Hounslowheath, Blackheath, and Clapham and Wandsworth commons, which collectively occupy many hundreds of acres.

Bridport is an ancient borough town, remarkable for a manufactory of sail-cloth, twine, nets and cordage, upon which articles I observed the people at work, as I walked through the town; Bridport is neatly built on a single street of half a mile in length.

In passing along the coast we frequently saw the telegraphic signals on the high hills; the lieutenant asserted that intelligence had been transmitted from Plymouth to London and back, in the short period of fifteen minutes, although the whole space penetrated by the telescopes was twice two hundred and fourteen miles. There is a grand telegraph on the top of the admiralty in Westminster, with which these subordinate telegraphs communicate. We saw also, on the heights, contiguous to the shore, signals contrived on purpose to give early notice of the long expected French invasion; they are merely heaps of combustibles, which are to be set on fire whenever the grand flotilla makes its appearance.

From Bridport to Dorchester is fifteen miles. Dorchester is a place of considerable size and some magnificence. It was formerly a capital Roman station, and vestiges of the Romans are numerous and distinct in its vicinity. My book of roads informs me that there is a fortress called Maiden-castle, with intrenchments forty feet deep, still existing in the neighbourhood of Dorchester.I had to regret that I could not, without too serious a sacrifice of time, stop to see it, and I was compelled for the same reason to pass by Weymouth, which lies on the coast only eight miles from Dorchester. This place is

not however particularly interesting, except as being, occasionally, for a few weeks in the summer, the residence of the royal family; they resort to it for the purpose of sea-bathing and to amuse themselves with sailing, and they of course, draw after them a throng of nobility and gentry.

At present, a cloud is cast over their gaiety, by the recent death of the King's brother, the Duke of Gloucester. There is, more or less, a national mourning on the occasion, and, there is no small bustle among the manufacturers who are employed in dying their refuse cloths black, as the general mourning creates a great demand for this colour; it was just slack tide between the fall and spring shipments, and the Duke's death has put every thing in motion again, so that there is reason to believe that the cloth manufacturers and venders, and the taylors were not the most sincere mourners; for, as the poor man lay some weeks dangerously ill, the tradesmen made their arrangements accordingly, and were anxiously waiting for his exit. Events of this nature are always turned to profitable account, and are regularly brought to market in some form or another.

Be it a victory, a birth day, or the death of a great man, some one is sure to make money out of it.

From Dorchester we travelled through a beautiful country, and a number of villages occurred in the distance of sixteen miles to Blandford, where we dined by candlelight. From this to Salisbury, we rode over a country which was generally level, and formed a part of the great tract of territory, called Salisbury plain. We travelled more than twenty miles after dark, and, as the evening was hot, and the coach very much crowded, we were so

"uncomfortable, that I was very glad, when, at midnight, we arrived in Salisbury. Having resolved to spend a day in this place, I shook hands with the lieutenant, with whom I had now travelled a long distance, I could not but feel some sympathy and concern on his account, for he was on his way to Chatham, to join a great expedition, now fitting out there, for an unknown foreign service; as I parted with him he said that he was a going, he knew not whither, like a bullock to the slaughter.

No. LIII.-EXCURSION TO STONEHENGE. Donkey riding-Old Sarum-Origin of Salisbury--Shepherds and their flocks-Shepherd's dogs—Mrs. More's Shepherd of Salisbury plain-Stonehenge-Description of its present state-How it was fifty years ago, and originally-The temple of AbiryBarrows-Wilton-house the Earl of Tembroke's.

Sept. 11.-On account of my fatigue, I did not rise, this morning, till a late hour; I breakfasted at eleven, and soon after, mounted little white poney, the best horse I could procure, and although he had lost his ears and the greater part of his mane and tail, I thought, that, as his feet were left, he might serve to carry me a few miles, to an object which I had long ardently wished to see; this was no other than the venerable ruin of Stonehenge. My horse was hardly equal to the dignity of the excursion, for he was not much larger than an ass. Perhaps this circumstance ought rather to have recommended him to my preference, for, you must know that the ass, so long despised and devoted to the most degrading services, has,

this summer, attained the highest honours in England.Under the more polite appellation of a Donkey, he is now selected as the companion of the morning excursions of the ladies at Brighton, and other fashionable places; descending from the chariot and coach, and even from the fine English horse, they shun the danger of these giddy stations, and take the air and exercise, on the back of the humble Donkey.

OLD SARUM.

The first object that attracted my attention, was the celebrated rotten borough of Old Sarum, which is two miles from Salisbury. I saw this famous spot, although, on account of the intervention of a river, over which there was no bridge, I did not go on the ground; I was however within a quarter of a mile.

The history of Old Sarum is, briefly, this. Just by the river there is a spacious and lofty hill, which, from the remotest antiquity, was occupied as a military station, and fortified with a strong castle. All the nobles of the realm were summoned to this place, in the reign of the conqueror, to swear fealty to him. The town and cathedral were included within the limits of the fortifications, by which means the clergy and people were continually subjected to the oppressions of the military, and they suffered from the want of water also, for which reasons, about six hundred years ago, they obtained leave from the Pope, to remove and build New Sarum, or Salisbury, with the cathedral which is now there.

From that time Old Sarum declined, and that which was anciently, one of the most splendid and important places in the kingdom, is now a ruin. The remains of the

castle and ramparts are still to be seen, and they are so conspicuous and commanding that they struck me with wonder at a considerable distance, and before I knew what they were. Of the town of Old Sarum, not a single house is left; still the place retains some of its most important privileges, and although no human being inhabits there, it sends two members to parliament. It is said, that not long ago, the right of election was vested in a single person; now, I am told, it resides in seven. The election is held in a booth erected for the occasion, beneath a particular tree, which was pointed out to me by some people whom I saw in the fields. Old Sarum lives only in history and sends two members to parliament, but Manchester and Birmingham send none !

SHEPHERDS AND THEIR FLOCKS.

While passing over the plain, I saw great numbers of sheep going to a grand sheep fair, about to be held at Salisbury. On this plain are fed the South Down sheep, without horns, with black legs and faces, and producing three or four pounds of fine wool per head; there is also the Leicestershire breed, small, but making fine mutton, and the Wiltshire breed, large, and affording a great quantity of wool.

Salisbury-plain appears to be very well adapted to the raising of sheep, and accordingly, shepherds and flocks are frequent upon it. I conversed with the shepherds, and found them intelligent and civil; they are always attended by a dog, without whose assistance they could not manage their flocks, and it is astonishing how easily this little animal commands them ; when the course of the flock is to be turned, the dog runs along the ranks, with great zeal, and