but it is mentioned in the reign of Henry the Eighth as "being a large 171 town having a market," and its fine old church is a sufficient proof that it was not merely a rural parish. When the contest broke out between Charles the First and the Parliament, Cheltenham was garrisoned for the king, and one or two encounters took place near to the then little town, of which traces are still occasionally turned up by the plough or the spade. In 1666 the town is said to have contained 321 houses and 1,500 inhabitants, and for many years after, consisted of one little group of houses round the church, and of one long street, through the centre of which flowed a branch of the little river Chelt, from which it took its name, and which was crossed here and there by means of stepping-stones, or by a plank. The town still consists principally of one street, but this now extends upwards of a mile in length, dividing it completely into two parts; Pittville and its pleasure grounds lying on one side, and the Old Wells and Montpellier on the other. With the exception of a few branching streets out of the main thoroughfare, and one or two of inferior character running parallel with it, the rest of Cheltenham is made up of villas, terraces, squares and crescents, mingled with which, a rich luxuriance of foliage imparts a rural and verdant appearance not often to be met with in large towns. In all the springs which emerge from the sandy vale of Cheltenham, the sulphate of soda, or chloride of sodium, predominates; so that they belong to the class of saline waters. springs of Great Britain take their rise in the new red-stone formation, It is worthy of notice that most of the saline those of Cheltenham, however, rise in a stratum of blue clay, abounding in iron pyrites which repose on the inferior oolite limestone; a circumstance which is said to account for the well-known fact that these mineral waters are strongest when first opened, and gradually decrease in strength, until it becomes necessary to sink new wells, in order to obtain water of the requisite strength. The specific gravity of the water of four of the springs belonging to Thompson's Spa, was observed to be diminished, and two to be increased, between 1817 and 1820, to such a degree as to excite the surprise of chemists. The number of springs at present is fourteen, each of which presents some slight difference in the amount of the saline ingredients and their concomitants. The most important differences are owing to the presence of iron in some, occasionally accompanied with carbonic acid and sulphuretted hydrogen. Those in which no iron exists, partake much of the nature of sea-water, and resemble it in effects, when used internally. It is sometimes advisable to change from one kind to the other, according to the state or progress of the patient; all which points are regulated by the resident physicians. The persons most benefited by the Cheltenham waters are those who have suffered by a long residence in hot climates, and also in cases of debility. Animals in a state of disease, especially horses, are said to derive benefit from the waters, which they drink very willingly; indeed one of the old traditions of the wells tells us, that we are indebted for their discovery to a horse who was kept at grass on the spot, and who, from frequently drinking of the water, was cured of a cutaneous disease from which it suffered. Another tradition states that the water owes its discovery to the circumstance" of a slow spring being observed to ooze from a strong, thick, bluish marle, under the sandy soil, which after spreading itself a few yards disappeared, leaving a residuum of salt." This attracted flocks of pigeons, who daily resorted to the spot to partake of a condiment of which they are well 1 2 known to be so fond; and the owner of the ground, also observing that the spring never suffered from the influence of frost, was induced to have the properties of the water tested. At any rate, the inhabitants of Cheltenham believe the latter tale to be no fiction, for on the entrance to the Old Wells walk, a couple of pigeons are carved in memory of the circumstance. The pigeons having thus discovered the first spa, in 1716, on the site of the present Old Wells, it was soon turned to the use of man: an analysis of its properties was published, but it was not until 1738 that a building was erected over it for the accommodation of visitors. In 1743, the great walk, or avenue of elm-trees, was planted, to which the growth of a hundred years has now given full stature, and entwined their upper branches into an embowered roof of charming shade. The upper end of the walk is terminated by a villa, from the front of which is commanded a fine view of the noble avenue, the spire of the ancient church of St. Mary forming a picturesque termination to the perspective view. It was here that, during the visits of George III. and his family to Cheltenham, the Queen held her drawing-rooms, receiving on the walk such of the nobility as resorted to Cheltenham for the purpose of paying their respects to royalty. Nothing gratified the inhabitants, during the royal visits, more than the unguarded and affable manner in which His Majesty lived, conversed, and moved about among his subjects. A short anecdote on this point speaks volumes. The King one day walking up the street, the common crier (then a woman) concluded a public notice by exclaiming, "God save the King." The venerable monarch courteously turned round and emphatically replied, "God save the crier and the people." As in 1788 no mansion existed in the town sufficiently capacious for the residence of the monarch, the seat of Lord Fauconbridge, on Bay's Hill, a little way out of the town, was rented, as the only one that could even afford scanty accommodation, and many were the shifts to which the royal family and their suite were at first put, during their residence. "The king," we are informed, " was the only man who slept in it, the male attendants being lodged in different parts of the town;" and when the Duke of York paid his royal father a visit, the wooden house, originally erected in the town, was carried to Bay's Hill, and placed contiguous to the royal dwelling for his accommodation. His Majesty subsequently built seventeen additional rooms to the lodge, at his own expense, with a view of rendering it more available as a place of residence in the annual visits which he then contemplated. At the time of the royal visit, the old wells were the only springs then known, and the benefit derived by His Majesty from drinking the water obtained for the spa the name of the King's Well, which it still retains, though the particular spring which at that time was properly so designated has long ceased to exist. To encourage the visits of patients to the spot, the inhabitants of Cheltenham, in a newspaper published a hundred years ago, inserted the following persuasive address: "Whereas the famous mineral-water of Cheltenham, in the county of Gloucester, has not been for some years past so much resorted to as formerly, from a report that the inhabitants were exorbitant in their demands, and no convenience to be had reasonably: By an unanimous meeting, consent, and agreement of the gentlemen, tradesmen, and innholders of the said town, this is to certify that all gentlemen and ladies, and others, may meet with a kind reception and good usage, with convenient lodging, and ordinaries kept, if encouraged, at reasonable rates. Note.-'Tis a pleasant town, situate in a fine sand, in a fine air." Then follows a long list of the various maladies to be cured by the healing water; statements which, if true, would rank it as a second Pool of Bethesda. For many years the spa at the Old Wells was the only one of any importance in the town, and as each succeeding year brought a fresh influx of visitors, the demand became greater than the supply, and proprietors of adjoining lands attempted the discovery of similar waters upon their own property. Of these, the most successful was Mr. Henry Thompson, who, at different times, discovered no less than eighty wells, all yielding a greater or less proportion of mineral water; and, in 1806, the Montpellier Spa was founded, the waters of which are of six different kinds. In the summer of 1824 upwards of 100 acres of land, the property of Mr. Pitt, lay impropriator of the rectory of Cheltenham, were sold for the purpose of building the new town of Pittville, with its pump-room, and laying-out of grounds and drives; proceedings which, according to one of the local guide-books, was done at the cost of half a million sterling. The hill on which the pump-room stands abounds with springs, and the spacious edifice itself is built in imitation of the temple on the Ilissus at Athens. It is of the Ionic order, surrounded by a colonnade, above which a tier of buildings rises, a dome seventy feet in height crowning the whole. From the gallery of this dome is commanded a panoramic view of the surrounding vale, bounded by the Malvern and Cotswold Hills, and extend ng on the S.W. to the mountains of Wales. Over the portico are three colossal statues of Hygeia, Esculapius, and Hippocrates, and in the noble pump-room the water is served from a marble tripod, surmounted by a statue of Hebe. In 1850 a new pump-room was opened at the Royal Old Wells; the grounds were restored to their former attraction, and the place is again become as popular as in the days of the good old king who first brought it into notice. From medicated baths, which occur in the town, a manufactory of the well-known Cheltenham salts is carried on. "Seven Springs," the true source of the Thames, lies near the foot of Leckhampton Hill, about three miles from Cheltenham, and the walk to it is through a lovely green slope, called the Velvet Valley. The stream which flows from Thames Head, near Cirencester, is, by many writers, called the source of the Thames; but from its situation, so much further from the main trunk, and the greater quantity of water that constantly flows from it, "Seven Springs" seems fairly entitled to the name of the very head of Father Thames, and is now generally so considered by geographers. For a description of the various public buildings of Celtenham we have not space; but, as an evidence of the antiquity of the fine old church of St. Mary, we may adduce the fact that, in 1190, the chapel of Charlton Kings was dedicated to it as to the mother-church, and tradition fixes its erection 180 years previous. It is built in the form of a cross, and a square tower, rising from the intersection, is surmounted by a lofty spire. The interior retains a considerable portion of the rood loft, and in the northern aisle is a very beautiful circular window. In the chancel, a curious lavatory is preserved, and many of the monumental devices and inscriptions are of great antiquity. Amongst them are the effigies in brass, on a flat stone, of a judge, who died in the reign of Henry VII., and his wife, three sons, and seven daughters with their children. Avenues of lime-trees shadow the walks leading to the church in every direction; and, on the north side of the burial-ground, an ancient stone cross rises from the centre of a square pedestal, on each side of which are three stone steps. This was, doubtless, one of the many parochial crosses" which, in the days of superstition, were erected in the way leading to parish churches, in order, as we are told, "to inspire reverence for the mysteries which the people were about to witness." Until the year 1823, the church was supposed to afford sufficient accommodation for the town, but since that period seven new churches have been built, while chapels for all the different denominations of Dissenters abound. The country around Cheltenham unites so many requisites for a varied Flora, that it is a favourite resort for botanists. The heights of the Cotswolds favour the growth of many plants, which seldom affect lowland situations, amongst which may be enumerated the "Fedias," " Asperula cynanchica," "Campanula glomerata," "Thesium linophyllum," "Anemone pulsatilla," "Astragalus hypoglottis," "Onobrychis sativa," "Hippocrepis comosa," "Gnaphalium sylvaticum," and many other rare and exquisite plants; while the fine hanging woods of the hills which face the south are enriched with the "Convallaria majalis" and "Convallaria polygonatum." In the beech woods, the botanical explorator is sure to meet with the curious "Monotropa hypoptis," the "Listera nidus avis," and the beautiful "Epipactis grandiflora ;" while the numerous brooklets, overshadowed by underwood, offer a warm shelter for many delicate plants which could not flower in the open and exposed vale. The botany and geology of this rich neighbourhood, in fact, well merit the attention they have received, and works on both subjects have been written and may be studied with great interest and advantage to the inquirer. Fossil remains abound, and their description forms a strikingly interesting portion of the "Geology of Cheltenham," a work published by Sir R. L. Murchison as a local guide to a subject so interesting. A VISIT TO AUSTRALIA AND ITS GOLD REGIONS.-No. X. BEFORE We leave the colony, however, let us just glance at the general These Cow Pastures are situated in the Camden county, and are about fifty miles south of Sydney. This county is also celebrated for containing within its limits, and in immediate proximity to the Cow Pastures, the fertile, beautiful, and romantic district of Illawarra, or the Five Islands. The scenery at Illawarra is totally different in character from the remainder of the county, and also from Cumberland, the metropolitan county: tall fern-trees, having a foliage exactly similar to that of the fern-plant in this country, but whose leaves are gigantic in the same proportion in which the tree exceeds the plant in size; umbrageous cedars, graceful palm-trees, with numerous creeping vines throwing around in wild luxuriance their flowery tassels, and abounding with flights of red-crested |