[Illustration: TOTNES, FROM THE RIVER.]
Southward of this promontory is the estuary of the Dart, a river which,
like nearly all the streams of Devonshire, rises in that great "mother
of rivers," Dartmoor, whence come the Tawe and the Teign, of which we
have already spoken, and also the Torridge, the Yealm, the Erme, the
Plym, and the Avon (still another of them). This celebrated moor covers
an area of about one hundred and thirty thousand acres, stretching
thirty-three miles in length and twenty-two miles in breadth, and its
elevation averages seventeen hundred feet, though some of its tors, the
enormous rocks of granite crowning its hills, rise considerably higher,
the loftiest of these, the Yes Tor, near Okehampton, being two thousand
and fifty feet high. The moor is composed of vast stretches of bog and
stunted heather, with plenty of places where peat is cut, and having its
streams filled with trout. Legend tells us that all manner of hill-and
water-spirits frequent this desolate yet attractive region, and that in
Cranmore Pool and its surrounding bogs, whence the Dart takes its rise,
there dwelt the "pixies" and the "kelpies." The head-fountains of both
the Dart and the Plym are surrounded with romance, as the cities at
their mouths are famous in English history, and Spenser, in the _Faerie
Queene_, announces that both Dart and Plym were present at the great
feast of the rivers which celebrated the wedding of the Thames and
Medway. The courses of the Dartmoor rivers are short, but with rapid
changes. In the moorland they run through moss and over granite; then
among woods and cultivated fields, till, with constantly broadening
stream, the river joins the estuary or tidal inlet, and thus finds its
vent in the ocean. Strangely enough, with these short streams there are
high points on the Dartmoor tors from which both source and mouth of a
river are visible at the same time. The Dart, with steadily-increasing
flow, thus runs out of the moorland, and not far from its edge passes
the antique town of Totnes, where the remains of an ivy-mantled wall
upon the hill is all that is left of Judhael's famous castle, which
dates from the Norman Conquest. The surrounding country is remarkably
picturesque, and is noted for its agricultural wealth. About two miles
to the eastward is the romantic ruin of Berry Pomeroy Castle, founded
upon a rock which rises almost perpendicularly from a narrow valley,
through which a winding brook bubbles. It is overhung with foliage and
shrubbery and mantled with moss and ivy, so that it is most attractive.
The great gate, the southern walls, part of a quadrangle, and a few
turrets are all that remain of the castle, which suffered severely in
the Civil War. Tradition states that the adjacent village was destroyed
by lightning. This castle also dates from the Norman Conquest, and
passed from its original possessors, the Pomeroys, to Protector
Somerset, the Duke of Somerset being the present owner.
[Illustration: BERRY POMEROY CASTLE.]
[Illustration: A BEND OF THE DART.]
[Illustration: DARTMOUTH CASTLE.]
The Dart, which is a rocky stream above Totnes and a favorite resort of
the fisherman and sketcher, becomes navigable below the town, and has a
soft, peculiar beauty of its own that has made it often compared to the
Rhine; but there is little comparison between them: the Dart has no
precipitous cliffs or vine-clad hills, and no castle excepting at its
mouth. From Totnes to Dartmouth is about twelve miles, through
exquisitely beautiful scenery, especially where the river passes the
woods of Sharpham, the current narrowing to about one hundred and fifty
feet, and flowing through an amphitheatre of overarching trees rising in
masses of foliage to the height of several hundred feet. The stream
makes various sharp bends--a paradise for the artist--and finally it
broadens out into an estuary like an inland lake, with a view over the
intervening neck of land to Torbay, and beyond the coast-line at Exmouth
and towards Portland. Thus we come to Dartmouth, the old houses built
tier above tier on a steep hill running up from the harbor, while at the
extreme point of the promontory, guarding the entrance to the estuary,
is the little church of St. Petrox, with its armorial gallery and ruins
of an ancient manor house, and the castle, consisting of a square and a
round tower, coming down from Henry VII.'s reign, when it was built for
coast-defence. On the opposite point of the harbor-entrance are the
foundations of another castle, evidently built about the same time.
Dartmouth in early times was a port of great importance, and Edward III.
first gave it a charter under the name of Clifton-Dartmouth-Hardness.
Its merchants were then numerous and wealthy, and Coeur de Leon's
crusaders assembled their fleet in the harbor in 1190. The French
destroyed both it and Plymouth in 1377, and in 1403 the two towns,
combining, ravaged the French coasts and burned forty ships. The French
retaliated the next year, but Dartmouth was too much for them, killing
Du Chastel, the commander, and defeating his expedition. It suffered
severely in the Civil War, and there are still traces of the
land-fastenings of the iron chain stretched across the harbor to keep
out the French.