Crediton, where shoes are made, and Tiverton, where there are lace mills, are higher up in the Exe valley. Dawlish, in a sheltered valley, and Exmouth, on a hill, are two bathing-places near the mouth of the estuary.

The beautiful and costly Honiton lace, the manufacture for which Devonshire is most famous, is made chiefly in the Otter Valley. It is a snug valley, sheltered by hills on each side, well-wooded hills, from whose tops the pink marble of Devon crops up. The cottages lie among the orchards, and the lace-makers may be seen at work at their cottage doors. This delicate fabric is made altogether by hand. The lacemaker sits on a stool with a hard cushion on her lap; the pattern is sketched on a piece of parchment which is laid upon the cushion; pins are put through the pattern to mark it, and the worker forms the mesh and makes the pattern with many small bobbins on which threads are wound, fine threads for the meshes, coarse for the pattern. Though the lace is costly, it takes so long to make it that the workers are not very well paid.

Lace is made in the numerous lanes which wind about Budleigh Salterton, a delightful little wateringplace, set in apple orchards; it is also made in the large red village of Otterton, in Ottery St. Mary, and in most of the villages in this neighbourhood. It is sent to Honiton or to Exeter for sale. Colyton, on the Axe, is another lace-making place. Axminster, on this river, was once a famous carpet-making place, but its trade has declined.

The vale of Honiton is as famous for its butter as for its lace; there, and in the Exe valley, the best Devonshire cream and butter are made.

1. What counties does Devon lie between? What waters wash it on the north? on the south?

2. What moor occupies the west of the county? Name two or three of the highest Tors. Name the three longest rivers which rise in the moor and flow south. Into what estuary do the Plym and the Tamar fall? What town stands on this opening? Two other towns join Plymouth-name them.

3. What is the southern corner of Devon called? Name the port at the mouth of the Dart. Another town on this river among the hills. Name the watering-places north and south of Torbay. What is the southern headland of the bay called? What town stands at the mouth of the Teign?

4. In what moor does the Exe take its rise? Name five towns upon this river. Name three towns in the valley of the little river Otter. Two in the valley of the Axe.

5. Name four towns on the north coast, among the Exmoor Hills. What river rising in Dartmoor flows north? What town stands at its mouth? Name two towns on the Torridge. A town near Hartland Point. What island lies beyond Barnstaple Bay?

SOMERSET.

I.

SOMERSET is a wide county stretching along the Bristol Channel. It is a land of hill and vale, but the vales are broader than those of Devon, and the hills do not rise out of one high moor, but are scattered in ranges here and there over the county. Somerset, the name given to this district by the Saxons, means "the pleasant country," and, next to Devon, it is the prettiest county in the west, and has a fertile soil and a delightful climate.

The surface of the county is greatly varied. Going eastward from North Devon to Wilts, we crossExmoor, a continuation of the North Devon moorland; the hilly country between the Quantocks and Blackdowns; the fertile hollow or Dean of Taunton; the low marshy Somerset levels; the rugged Mendip district, and the Avon valley in which Bath stands.

The Somerset, or, as they would call themselves, "Zummerzet" folk, are generally farmers, and good farmers too. Many jokes are made about the way the people speak; they turn "s" into "z," and "f" into v," and have words which are not used in other parts of England; but many of these are real old English words.

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II.

EXMOOR AND TAUNTON DEAN.

EXMOOR, with its dark hills and valleys, stretches eastward out of Devon. It is for the most part a barren tract, but some of the most beautiful country in Somerset lies on the edge of the moor, having its dark hills for a background.

East of Exmoor are the Quantock Hills, a heathery range containing copper, running north from Taunton to the sea.

In the south of the county, between it and Devon, are the Blackdown Hills, upon one of which is the Wellington Monument. This is a stone pillar raised in memory of the Battle of Waterloo (1815), and put up in this place because Wellington, a red-brick town at the foot of the hills, had the honour of giving title to our great "Iron Duke."

The country between the Blackdowns and the Quantocks is very pretty, and Milverton, Wiveliscombe, and Combe Florey are all pleasantly placed upon or among

the hills.

Taunton Dean lies to the east of the Quantocks and Blackdowns; the Tone, which gives names to the vale, flows through it to join the Parret. Taunton Dean is so fertile "with the zun and the zoil alone that it needs no manuring"; so the Somerset people say.

Taunton itself is the county-town of west Somerset ; a pleasant sunny town, with broad streets and comfortable houses, where the rich farmers of the vale meet to sell their crops. The town stands on rising ground above the Tone, and has the ruins of an ancient castle.