averse the extended shore. The visit of their royal
highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to John Nash, Esq. the
eminent architect, at East Cowes Castle, gave a new lustre to the
enchanting scene, and afforded the English Spy a favourable opportunity
for completing his sketches of the scenery and character of the island.
Among the festivities which the presence of the royal visitors gave
birth to, the most attractive and delightful was the grand _dejeune a la
fourchette_, given at St. Lawrence by the commodore of the Yacht Club,
the Right Honourable Lord Yarborough. The invitations to meet the royal
party were very general, including all of note and respectability on the
island, and extending to the number of six hundred persons, for whom
a most liberal and princely banquet was prepared upon the lawn of a
delightful cottage, near his seat of Appuldurcombe. The spot selected
for this entertainment was situated under a bold line of cliffs,
extending in a semicircular form for above a mile in length, and
inclosing one of the most romantic of nature's variegated scenes,
abounding with hill, and dale, and rich umbrageous foliage, delightfully
increased by the inspiring freshness of the sea breeze, and the unbroken
view of the Channel in front, and ~173~~rendered still more attractive
and picturesque by the numerous tents and temporary pavilions which had
been erected for the accommodation of the visitors, spreading over
a line of ground like an encampment in the Pyrenees, a similitude of
feature that was more powerfully increased when the well-concerted echo
of the signal bugles resounded from hill to hill, and the cannon's loud
report, from the battery beneath, reverberating through the surrounding
hill and dale, proclaimed for many a mile the gladsome tidings of the
approach of royalty. The scene was, beyond description, magnificent;
the assemblage of fashionables included a long list of noble and
distinguished persons, who, on the approach of the duke and duchess,
congregated upon an eminence, immediately opposite the entrance to the
lawn, and by their loyal cheers, and smiles, and birthday suits, gave
honest welcome to their monarch's brother, and in the fulness of their
hearty zeal, paid a grateful tribute to their absent king. The ungenial
state of the morning's weather had prevented many of the yachts from
coming round, but a few jolly hearts had weathered the Needles, and
displayed their loyalty by decorating th