South Downs

“ There are few districts in England and certainly none south of the Trent where old customs and queer legends persist with so much vitality as in these lonely combes and hollows. The effect of being out of the world is perhaps enhanced in these western Downs by the ring fence of dark woods through which we have to pass to reach the bare, wind-swept solitudes and lonely hamlets within them. The northern escarpment and southern flanks of the hills are clothed in vast forests of beech which add that grandeur to the great ramparts of chalk which the eastern ranges lack. ”

“ The cut edges of the escarpment forming the Hog’s Back and North Downs on the north, and the South Downs on the south, meet the sea in the fine promontories of the South Foreland and Beachy Head. The Downs are almost without population, waterless and grass-covered, with patches of beech wood. Their only important towns are on the coast, e.g. Brighton, Eastbourne, Dover, Chatham, or in the gaps where rivers from the centre pierce the Chalk ring, as at Guildford, Rochester, Canterbury, Lewes and Arundel. ”

“ As a centre for the exploration of East Sussex Lewes has no equal; days may be spent before the interest of the immediate neighbourhood is exhausted; for those who are vigorous enough for hill rambling the paths over the Downs are dry and passable in all weathers, and the Downs themselves, even apart from the added interest of ancient church or picturesque farm and manor, are ample recompense for the small toil involved in their exploration. ”

“ Hotels will not be found in the Downs; the tourist who cannot live without them will find his wants supplied within but a few miles at any of the numerous Londons by the Sea; but that will not be Sussex pure and undefiled, and if simplicity and cleanliness, enough to eat and drink, and a genuine welcome are all that is required, he will find these in our Downland inns.
It is in the more remote of these hostelries that the inquisitive stranger will hear the South Saxon dialect in its purity and the slow wit of the Sussex peasant at its best. ”

“ Its chief attraction lies in the number of interesting places which can easily be reached in a short time and with little trouble. The Downs here are farther off than those at Brighton, but are of much greater interest, and public motors take one easily and cheaply into their heart as we have already shown. ”

“ The most Roman thing in England I call them; and indeed this "noble range of mountains" has not the obvious antiquity of the Welsh mountains or the Mendip Hills, nor the tragic aspect as of something as old as time, as old as the world itself, of the dark and sea-torn cliffs of Cornwall, or the wild and desolate uplands of Somerset and Devon. The South Downs seem indeed not so much a work of Nature as of man; and of what men! In their regular and even line, in their continuity and orderly embankment, in their splendid monotony of contour they recall but one thing—Rome ”

“ The South Downs are a good breed, both for wool and mutton. They crop the grass that grows on the thin soils, over beds of chalk, in Wiltshire, Hampshire, and Dorsetshire. They ought not to scorn the pastures of New England. ”

“ It is the divergent and opposite traits of the tribes which make up the English folk that have helped to make us great. May we long be preserved from a Wellsian uniformity!
A brief description of the geological history of the range may not be amiss here. It will be noted by the traveller from the north that the opposing line of heights in Surrey have their steepest face (or "escarpment") on the south side, while the Sussex Downs have theirs on the north. ”

“ A Downland road can be taken from here to Friston, Eastdean and Eastbourne, saving some miles of up and down walking, but the most enjoyable though more strenuous route is by the cliff path from Cuckmere Haven over the "Seven Sisters" cliffs to Beachy Head; a glorious six miles with the sea on one side and the Downs on the other, culminating in the finest headland on the south coast, 575 feet high, the magnificent end of the Downs in the sea. All these cliffs provide nesting-places for wild birds. ”

“ A great trade was once done by the Downland peasantry in these "Sussex Ortolans," as they were called, but of late years the demand has dwindled to vanishing point.
The lover of the picturesque will feel grateful to the powers who refuse to destroy the deserted windmills which stud the Downs and of which there is one good example near here. One cannot suppose however that the object of letting them stand is other than utilitarian ”

“ The name of this village perpetuates a phenomenon which is becoming more rare each year. At one time erratic streams would make their appearance in the chalk combes in the head of the valley and combining, cause serious floods or "lavants." For some unknown reason the flow of water is gradually becoming smaller and of late years it has been quite insignificant.
To resume the route a return must be made to Singleton and the path taken which leads over the Goodwood hills past the Race Course to Halnaker. The whole of this beautiful stretch of Downland is open to the stranger ”

“ The line of lofty hills on the south are seldom visited, most tourists being content with Chanctonbury. Near the Downs, about a mile south-east, lies the little church of Sullington under its two great yews, very primitive and at present unrestored; most of the work seems to be Early English. Here is an effigy of an unknown knight, also an old stone coffin. A footpath leads direct to Washington where we turn towards the sea, climbing by the Worthing road the narrow pass which cuts between the Downs and drops to Findon. ”

“ The "prospects," as such, are immeasurably superior to those obtainable from most of the mountains of the north and west, where a distant view is rare by reason of the surrounding chain of heights, and where the chance of any view at all to reward the climber is remote unless he chooses that fortnight in early June or late September when the peaks are usually unshrouded. Really bad weather, long continued, is uncommon in the Down country. ”

“ The western termination of the North Downs is the Hog’s Back, a narrow ridge, little more than a quarter of a mile broad at the summit, sloping sharply north and south, and reaching 489 ft. in height. At the west end a depression occurs where the rivers Wey and Blackwater closely approach each other ”

“ The low range of hills surrounding the Darling Downs encloses over 2,000,000 acres of land of a quality that invites the plough to convert it into the granary of the State. As the railway to the New South Wales border takes its rather serpentine course southwards, coasting round many of the undulations to avoid cutting through them, the traveller looks upon a land which he must recognise as capable of maintaining a large farming 106 population. What he actually saw till quite recently was paddock after paddock of sheep on each side, then a paddock of cattle and horses, and again more sheep. ”

“ It has long since been ascertained to occur in almost every county in England and Wales, as far north as Sutherlandshire in Scotland, and is widely distributed in Ireland.
On the chalk downs and cliffs the butterfly has the under side of its hind wings so admirably agreeing in colour and marking with the soil, etc., that although one may watch it settle a few yards ahead, it is not to be seen when one reaches the spot. Whilst we are intent on the search the insect starts up, flies a short distance, and there repeats the disappearing butterfly trick. ”

“ At first it attacks the leaf from the upper side, and partly burrows therein; when older it clears away patches from the under surface, leaving the upper skin of the leaf more or less transparent; as it approaches full growth it likes to take its meals in the sunshine, and then eats the top skin as well as other parts of the leaf, and also tender shoots: July to May. The moth is out in June and July, as a rule, but is sometimes observed in May. Its haunts are on warm slopes of chalk downs and limestone hills, where it flies in the sunshine. ”

“ When passing myself as a citizen of the South, I have always found the people affable in their manners, sociable, and extremely liberal in their hospitality. Whenever an occasion was offered them of rendering any assistance which they supposed was furthering the cause they had espoused, their kindness and generosity knew no restraint.
Two miles further on is the residence of Captain Rose, to whom I paid a visit. Captain Rose had served in the United States army eleven years, and is one of your genuine Union men, and has always been loyal to the Government. ”

“ Many, after being charmed with the exquisitely picturesque appearance of Port Jackson and Sydney, on a very cursory inspection of the surrounding country, come to the conclusion that the whole province of New South Wales is a barren desert only fit for feeding sheep a conclusion which is not more correct than to judge of the agricultural capabilities of England by Dartmoor, or of France by the "Landes." ”

“ Sympathy for those that have erred is a fine and commendable element in the human heart, but when carried to extremes is productive of disastrous results. I think the entire secession element of the South has received, and is now receiving, more favor at the hands of the Government than is consistent for the safety of our republican institutions. ”

“ The powers vested in the governor were exercised without the restraining influence of council or law adviser until 1822. [2]
Amazement and horror overcome us when we look back on the early days of New South Wales. Under the absolute government described, the settlers were crowded together on a narrow space a promontory cleared of a dense forest. The soil was a barren sand; every yard required for cultivation had to be gained by removing enormous trees of a hardness that tried the temper of the best axes, wielded in skilled hands. ”

“ It seemed certain however that we stood in the richest province of South-west Australia, and one which so differs from the other portions of it in its geological characters, in the elevations of its mountains which lie close to the sea coast, in the fertility of its soil, and the density of its native population, that we appeared to be moving upon another continent. As yet however the only means I had of judging of the large number of natives inhabiting this district had been from their paths and warran grounds, but it was most probable that we should ere long fall in with some of them. ”

“ A great future probably awaits Port Darwin in the Northern Territory, and all that Australian coast. The harbour is a fine one, which large ships may enter at any state of the tide. Palmerston, the town, has large Government buildings, and behind it lie great tracts of fine land. I wonder how many people realise that the Northern Territory of South Australia is equal in size to Germany, France, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy combined, and that it contains 335,116,800 acres, and has but a very small population. Yet land is obtained on very easy terms. ”

“ A great deal was said about the Yankees stealing corn, cotton, and niggers, and they complained that it was ruining many of the planters. I listened a few minutes, and then, addressing myself to General Neely, said: "Gentlemen, so far as I am concerned, I have never yet stolen a cent's worth of property since I have been in the Federal army, and if I had known that a United States soldier had got to steal corn, cotton, and niggers from the citizens of the South, I would never have enlisted." ”

“ At an epoch in the existence of an infant state, when the first settlers ought to consist of a few gardeners, a few shepherds, a few farmers, and a few mechanics, with half a dozen men of superior attainments and energy, and plenty of sheep and cattle, and when a village with a wharf was all the town needed, South Australia had nine square miles of building land, a bank, two newspapers, and a population of speculative gentlemen. ”

“ Although Van Diemen's land seems to possess few or none of those vast depths of soil with which the happiest spots of New South Wales are blessed; yet it seldom sickens the heart of its traveller with those extensive tracts which at once disarm industry, and leave the warmest imagination without one beguiling project. ”

“ Evans to proceed to the north-east. Certainly a more beautiful and interesting view is not often seen. The spacious valley, through which the river flowed, extends along the coast from Smoaky Cape to the Three Brothers, and its width north of me was above eight miles, gradually narrowing to the base of Sea View Mount where we first entered it, and which bore west by north. Wide and extensive valleys stretched to the west-south-west, and south-south-west, under its base on either side, the hills in which were of moderate height, and of open forest land. ”

“ South Westland is a land apart from the rest of New Zealand—cut off by the mountains—an enchanted land, which if you once learn to know and love you never wish to leave, and when you do go away, you must always be wanting to return. It is a land of mountain and forest, of glacier and waterfall and rushing river, of blue sky and wide ocean. ”

“ At this, as well as at every other station I have called at, a woman "hutkeeps," while the husband is minding the sheep. Hutkeepers, shepherds, and other labourers are as difficult to be obtained in this province as in South Australia; all are gold-digging mad. Continued an easterly course; came to a lagoon, and had to turn to the north in order to head it. The country through which I rode this day surpasses anything I have met with in South Australia; vast extensive plains, with luxurious herbage, everywhere meet the eye: these are intersected by belts of fine timber of all kinds. ”