CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL
OF
POPULAR
LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART.
CONTENTS
A CORNISH HAVEN.
THE LAST OF THE HADDONS.
SUBMARINE CABLES.
CROSS-PURPOSES.
POLAR COLONISATION.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT POULTRY.
THE WALMER LIFE-BOAT.
| No. 708. | SATURDAY, JULY 21, 1877. | Price 1½d. |
A CORNISH HAVEN.
Come away with me to the sea! Let us go toCornwall, where sea and air are of the purest andmost exhilarating. Jumping into the train andproceeding westward until we come to Launceston,there we will leave the little quiet old-world townbehind. So anxious are we to get to the sea, thatwe will not even stop to climb the hill and inspectthe old castle which frowns down on us; but wewill mount to the box-seat of the three-horse coachwhich stands waiting at the station, and driveaway—still westward. Away, over the breezyuplands, where the cattle chew the cud sleepilybeneath the August sun, between hedges set withbrilliant jewels, which we call flowers, past undulatingdowns in whose hollows the purple shadowslie dreaming.
We stop presently at a little roadside inn, togive the horses a rest and a feed; and I climb downfrom my elevated position and partake of a cup oftea in the inn kitchen—a primitive flagged kitchen,with a great high-backed wooden settle by the fire,and pewter bowls and cups shining on the walls.They pour out my bohea from a teapot which afancier of old china would pronounce to be priceless.Genuine old 'Plymouth' it is, I see, andask if they would be willing to part with it. Butno; 'It was granny's;' and they would rather notsell it; so I turn my covetous eyes away, andclamber back to my seat beside the coachman.
Off we go again, along a fairly level road. Thecountry is but thinly inhabited, and there arelong intervals between the houses. By-and-by webegin to descend a hill, and enter a little sleepytown, where at first sight it seems to me that thereare an inn and one or two shops, but no inhabitants.Only at first sight; for as we draw upbefore the Hotel (such is the proud boast I seeover the doorway), and the driver descends andwalks away to deposit a parcel or two and togossip awhile with his acquaintances, we aredelivered over to the tender mercies of the wholejuvenile population, who surround the coach,climb on to the wheels, and make audible commentsin very broad vernacular on our personalappearance and on our apparel.
This time we move off slowly, for we have avery steep hill to encounter, and the tired