as won high
position, and these two mining towns are the chief centres of the
sport. Something other than football, however, attracts most of those
who come to Cornwall, and one such attraction ought to be the lovely
view of St. Ives Bay to be enjoyed from the Godrevy headland. The reef
of rocks lying off this eastward point of the bay has been a deadly
trap for navigation, and the lighthouse, on an island close to the
mainland, was first erected in 1857. One early wreck on these crags is
connected with memories of the beheaded Charles I. On the day of his
execution a fierce storm broke on the coast, easily interpreted by
loyal Cornishmen as a judgment of God. A vessel containing the royal
wardrobe and other furnishings was riding at the time in St. Ives Bay,
being bound for France, and this was driven by the tempest on the
Godrevy rocks. Of the sixty persons on board all were lost with the
exception of a man and boy; these, with a wolfhound, swam to the islet
on which the light now stands and were carried to St. Ives as soon as
the storm permitted their rescue. With all the assistance that a
powerful light can give the Godrevy stones are still perilous. The
lighthouse is finely placed and its white tower is a conspicuous mark
along the coast. The eastward projection of this headland is Navax
Point. A little beyond is the deep and narrow gorge of Hell's
Mouth--not the only spot so named in Cornwall--whose dim caverns and
beach are said to be more frequented by seals than any other part of
the Cornish coast; but the seals will soon be a thing of the
past--they are foolishly and cruelly shot by men whose instinct is to
shoot everything. The caves were once haunted by smugglers also, and
their operations were admirably seconded by Nature. There is a
sprinkling of little islets along the shore here, one of which is
Samphire Isle. About a mile inland, on the left of the road, is Tehidy
House, with its parks and plantations of nearly one thousand acres,
said to have once reached to the foot of Carn Brea. This is the seat
of the Bassets, one of the most memorable of Cornish families, having
played a great part in the Duchy's history. The Bassets were among the
earliest Norman settlers in England and can be traced in Cornwall as
early as the time of Robert de Mortain, half-brother of the
Conqueror. They do not appear to have gained a permanent settlement in
Cornwall, however, till the reign of Henry II., when Thomas Baron
Basse