tiful and unique feature of the
sea cliffs of Albion. For about a quarter of a mile from the Needles the
precipice is one entire glare of white chalk, which curves round to, and
is joined by a most extraordinary mixture of vertical strata, composed
of coloured sands and ocherous earths blending into every variety of
tint, and so vivid and beautiful in colour, that they have been not
unfrequently compared to the prismatic hues of the rainbow. It was on
this spot the Fomone, a frigate of fifty guns, returning home, after
an absence of three years, with some Persian princes on board, in June,
1811, struck upon the rocks and went to pieces: the appearance of
a wreck, in such an extraordinary situation, must have formed a
combination of grand materials for the painter, that would be truly
sublime. At Saint Catherine's, in the cliffs, is the gloomy ravine
called Blackgang Chine, which should be visited by the traveller at
sunset, when the depth of shade materially increases the savage grandeur
of its stupendous and terrific effect. Tradition reports, that the awful
chasm beneath was formerly the retreat of a gang of pirates, from which
it derived its name. The total absence of vegetation, and the dusky hue
of the soil, combined with the obvious appearance of constant decay, the
dismembered fragments, and the streamlet to which it owes its origin,
falling perpendicularly over a ledge of hard rock from above seventy
feet high, producing a wild echo in the cavity beneath, all conspire to
render it the most striking and astonishing of Nature's wildest works.
The view off the Sand Rock presents the tasteful marine villas of Sir
Willoughby Gordon and Mrs. Arnold, whose well-cultivated grounds and
rich plantations reach down to the sea shore. Saint Lawrence brings to
view the romantic cottage of Lord Yarborough, succeeded by Steep Hill,
the lovely retreat of the late Earl Dysart; ~177~~the romantic flank of
Saint Boniface Down, and in the distance the fairy land of Bonchurch,
whose enchanting prospects and picturesque scenery have so often called
forth the varied powers of the painter and the poet, where sportive
nature, clothed in her gayest vest, presents a diversified landscape,
abounding with all the delightful combinations of rural scenery, of rich
groves, and dells, and meads of green, and rocks, and rising grounds;
streams edged with osiers, and the lowing herd spread over the luxuriant
land. As you approach East End, you perce