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many bodies were deposited. Little concern appears to have attended the performance of this duty; some of the graves are yet indicated by low heaps of sod, and in one instance only, on a piece of slate stuck slightly into the earth, were rudely scratched the name and age of an American who slept below.

Many of the buildings adjacent to the prisons, have of late years been taken down, perhaps to prevent their fall, for every portion is in a very dilapidated state, and fast hastening to decay-the effect of damp, frost, and storms, to which they are in each succeeding autumn and winter, continually exposed.

I have thus, my dear Miss Evans, detailed, as far as the space prescribed will admit, the result of my own knowledge of the moor. Much might be added on many topics, here but slightly touched upon, or not even referred to. Should you desire any further information which I have it in my power to communicate, I shall be most happy to do so. With great esteem,

I remain,

Dear Madam,

Very truly yours,

Dated, Billacombe.

S. DIXON.

I offer no apology for introducing the following Letter, which, it is conceived, will be perused with high interest by such as make the delightfully fascinating study of Botany their pursuit.

MY DEAR MISS EVANS,

I am sorry my residence in the neighborhood of Tavistock has not been long enough to give you a complete sketch of its Flora: a whole season is required to recognise the early spring plants, those of summerbloom, and the bright-rayed compound flowers of autumn. My observations have been made in July, and my impression is, that the Botany is as rich and various as are the other choice features of that justly celebrated district.

The Antiquary revels in the accessions of his lore which he gains on examining the ruined residences of departed worthies, for tradition is rife in this land of beauty. There are the imagined haunts of Druids and Romans, as well as those of persons whom history more definitely chronicles: but habitations grow old, structures raised by man are perishable; they decay, and become in their turn a soil for vegetation; the grey lichen grows on ruined walls,-ivy clings to the falling stones,-all nature, sweet and gay, blooms amidst the

wreck,-lowly herbs send up their rich perfume,—the wild flowers wreathe their tracery to hide

"What ruthless time has wrought."

The Artist is arrested at every step by his charitable desire to convey to others some notion of the scenes, so beautiful, that nature in her contrast of rich woodland and desolate moorland has combined to perfect the landscape.

The moor is desolate only in its expanse and immensity viewed from a distance, we are struck with the diversity of lights and shadows which change with the passing clouds but herbage contributes towards the rich coloring, and a closer inspection affords ample reward to the botanist. His feet sink deeply as he treads the tufted grass and moss, the whortleberry and gay florets that deck the wild heather. It might have been the fair Ellen's "elastic tread" that prevented her crushing the "slight harebell;" but if Sir Walter had traversed Dartmoor he would have discovered that a heavier footstep failed to crush the firm though velvetlike vegetation that covers the hills. The tors, and the granite masses that crown them, present a sombre hue, derived from the grey and dark lichens growing over them. These tiny lichens and mosses form a humus for the roots of larger plants; and in a few years, stones that have been excavated in order to discover supposed Druidical relics, are filled with elegant grasses and sorrel. The mountain ash (Pyrus aucuparia,) grows in the fissures of these rocks,-the violet blooms feebly under their shade in July,—and a stray hawthorn may be seen at the same season expanding its pale blossoms.

The "lonely wood of Wistman," consisting chiefly of oaks, dark in their sere antiquity, is supposed to have been the resort of Druids. The pigmy trees do not exceed from seven to ten feet in height: their branches are supported by huge blocks of granite, as they lean

tremblingly towards the hill, seeking shelter from the virulence of the tempest's wild blast. The most striking feature of this ancient forest is the luxuriant growth of moss: miniature branches, measuring an inch in diameter, are fringed with moss that expands them at least a foot: numbers of parasitical plants cling to the roots and branches, and grow over the granite which is thickly strewn in every direction. The effect of the whole, as it lies exposed to the bleak winds that howl through the valley of the West Dart, is most gloomy, most melancholy! The time-worn and stunted trees seem like the embodied ghosts or the mummied remains of the proud monarchs of our forests.

This, however, is one of the most desolate parts of Dartmoor. The contrast is great indeed, as you leave a panorama of tors (Vixen for instance, whence not a tree relieves the wildness,) and approach the highly cultivated vale in which Tavistock is built. Some of the vallies are very rich, and especially those through which rivers flow and fertilise as they murmur on. I have noticed the remarkably fine ash trees that grow wherever they can gain any soil. River banks are thickly studded with alder; there are also some holly trees, but not very large. I fear my experience as a botanist is not sufficient to say whether there are any plants peculiar to the neighborhood. The Digitalis florishes, and arrives at the height of six or seven feet on the hills; its gay and numerous freckled bells justly entitling it to its cognomen-the monarch flower of our county. The genus Campanula is very rare throughout Devon, only the hederacea, and occasionally the glomerata are met with. The Narthecium (bog asphodel,) grows abundantly in the peat-bogs, and is a very elegant plant. The Gentiana has been found on Roborough Down, and the Exacum grows in the bogs, but I did not find it.

I inclose a list, first of the moor plants, and then those of woodland and general growth through the fields and hedge-rows, that have come under my observation. You must bear in mind they are only the plants of summer growth, and no doubt many more might be added. Carrington has given a list in his "Dartmoor," also one of the mosses and lichens: they are very numerous on the moor generally.

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