luggage was at once taken to the Custom House for examination, and politely returned, or sent, free of expense, to the hotel. As a large number of the passengers stopped at Hipgrave's Gun Hotel, adjoining the Custom House, I also took up my quarters there. His charges are moderate, sets an excellent table, with airy chambers and good attendance. It was amusing to hear my fellow English travellers, while at dinner, call out to the waiters in French, forgetting for a moment, they were at home, in ola England. While the dessert was being placed on the table, a man came abruptly into the room to collect plank fees, which none at the table seemed to understand; when the head waiter explained by saying, that the plank on which we walked from the steamer to the pier (some ten feet) was the property of this man, and his demand was three-pence from each passenger; a good price for a plank costing about three shillings. This was the commencement of English imposition, and a lesson while in England, to know the cost of everything before planking the cash.

The next morning, Lord Sondes, with whom I had some conversation in the steamer, on America, political intrigues, &c., said to me, as he and his lady were about setting out for Canterbury, if, in going up to London, I could make it conveniant to stop at Canterbury, I should witness a race, and see animals not surpassed in England, both for beauty and speed. "As you Americans," continued his Lordship, smiling, "will not allow us to have even credit for our own improvements in the arts, I think you must certainly give us credit for having the best breed of horses, and domestic animals generally, a specimen of which you will have an opportunity of seeing in a few days at Canterbury; and if you will stop at the George and Dragon,' High Street, it will afford me great pleasure to introduce you to the club, and witness the race from the stand." Thanking his Lordship for the unexpected and polite invitation, tendered to a stranger on so short an acquaintance, and observing I would have the honour of paying to him my personal respects at the "George and Dragon," at Canterbury, on the day of the races, and exchanging salutations, we parted to meet again agreeably to appointment.

CHAPTER XLI.

Dover; Shakspeare's Cliff; Splendid View from its Summit; Terminus of the London Railway; Beautiful Ore Embedded in the Chalky Cliff; Impromptu to the Sea; Citadel Bomb Proof; Dover Castle; Its Strength; Barracks, Magazine, and Village, under the summit of the Cliff; Subterranean Passage; Deep Well of the Castle Bomb Proof; Saxon and Roman Walls; Saxon Church; Queen Anne's Pocket-piece, cast in 1554; Calais Cliffs; Lord Byron's Birthplace,

etc.

THE first and greatest attraction to the tourist, on arriving at Dover, is the celebrated "Shakspeare's Cliff," on the left as you enter the harbour, and about ten minutes' walk from Hipgrave's Gun Hotel. From its giddy height the tourist will realize, and while deeply contemplating the sublime view, repeat the words of the immortal bard, when he makes Edgar describe to Gloster the fearful height on which they seem to stand, viz.:

How dizzy and fearful 'tis to cast one's eyes so low,
The crows and choughs, that wing the midway air,
Show scarce so gross as beetles.

* * * *

The fishermen that walk upon the beach,

Appear like mice; and yon tall anchoring bark
Almost too small for sight, &c., &c.

The view from the summit of this cliff alone, will repay the trouble of the tourist in ascending it; and should he have with him his pocket telescope, as I had, to view the coast of France, Calais, shipping, steamers, fishermen, &c., a few hours is soon passed in its neighbourhood. The terminus of the London Railway is at the base of the cliff, and workmen were engaged while I was there, in cutting away the chalk in large blocks for some small building for the company. The agent, Mr. Williams, politely presented me with some beautiful specimens of ore, similar to silver, large quantities of which were found embedded in the chalk, and in almost every shape. Nothing of the kind having been seen in the United States, I presented to the National Gallery, at Washington, some few of the specimens through Mr. Markoe, its talented and energetic correspondent of the State Department, through whose untiring exertions, with those of its President, the Hon. Joel R. Poinsett, the much-esteemed patriot and statesman of

South Carolina, the country is much indebted for the present unexampled prosperity of an institution which bids fair to rival any institution of the kind in the old world.

IMPROMPTU-TO THE SEA.

WHILE STANDING ON SHAKSPEARE'S CLIFF, DOVER, ENGLAND.

Thou rolling breakers, with thy deaf'ning roar,
Dashing thy spray against this bold cliff shore,
Say, where is thy trident-king, Neptune by name,
Who rules despotic o'er the troubled main?

Thy gay nymphs too, that wildly swell their lay,
When angry billows cease to dash their spray;
Where shelter seek, when waves like mountains rise,
Then onward rolling, seem to reach the skies?

Neptune, 'tis said, in regal splendour dwells,
In coral palace, deck'd with pearly shells;

There holds his court, while nymphs around him sing,
And mermaids presents from deep waters bring.

But then amid the storm's terrific howl,
He bids thee rise and onward madly roll;
While he with fury o'er thy billows dash,
And, despot-like, thy troubled waters lash.

Since time began, thou'st beat against this shore,
And will roll on from now till evermore;
Still shall it stand till rolling years have fled,

Till Gabriel's trump shall summon forth thy dead.

Near the cliff, on an eminence commanding the town and harbour on the left, is the citadel, which is passed on the left as you descend from the cliff towards the town. All the buildings, barracks, &c., are beneath the surface, and were it not for the frowning ordnance peeping like so many watchful bull-dogs through the embrasures, and the smoke rising through the small jutting chimneys, no one would suspect that the eminence was fortified and inhabited by men, women, and children, with their domestic animals. Should the tourist be a military character, he will be not only astonished at the military display in this subterranean citadel, but delighted with the neatness and regularity which abound throughout.

Dover Castle, thought to be impregnable, is on an eminence on the right as you enter the harbour, and stands about one hundred feet higher than the citadel, commanding both that fortress and the town. While leisurely wending my way toward the base of the hill on which the castle stands, I was accosted by some boys to hire a donkey to ride up the hill, each of whom had one of these stubborn animals ready equipped. To save time and labour in

mounting the long hill before me, I concluded to ride, and mounting one of the little fellows touched him with the whip to go ahead, but move he would not; the boys cried out to pull his ears; I did so, and found myself on the ground some feet from the still stationary animal, to the great merriment of the young urchins. Throwing them a shilling for their trouble and disappointment, I ascended the hill on foot. When half way up, a bell was violently rung, so near that at first it startled me. On looking round I saw the bell hung to a post, with a small board over it, on which was painted the words, "Remember the poor prisoners." Attached to the board was a small contribution box, into which I dropped a shilling. The bell again sounded, and on looking up I saw a wire which led from it to the prisoners' cells some distance off, and from the grated windows waved a handkerchief, as much as to say, we thank you. Arriving at the gate, the corporal of the guard was called, who, at my request, led the way to the quarters of the officer of the day, Lieutenant M., to whom I exhibited the autograph of the Duke of Wellington, and stated my desire to examine the citadel. A sergeant was called, who was a soldier at the battle of Waterloo, and desired to accompany me. On leaving the Lieutenant's quarters, he politely invited me, after I had examined the fortress, to return and take a soldier's fare, which invitation I was compelled, from the lateness of the hour, reluctantly to decline. Dover Castle will mount 400 guns, and accommodate 4000 men. The barracks and magazine are all under ground, similar to the Citadel only here is a complete town, with streets regularly laid out, fifty feet below the summit. The well is three hundred feet in depth, the mouth bomb-proof, and so arranged that in no possible way can the water be made unpalatable by casting anything into it. Embrasures are cut in the side of the cliff facing the harbour and town, to command both, and it may be termed a second Gibraltar. There is a subterranean passage extending from the castle to the base of the cliff, a distance of near half a mile, in case of emergency to give the citadel additional force or supplies. Part of the old Norman wall is yet standing, built of flint and stone, in the tenth century. The Saxon Church, in the form of a Cross, was built in the seventh century, of flint and brick, and the ruins are worth examining; and from here there is a most extensive view, as it is the highest point of the cliff. The Roman wall was built about half a century after the Crucifixion of our Saviour, and what remains will stand, from its appearance, a thousand years to come. When a boy, I often heard of a cannon at Dover Castle, from its great length called Queen Anne's pocket-piece, which would send a ball across the Channel to Calais, on which was said to be engraved,

"Sponge me well, and keep me clean,
And I'll send a ball to Calais green."

Little thought I then I should ever visit Dover Castle, and place my hand on the celebrated piece of ordnance which, even to this day, excites so much curiosity. This gun is of brass, about eighteen feet in length, was cast in Holland in 1554, and presented by the Dutch to the Queen of England. On it is this inscription in Dutch, which was made in the casting, viz:

"Over hill and dale I send my ball,

Breaker, my name, of mound and wall."

As to

This cannon still points towards Calais, but is never used, as a pound of powder would destroy it in its present honeycomb state. The Duke of Wellington had it mounted on a new carriage, at his own expense, a few years since. So much do the cliffs of Dover and Calais appear alike, that some believe that they were once united, and separated by some great convulsion of nature. their ever having been united, I am somewhat skeptical, Willis, Cooper and other tourists to the contrary notwithstanding, for the ore found embedded in the chalky cliffs of Dover is not found in the cliffs at Calais, and the latter are of a much more dingy colour, and not of so chalky a nature as those of the former.

Dover being pleasantly situated between the "Cliffs of Shakspeare" and Dover Castle, has a very picturesque appearance. It was at Dover where the late Lord Byron was born, and the house is now visited by all tourists who are admirers of the writings of the late lamented bard. Having passed an hour in his bed-chamber at Newstead Abbey, in Sherwood Forest, induced me to visit the chamber in which he first respired his breath at Dover.

CHAPTER XLII.

Ancient City of Canterbury; Roman, Saxon, and Norman Invaders ; Conveyance from Dover; Fare; George and Dragon Hotel; Fair of the Nobility; Tête-à.tête with Noble Dames; Their Tables; Invitation; Three Days Races; The Green Sward; Ball; Illumination; Theatre; Jockey Club Dinner; Toasts; Political Confabulation on Certain American Statesmen; Origin of Canterbury; The Ruins of King Ethelbert's Palace; Ancient Memorials of the Invaders; Quecn Elizabeth; King Charles the First, Second, and the Dukes of York and Gloucester's Visit to Canterbury; Its Gates; Turrets; Fairs; Chalybeate Springs, &c.

THE ancient city of Canterbury is sixteen miles from Dover, on the London road-a city that has been occupied by the Romans,