Marine Barracks," designed by Mr. Crew, and just finished, cost £100,000. An excellent feature is the kitchen, appropriated to every 40 men, so that the meals may be taken apart from the bedroom. There is also a school attached for 200 boys and girls. The following form the arrangements of admission to the above important buildings:-to the Arsenal, the Royal Repository, and the Dockyard, free; the hours being from 9 till 11 a.m., and 1 till 4 p.m. Visitors are required to leave their names at the gates. The other buildings require the escort of one of the principal officers. Though within the last four years nearly 2,000 additional houses have been built, the town presents few inducements for a prolonged visit, and has no feature of interest in itself whatever. The old church looks better at a distance than close, and there are few monuments in the churchyard bearing names familiar to the eye and ear. Perhaps, after his visit to the Arsenal, the visitor will feel most interested in that to Schalch, a Swiss, who died in 1776, at the advanced age of ninety years, sixty of which he passed as superintendent of the Foundry there. Indeed it was to him chiefly that the establishment owed its origin, for he was the cause of its removal from Moorfields, and the improvements made in conducting the operations.

From Woolwich we have the choice of three speedy modes of transit to town:-1. By steamer direct to London Bridge and Westminster. 2. By steam ferry across to Blackwall, and so on by railway to Fenchurch Street; and 3, by a similar conveyance to the new station of the Eastern Counties Railway, on the Essex banks of the river, which brings us to Shoreditch. The excursionist may consult his own convenience for preference of choice.

EXCURSION II.

LONDON BRIDGE TO GRAVESEND-ERITH-PUR

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FLEET-DARTFORD-GREENHITHE-NORTHFLEET-ROSHER

VILLE-GRAVESEND-WINDMILL HILL-TILBURY FORT SPRINGHEAD-COBHAM-COBHAM CHURCH-COBHAM HALLCOBHAM WOOD-RETURN TO GRAVESEND.

GRAVESEND, despite its acknowledged character as the "Watering-Place" of Cockaigne, where Londoners diurnally resort, and place implicit faith in the salt breezes wafted by an easterly wind to its shores, is yet one of the most pleasantly situated, and most easily attained, of all the places throned upon the margin of the Thames. It is, moreover, a capital starting point for a series of excursions through the finest parts of Kent, and has, besides, in its own immediate neighbourhood, some tempting allurements to the summer excursionist in the way of attractive scenery and venerable buildings. Having previously given a description of the objects passed down the river as far as Woolwich, we shall resume our details from that point, to avoid repetition.

Off Woolwich will be observed the old ships known as "The Hulks," where the convicts, working in gangs, are employed in various useful works for the benefit of that community whose laws they have violated. After passing Halfway Reach, where there is a small public house, known as "The Half-way House," indicating that point (14 miles from London) to be exactly midway between London Bridge and Gravesend, we see on the Essex coast Dagenham Breach, where, in December, 1707, the tide broke through the dikes and flooded upwards of 1,000 acres. Erith next presents its picturesque church and wooded uplands to the right, and is a tempting village to loiter in when opportunity serves. A fine

pier, at which the boats of the "Diamond" Company call, has been constructed for the accommodation of those who embark or disembark here, and an "Arboretum," with extensive pleasure grounds, has been recently opened to attract visitors. Erith Church is a charming study for either artist or antiquary. The ivy which clings about the structure, and the masses of foliage that rise beyond, give it a very striking aspect. The structure consists of a nave and chancel, with a low tower and spire, and evidently has a venerable length of years, for besides the date of some of its monuments going back as far as the year 1420, it has been identified as the spot where King John and the Barons drew up their treaty of peace. In the south chapel is an alabaster tomb, much mutilated, to the memory of Elizabeth Countess of Shrewsbury, and her daughter Anne, Countess of Pembroke, who both died in the reign of Elizabeth. Adjacent are some fine brasses in good preservation, though the inscriptions attached to them have been quite obliterated. They all belong to the Waldens, members of the same family. Belvidere, the seat of Lord Saye and Sele, is an elegant mansion, in a very romantic situation, commanding extensive views over the country round. It was rebuilt towards the close of the last century, and contains some fine apartments of true aristocratic splendour. From Northumberland Heath, a spacious tract of fertile ground in this parish, the metropolitan markets are largely supplied with Kentish cherries, and in the neighbourhood some handsome houses and villas have been lately erected. East India vessels frequently anchor in Erith Reach and discharge their cargoes.

Purfleet, with its romantic chalk cliffs and excavations, is next visible on the Essex shore, and is said to have been thus called from an ejaculation of Queen Elizabeth, who exclaimed, "Alas! my Poor Fleet," as she witnessed from this spot the departure of her little force to oppose the passage of the "Invincible" Armada. The "poor fleet" having returned victorious, the place became thus designated in memory of the

event, but it seems to have been after all but a sorry royal pun, for in the time of Edward the Third it was called the manor of Portflete, and then belonged to the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem. Here the Government Powder Magazine is kept, having been, in the year 1762, removed hence from Greenwich. About three million pounds of gunpowder are generally preserved in the building, which of course has been so constructed that no danger by explosion need be apprehended. Lightning conductors are affixed to the exterior, and the usual regulations are observed when entering. Across the open country, on the Kentish side, may be seen the ancient church of Dartford, a creek where the river Darent or Dart discharges its waters into the Thames, affording a navigable communication with the town. Dartford was an important Roman station, and is memorable in history as the scene of Wat Tyler's insurrection in 1382. There are still some remains of a nunnery founded by Edward III., and the powder mills and iron foundries of Messrs. Hall give great importance to the traffic carried on by the inhabitants.

Greenhithe, which we next pass, has several neat residences within its limits, occupying very pleasant situations; but, beyond the pier, and a small parish church at Swanscombe, has no feature calling for special mention. The stately mansion seen from the river is "Ingress Abbey," the seat of J. Harmer, Esq., and is chiefly composed of the stone obtained from old London Bridge when it was pulled down. Swanscombe Wood, at the back, is a rare spot for pic-nic parties, and has a cavern rejoicing in the appellation of Clappernapper's Hole," with some smuggling traditions in connection with it. Here it was that the men of Kent stopped the Norman Conqueror, and compelled him to concede the ancient privilege of Gavelkind. West Thurrock, on the opposite side the river, is devoid of anything to win more than a passing glance, though Belmont Castle, a fine castellated edifice belonging to a gentleman named Webb, is in a very agreeable position. From Greenhithe to Grays-a small

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market-town on the Essex coast, with a new pier and numerous brick-kilns-the river is called St. Clement's Reach; and we then enter Northfleet Hope, where the widened expanse shows us the approach to Gravesend, and the straggling buildings of Northfleet poised upon a range of chalk cliffs.

Northfleet has an ancient church, one of the largest in Kent, containing several monuments of interesting antiquity, among which will be found one to Dr. Brown, physician to Charles II., and some curious brasses of the fourteenth century. The extensive excavations about here, forming a sort of miniature Switzerland, not only give the scenery a wild and romantic aspect, but furnish valuable materials for the potteries. Rosherville, though a suburb of Gravesend, belongs to this parish, and its neat pier is soon seen to the right, forming an elegant communication with that extensive range of buildings erected a few years since on the estate of the late Jeremiah Rosher. The Rosherville Gardens are open daily to the public, at the moderate admission fee of sixpence, and present a combination of attractions, produced by the united agency of nature and art, that leave them almost without a rival. It is absolutely astonishing to see what a fairy-land has been here created out of a chalk-pit. There are gala nights throughout the summer, when fireworks, music, and illuminations are added to the other enchantments of the spot. The Clifton Baths, on what is called "The Parade," are commodiously fitted up for cold, shower, warm, and vapour bathing, and seem to have been built in grotesque mimicry of the Pavilion at Brighton.

Gravesend has from the river a varied and pleasing aspect, which is not destroyed by a more intimate acquaintance with the town. Passengers by the boats of the "Star" Company are disembarked at the Rosherville and Terrace Piers; those by the "Diamond" at the Town Pier. The latter, formed of cast iron, belongs to the corporation, and leads up through the narrow High Street, studded with taverns, to the London