SOUTHAMPTON BAR IN THE OLDEN TIME.
GLIMPSES OF NATURE,
AND
OBJECTS OF INTEREST DESCRIBED,
DURING
A VISIT TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT.
PREFACE.
On the 21st of August, 1843, Mr. Loudon, mylittle daughter Agnes, and myself, set out, fromBayswater, to make the tour through the Isle ofWight which is recorded in the following pages.
That tour has since acquired a melancholyimportance in my eyes, from being the last Iever took with my poor husband, whose danger Iwas quite unconscious of when I wrote the book,though his death took place in less than a monthfrom the day of its publication. This circumstancemade the book painful to me, and I neverlooked at it again till now I have been readingit over for revision; and it is impossible to describethe vivid interest with which I recall everyincident that took place, and every word thatwas uttered.
In preparing this second edition, I have addeda chapter on shells and sea-weed, but in otherrespects I have made no alteration, save a fewverbal corrections; as the principal object I hadin view, in writing down all we saw and heardduring this excursion, was to show how much maybe observed and learnt while travelling, eventhrough a well-known country and under ordinarycircumstances. I think it of the utmostimportance to cultivate habits of observation inchildhood; as a great deal of the happiness oflife depends upon having our attention excitedby what passes around us. I remember, whenI was a child, reading a tale called “Eyes andNo Eyes,” which made a deep impression on mymind; and which has been the means of procuringme many sources of enjoyment duringmy passage through life. That little tale relatedto two boys, both of whom had been allowedhalf a day’s holiday. The first boy went out totake a walk, and he saw a variety of objectsthat interested him; and from which he afterwardsderived considerable instruction, when hetalked about them with his tutor. The second,a little later, took the same walk; but, when histutor questioned him as to how he liked it, hesaid he had thought it very dull, for he had seennothing; though the same objects were still ther