Islands have always exercised a peculiar fascination over Englishmen, perhaps because, accustomed as they are to a sense of security induced by the surrounding sea, they never feel more comfortable than when the sea is on all sides at a measurable distance. It has been the ambition of many an Englishman to possess an island, however small, of his own. But England is not particularly blessed in this matter, and we may look with envy at the fringe of islands, large and small, precipitous and flat, scattered along the rugged shores of the west coast of Scotland. The only two English islands which can claim exceptional interest are the Isle of Man and the Isle of Wight. Of the other well-known ones, the Scilly Isles and Channel Isles are too inaccessible to count, Sheppey and Thanet and Holy Island too small, and Anglesea is separated by so very diminutive a channel from the mainland that it hardly seems like an island at all.

Of the two that stand pre-eminent the Isle of Wight cannot claim the peculiar customs and survivals that give the Isle of Man a special place, yet it has much charm of its own to compensate for this, and it otherwise fulfils all the conditions of what an island should be. It is separated from the mainland by a channel varying from one mile to six in breadth, a distance sufficient to give dignity but not to imperil approach. It is large enough to be supremely interesting, yet not so large as to be indigestible to the visitor who has only a short holiday at his disposal. It is, in fact, a little larger than London of the Boroughs and the County Council—that is to say, twenty-three miles by about thirteen, as against some seventeen by twelve. It is in shape an elongated diamond, with the extreme points lying eastward and westward, and it contains 93,341 acres. These acres are so diversified by hills and rivers, so broken up, that they count for twice as much as a flat surface of the same extent. The island, in fact, presents every variety of scenery, from richly wooded lanes, tiny inland villages bowered in greenery, high sweeping downs, to bold coast scenery, with chalk cliffs rising 200 feet above a sea often grand in the extreme. Ship-building at Cowes and cement works on the Medina are the only important manufactures, thus the fresh sea-air is untainted by smoke. Of the stone, Sir Richard Worsley, the chief island historian, says: "There are several quarries which produce varieties of stone applicable to different uses. Those near Quarr Abbey were once in such esteem as to furnish stone for building the cathedral at Winchester, as appears by a grant made by William Rufus to Walkelyne, Bishop of that diocese.... The stone continued in reputation till the reign of Edward III., and in the registers of Winchester it is recorded that William of Wykeham used it in building the body of that cathedral, whence it seems as if Portland stone was not then known, since it is certainly preferable to this both in colour and durability." Farms and fishing, chiefly for shell-fish and supplying the wants of numerous visitors, provide work for the inhabitants.

The island is also noted for its sheep, the mildness of its climate being suitable for early lambs, while the high chalk downs supply just the herbage most necessary for grazing. Naturally it follows that the trade in wool is good, and it has been so noted for many centuries. Drayton in his Polyolbion, speaking of the wool, says: "Not Leemster's self can show a finer fleece."

In Sir John Oglander's Memoirs (seventeenth century) he says: "It is, and hathe bene a tax layd on this island, that it never produced any extraordinary fayr handsome woman, nor a man of any super-eminent gwyftes in witt or wisdome, or a horse excellent for goodness. I can answer that no part of England in generall, the quantitie considered, hath produced more exquisite in either species than this island."

As for visitors, honeymoon couples and invalids have a special predilection for the island, and are to be found there at all times of the year enjoying the glorious sweep and firm sands of Sandown Bay, with its record for sunshine, the sheltered warmth of Ventnor, with its mild winter and equable climate, or the many beauties of Shanklin, which claims a better summer season than its rival—apt to be, perhaps, a trifle too warm at times. The island has been called "The Garden of England," a title by which it is referred to so long ago as 1781.

SANDOWN BAY.
The white cliffs of Culver Down are the eastward end of the rib of chalk which has its other extremity at the Needles.

The narrow lanes crowded in by high, many-flowering hedges, the sharp descents and sudden turns, are not conducive to ease in motoring or cycling, and cyclists who ride as an end in itself, and not as a means to enjoyment, will find they had better go elsewhere. A capable cyclist could run all round the island in a day, but much would he miss thereby! For the attractions of the island are varied, appealing to historian, antiquarian, geologist, and botanist, man of letters, and lover of scenery, no less than the sportsman, and he who loves a game. From the historic castle of Carisbrooke, with its pathetic memories, to the yachting week at Cowes, almost every kind of man can find something to interest him.

The facilities for getting about are good, for though in the northern part of the island the roads are sometimes a little rough, with stones not deeply enough set, they are always dry, being sandy; and west of Newport, and south, and also in the south-eastern corner, over quite three-quarters of the island in fact, they are excellent, dry, smooth, and firm. In spite of the hills and sudden turns, therefore, there is much to be commended to cyclists.

The two railways, the Isle of Wight and the Isle of Wight Central, divide the ground between them, the former running from Ventnor to Ryde, with a branch to Bembridge, and the other, which is much the larger, covering the rest of the ground. By their peculiar position they are enabled to give certain kinds of tickets which could not be offered except on a small island. Of such are the "go-where-you-please" weekly tickets, limited only by time, and not by distance. These enable one, for the sum of about a pound, to travel first-class in any direction, and over the same lines, as often as one likes for a week; while each railway also offers cheaper tickets for its own lines exclusively, and the lower classes are correspondingly cheaper.

In this general survey we have not so far touched upon one aspect of the island which in the minds of some people looms so large as altogether to eclipse all others, and that is its attractions as a health resort.

The fortune of Ventnor was made by the celebrated physician, Dr. James Clark (1780-1870), who pronounced it to be the English Madeira. From a little fishing hamlet it grew prodigiously fast into a fashionable watering-place, with good shops and fine buildings. Numerous sanatoria for consumptives, ranging downwards from the Royal National Hospital, show the opinion of its climate held by medical men in our own day.

The town, which stands on the side of a steep incline, is extremely picturesque, and some of the streets seem absolutely to tumble downwards. The different levels, however much they may add to its beauty from an artist's point of view, are, however, a little trying to the large number of invalids who come to Ventnor. Bathing, golf, tennis, and all the usual recreations are found in abundance, and the number of coaches starting for different excursions on a summer's day are legion. Shanklin differs from Ventnor in having houses above and below the cliff, instead of being planted on its side—a feat here rendered impossible by the precipitous nature of the cliffs. The two parts are connected with a lift, which does not in itself add to the beauties of the landscape, and there are also, of course, zigzag paths and graded roads, and the famous chine already referred to, by which one can reach the higher level from the lower. Shanklin faces eastward, and is "round the corner" from Ventnor, which makes it not quite so warm in summer.

Sandown, again, which is northward, faces, like Shanklin, over a wide bay, and it boasts a high record in sunshine, having been, in fact, first for the whole of the United Kingdom in 1908. The sands are also exceptionally good.

These three are the best known health resorts, but visitors throng equally to the rapidly rising Totland Bay on the west, and Freshwater, Cowes, Ryde, and other places are seldom altogether deserted to their own inhabitants.