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CHAPTER III.

THE ROMANTIC SCENERY

OF THE ISLAND,

EXHIBITED ALONG THE SOUTH-EASTERN COAST, FROM

SHANKLIN TO BLACKGANG CHINE.

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SHANKLIN.

>> THE CHINE, a beautiful woody ravine in the sea-cliffs, is the great object of attraction; inquire the road to the beach, and you will be conducted through the scene back to the village;—­of the latter, a, pretty good idea may be formed in passing through it to Bonchurch,

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Here we enter upon the romantic scenery of the island.  The village is most delightfully rural, and though it has several roomy lodging-houses, and two large hotels, still, from the bold variety of the ground, and the many shrubberies and clumps of fine elm and ash trees with which it is adorned, the dwellings are so hid from one another, that in almost every point of view it has the pleasing appearance of being but a small quiet hamlet.  Except in the most exposed parts, vegetation flourishes with uncommon luxuriance,—­even choice exotics:  we would point to the Parsonage as an instance, enveloped in myrtles that stand the rigors of winter without protection:  indeed it may well be said, that almost every cottage in this beautiful spot is surrounded ...

    “With fragrant turf, and flowers as wild and fair,
    As ever dressed a bank, or scented summer air.”

But the crowning feature from which it derives its celebrity as one of the chief curiosities of the island, is THE CHINE—­a term that certainly does not convey to a stranger any idea of the scene:  it is a provincial expression for a ravine or cleft in the cliffs of the shore, and of which there are several along the coast, possessing a beauty or sublimity that renders them highly interesting.

Having reached the beach, the visitor should take a short walk under the towering sandrock precipices which range to the right and left for several miles, before he enters the Chine.  Nowhere on the coast of the island is there a more charming stretch of shore,—­for the sand is of a cool dark color, firm enough for wheel-carriages and horses to be used by invalids, and therefore proves equally alluring to the aged as to the young, to enjoy salubrious exercise and recreation; it extends northward to Sandown—­about two miles; its monotony being broken by occasional pools of sea-water, and a sprinkling of weed-covered rocks.

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THE CHINE.

[Illustration:  SHANKLIN CHINE, ISLE OF WIGHT. (Descent to the Beach.)]

At the foot of the cliff stands a fisherman’s cottage, which may attract our attention from its picturesque situation.