way for the Dover Road and
reach Pear Tree Lane, which turns out of it for Cobham. We notice in
passing through Higham by daylight that the lanes are much closed in by
banks, in fact, the tertiary and chalk systems have been cut through to
form the roads; but here and there one gets glimpses of the Thames, its
course being marked by the white or brown wings of sailing-boats.

The lane above alluded to, a little above Gad's Hill, is the direct road
to Cobham, and on entering it we are immediately struck with the
different scene presented, as compared with any part of the county we
have previously gone over. It is cut through the Thanet Sands, which at
first are of ashy gray colour, but after some distance are of a bright
red hue, probably owing to infiltration, and the road rises gently until
the woods are reached. The vegetation growing on the high banks consists
of oak, hazel, beech, sycamore, and Spanish chestnut, in many places
intermingled with wild clematis. The branches of the trees are not
allowed to grow over into the road, but are kept well cut back so as
practically to form a wall on either side, extending in some places to
twelve feet high. The effect is to present an almost unbroken surface of
various shades of green, deliciously cool and shady in the heat of
summer, and brightened here and there in autumn by the rich
orange-coloured fruit of the arum, the scarlet berries of the white
bryony, and--deeper in the woods--by the pinky-waxen berries of the