The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

SUSSEX. 141
the finest wheat and bean growing districts in England, which extends northward to
Silchester, a village on the boundary of Berkshire. Silchester is interesting on
account of the remains of a Roman amphitheatre. Alton, on the tipper Wev is
famous for its hops. Aldershot, since the establishment of a permanent military
camp on the downs in its neighboui-hood in 1854, has gro-mi from an inconsider-
able village into a populous town. The two military colleges of Sandhurst lie to
the north of the camp, within the county of Berkshire.
Eijde, opposite Portsmouth Harbour, is the largest town of the Isle of Wio-ht.
It is altogether a town of pleasure, surrounded by gardens and viUa residences,
and the chief landing-place of the crowds of visitors annually attracted by the beau-
tiful scenery of the island. Neicjmi, the chief town, almost in the centre of the
island, at the head of the estuary of the Medina, possesses few features of interest
but it adjoins the pretty village of Carisbrooke, commanded by a picturesque Norman
castle, in which Charles I. was confined a prisoner, and his daughter Elizabeth
died in 1650. The port of the Medina is at Cowes. If Portsmouth is the oreat
resort of men-of-war, and Southampton a principal station for mail-steamers. West
Cowes may feel some pride in being the head-quarters of the royal yacht squadron.
Its regattas are the most famous in the world, and on these occasions the most
expert seamanship may be witnessed, for the members of the Royal Yacht Club
have in their service 1,500 of the best sailors England is able to furnish. Slat-
woods, a villa near Cowes, was the birthplace of Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, and Osborne
House is the marine residence of her Majesty Queen Victoria.
Sandoicn is a favourite resort on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The
road leads thence through the lovely village of Bonchurch to Ventnor, the chief
place on the Undercliif. Bonchurch, in the opinion of Dr. Arnold, is " the most
beautiful thing on the sea-coast this side of Genoa."
Freshwater Gate, Alum Bay (where sand is dug for the glass trade), and
Yarmouth are favourite tourist haunts in the extreme west of the island, close
to the famous " Needles."
SrssEX, which preserves the name of a Saxon kingdom, is a maritime coimty
belonging to two well-marked geological districts, viz. those of the Chalk and the
Wealden. The chalk}' range of the South Downs extends through the southern
portion of the counts, from the borders of Hampshire to Beachy Head. It slopes
down gently towards the sea, but presents a bold escarpment where it joins the
Weald. To this latter the remainder of the county belongs, and it abounds in
wild woodland scenery, unsurpassed in any other part of England. Most of the
rivers which rise on the southern slope of the Forest Ridge, the backbone of the
Wealden district, find their way to the sea through the downs by courses which
they have hollowed for themselves. The soil of the Weald is for the most part a
stiff tenacious clay, but along the sea-coast, in Pevensey Level and around
Winchelsea, there occur extensive tracts of fine marsh land. Hops are raised in
large quantities, and the county is justly celebrated for its fine breeds of sheep and
cattle, and the excellence and abundance of its timber, oak being more prevalent
in the Weald, and beech in the other parts. Ironstone exists, but it has not been
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