[Illustration: HARBOR OF COWES.]
Crossing over the narrow strait--for there is ample opportunity by
several routes--we will complete this English tour by a journey beyond
the Solent and Spithead to the Isle of Wight. This island, formed like
an irregular lozenge about twenty-two miles long and thirteen broad, is
rich in scientific and historical associations, and a marvel of climate
and scenery. Its name of Wight is said to preserve the British word
"gwyth," the original name having been "Ynys-gwyth," or the "Channel
Island." The Roman name was "Vectis," Rome having conquered it in
Claudius' time. The English descended upon it in the early part of the
sixth century, and captured its chief stronghold, Whitgarasbyrg, now
Carisbrooke Castle. It afterwards became part of the Saxon kingdom of
Wessex, and St. Wilfrid, Archbishop of York, is said to have converted
its people to Christianity. Then the Danes devastated it, and after the
Norman Conquest it was subdued by Fitzosborne, Earl of Hereford, whose
descendants ruled it until Edward I. recovered the wardenship for the
Crown. Richard II. granted it to the Earl of Salisbury, and Henry VI.
created the Earl of Warwick, Henry Beauchamp, "king of the Isle of
Wight," crowning him with his own hands. The title reverted to the Crown
in the time of Henry VII. The French several times invaded the island,
and it was the intention of the leaders of the Spanish Armada to capture
and use it as a base for operations against England, but the English
fleet harassed them so badly that they had to sail past without
effecting a landing. In the Civil War the Isle of Wight made a
considerable figure.
[Illustration: THE NEEDLES, FROM ALUM BAY.]
[Illustration: YARMOUTH.]
[Illustration: OSBORNE HOUSE, FROM THE SEA.]
Beginning at the western end of the lozenge-shaped island, beyond which
are the Needles, the entrance to the Solent is found defended by
successive batteries on every headland, with Hurst Castle on the
Hampshire shore. High Down, with its fine chalk-cliffs, rises six
hundred feet above the sea, being haunted by numerous sea-gulls, and
under it is Scratchell's Cave, a singular recess in the rock accessible
only by boat. Sheltered by the bold headland is Alum Bay, with its
tinted sands, gray, buff, and red, and from Headon Hill, its eastern
boundary, the coast stretches away to Yarmouth, a little town on the
Solent, where are the remains of one of the defensive blockhouses built
by Henry VIII. The shores of the strait trend to the north-east, with
pleasant views across on the coast of Hampshire, until the northernmost
point of the Isle of Wight is reached, where its chief stream, the
Medina, flows into the strait through an estuary about five hundred
yards wide. Here is Cowes, divided by the river into the West Cow and
the East Cow, the plural form of the name being modern. It is a popular
bathing-place, but gets the most fame from being the headquarters of the
Royal Yacht Club; their house is the old castle at the Medina entrance,
built by Henry VIII., it is said, with portions of the masonry of
Beaulieu Abbey. The harbor, at the proper season, is usually dotted with
yachts. There is steam communication with the mainland, and a railway
runs inland to Newport, the chief town of the island. Near East Cowes is
Whippingham, which was the birthplace of Dr. Arnold, the famous
head-master of Rugby School. Ascending the Medina, the beautiful park
and gardens of Osborne House, the marine residence of Queen Victoria,
border its eastern margin. This was the ancient manor of Austerbourne,
and its owner in the Civil War buried all his money and plate in an
adjoining wood, called the Money Copse, so as to preserve it. When
peaceful days came back he went to get it, but found he had concealed it
so thoroughly that it could not be recovered. The queen bought the
estate in 1844, and the plain mansion was extended into an elegant
marine villa just back from the sea-coast. It was the queen's childhood
attachment to the locality that made her settle here, for when a young
princess she had passed many pleasant days in the neighboring Norris
Castle.
East of the Medina the coast trends to the south-east, the shores being
lined by fine villas surrounded with highly-cultivated grounds; indeed,
the coast of the strait seems like an extended park. Here, opposite
Portsmouth, is the famous watering-place of Ryde, in a beautiful
situation, and with railways running across the island to Sandown and
Ventnor. The land steeply rises from the sea, with the town stretching
along its slope, a panorama of villas whose trees grow down to the
water's edge. It is an ancient town, having existed in the reign of
Richard II., when the French burned it, but none of the present
buildings are of much antiquity, it having in later years been gradually
converted into a fashionable watering-place. The pier is the popular
promenade, and the Spithead roadstead in front is closely connected with
English naval history. It was here that the "Royal George" went down on
a calm day and drowned her admiral and eight hundred men: she was
careened over, the better to make some repairs, and, a squall striking
her, it is said the heavy guns slid down to the lower side and tipped
the vessel over, when she quickly filled and sank. Here also, in 1797,
was the great mutiny in Lord Bridport's fleet, the sailors, when the
signal to weigh anchor was given, declining to do it until their just
demands were granted; the mutiny was suppressed and the leaders severely
punished. All the neighboring shores bristle with forts and batteries
protecting the entrance to Spithead. Inland are the Binstead quarries,
whose stone was in demand in the Middle Ages and built parts of
Winchester Cathedral, Beaulieu Abbey, and Christchurch; also, here are
the scanty remains of Quarr Abbey. Eastward of Ryde the coast is low and
bends more to the southward, reaching the estuary known as Brading
Harbor, a broad sheet of water at full tide, but a dismal expanse of mud
at low water, through which a small stream meanders. At Brading is the
old Norman church which St. Wilfrid founded, of which Rev. Legh
Richmond, author of the _Annals of the Poor_, was the curate. In the
churchyard is the grave of his heroine, little Jane, the "Dairyman's
Daughter." Extensive remains of a Roman villa have been discovered at
Morton, near Brading, and to the eastward of them a hyptocaust.
Rounding the Foreland, which is the easternmost point of the island, the
chalk-rocks rise again, and Whitecliff Bay nestles under the protection
of the lofty Culver Cliff as the coastline bends south-west and then
makes a grand semicircular sweep to the southward around Sandown Bay.
This wide expanse broadens between the two chalk-ridges that cross the
Isle of Wight from its western side. The railway from Ryde runs across
the chalk-downs to the growing watering place of Sandown, standing on
the lowest part of the shores of the bay. Here the coast is guarded by a
grim fort, and here in the last century came the noted John Wilkes to
recuperate after his contests with the House of Commons, which vainly
tried to keep him out of his seat.
[Illustration: SHANKLIN CHINE.]
[Illustration: THE UNDERCLIFF.]
The chalk-ranges to the southward provide magnificent scenery, and two
miles from Sandown, but on higher ground, is Shanklin, from which its
celebrated chine descends to the sea. This little ravine is about four
hundred and fifty yards long and at its mouth about two hundred feet
deep. It has been gradually worn in the brown sandstone rock by the
action of a diminutive brook that bubbles over a little cascade at the
upper end. The rich colors of the crags, the luxuriant foliage of the
slopes, and the rhapsodies of guide books combine to give the Shanklin
Chine a world-wide fame. It was here that a party of French under the
Chevalier d'Eulx landed in 1545 to get some fresh water. The process was
tedious, the stream being so small, and the chevalier and some of his
party, wandering inland, were caught in an ambuscade. He and most of the
others were killed, though they defended themselves bravely. South of
Shanklin the chalk-cliffs are bold and lofty, and off these pretty
shores the "Eurydice" was lost in a squall, March 24, 1878, when
returning from her training-cruise in the West Indies. It was at four
o'clock on Sunday afternoon, and her ports being open when the squall
struck her, she capsized and almost immediately foundered, only two
survivors remaining out of the three hundred persons on board. Climbing
the cliffs south of Shanklin and crossing the summit, we reach Bonchurch
on the southern coast, described by Dr. Arnold as the most beautiful
thing on the sea-coast north of Genoa. Here villas are dotted and the
villages are spreading into towns, for the coast of the Undercliff is
becoming one of the most fashionable resorts the English have. Already
complaints are made that a too general extension of settlements is
interfering with the picturesque wildness of scenery and luxuriant
vegetation that are the great charm of this delightful region. The
Undercliff stretches along the southern coast for several miles to the
westward of Bonchurch--an irregular terrace formed by the sliding
forward of the chalk-downs, which dip gently towards the sea. This makes
a lofty natural terrace, backed by cliffs to the northward and open to
the full influence of the southern sun. It has the climate of Madeira,
and is fanned by the sea-breezes that invigorate but do not chill. The
mildness of the winter makes it a popular resort for invalids, and many
greenhouse plants live outdoors throughout the year, the almost
perpendicular rocks of the Undercliff absorbing during the day the heat
that they radiate throughout the night. Yet at Bonchurch many who had
sought health in this beautiful region ultimately found a grave, and of
its churchyard it has been written, "It might make one in love with
death to think one would be buried in so sweet a place." The ancient
little Norman church of St. Boniface is still here, but a new and larger
church was built not long ago. Here lies Rev. W. Adams, who wrote the
allegory _Under the Shadow of the Cross_, and it is strictly true, for
the cross raised as his monument casts its shadow on the slab over his
grave. Admiral Hobson was born at Bonchurch, and ran away from the
tailor's shop in which he was apprenticed to come back knighted for his
victory over the Spaniards at Vigo Bay. Ventnor, known as the
"metropolis of the Undercliff," is beyond Bonchurch, and is also a
thriving wateringplace, above which rises the attractive spire of Holy
Trinity Church, built by the munificence of three sisters.
From Ventnor the most beautiful part of the island coast stretches
westward to Niton. The bold chalk-downs rise from their craggy bases,
the guardians of the broken terrace intervening between them and the
sea. Foliage and ivy cling to them; flowers cluster on the turf and
banks and gleam in the crevices; and little streams come down the
ravines. Here was the smallest church of England--St. Lawrence--twenty
feet long, twelve wide, and six feet high to the eaves. A chancel has
lately been added, while below are the ivy-clad ruins of the ancient
Woolverton Chapel. Near Niton, at Puckaster Cove, Charles II. landed
after a terrific storm; and beyond is Roche End, the southern point of
the island. The coast, a dangerous one, then trends to the north-west,
and wrecks there are frequent, while inland St. Catharine's Down rises
steeply, there being a magnificent view of the island from its summit,
elevated seven hundred and fifty feet. Here in the fourteenth century
was founded, on the highest part of the Isle of Wight, a chantry chapel
where a priest prayed for the mariner and at night kept a beacon burning
to warn him off the reefs. An octagonal tower of the chapel remains, but
a lighthouse supersedes the pious labors of the priest; a column near by
commemorates a visit of the Russian Czar to the summit of the hill in
1814. The wild scenery of this region is varied by the great landslip
which in 1799 carried about one hundred acres down towards the sea, the
marks of its progress being still shown in the rended rocks and
wave-like undulations of the earth. About a mile to the westward is the
most noted and wildest of the ravines of the island, the Blackgang
Chine, now filled with paths and summer-houses, for the thrifty
hotel-keepers could not help domesticating such a prize. It is a more
open ravine than that at Shanklin, and like it cut out by a tiny stream,
while far away through the entrance is a distant view westward to
Portland Isle and St. Aldhelm's Head. The rocks are dark green, streaked
with gray and brown sandstone, looking like uncouth courses of masonry.
The adjoining coast is guarded by grim crags on which many ships have
been shattered. There are other chines to the westward--all of great
attractions, though of less size and celebrity. The coast is not of so
much interest beyond, but the cliffs, which are the outposts of the
chalk-measures, become more lofty at Freshwater Gate, and our survey of
the island shores terminates at the Main Bench, whose prolonged point
goes out to the Needles.