gland's fairest counties down to her emporium of ships. Its
beginnings go back to the foundations of England's naval power.

Edward IV. made Portsmouth a strong place of defence, but the road
from town only became well travelled in later centuries.

Along the old Portsmouth road were, and are still, any number of
nautically named inns. At Liphook is the Anchor--where Pepys put up
when on his way to England's chief naval town--and the Ship; there is
another Anchor at Ripley; at Petersfield stands the Dolphin, and near
Guildford is the Jovial Sailor. All these, and other signs of a like
nature, suffice to tell the observant wayfarer that he is on the road
which hordes of seamen have trod on their way to and from London, and
that it was formerly deemed well worth while to hang out invitations
to them.

In 1703 Prince George of Denmark made nine miles in six hours on this
road, an indication that the good roads movement had not begun. In
1751 Doctor Burton suggested that all the animals in Sussex,
including the women, were long-legged because of "the difficulty of
pulling their feet out of the mud which covers the roads hereabouts."

A hundred or more years ago Nelson came by post by this road to
Portsmouth to hoist his flag upon the _Victory_. He arrived at the
George, the same which was sheltering our humble selves, at six in
the morning, as the records tell, having travelled all night. The
rest is history, but the old _Victory_ still swings at her moorings
in Portsmouth harbour, a shrine before which all lovers of the sea
and its tales may worship. Portsmouth is the great storehouse of
Britain's battleships, and the Solent from Spithead to Stokes Bay is
a vast pool where float all manner of warlike craft.

[Illustration: Ryde]

The Isle of Wight was the immediate attraction for us at Portsmouth.
One makes the passage by boat in thirty minutes, and when one gets
there he finds leafy lanes and well-kept roads that will put many
mainland counties to shame. The writer does not know the length of
the roadways of the Isle of Wight, but there are enough to give one a
good three days of excursions and promenades.

We made our headquarters at Ryde and sallied out after breakfast and
after lunch each day, invariably returning for the night.

[Illustration: Road Map of Wight]

The beauties of the Isle of Wight are many and varied, with all the
charms of sea and shore. For a literary shrine it has Tennyson's
Freshwater an