e, or bitter-sweet (_Solanum Dulcamara_),
often mistaken for the deadly nightshade (_Atropa Belladonna_--a fine
bushy herbaceous perennial, with large ovate-shaped leaves, and lurid,
purple bell-shaped flowers), quite a different plant, and happily
somewhat rare in England. The delicate light-blue flowers of the chicory
are very abundant here.

A tramp of upwards of six miles from Rochester, by way of Hoo,[35]
brings us to Lodge Hill, overlooking Perry Hill, which affords a
magnificent view of the mouth of the Thames beyond the low-lying
Marshes, and of Canvey Island, off the coast of Essex, on the opposite
side. By the kindness of a farmer's wife we are allowed to take a short
cut through the farm-garden and grounds, which leads direct to Cooling
(or Cowling) Church, a cheerless, grey-stone structure, the tower
standing out as a beacon long before we reach it.

Those unacquainted with this part of Kent may be interested in knowing
that the Marshes, which stretch out over a considerable distance on
either side of the Thames, on both the Kent and the Essex coasts,
consist entirely of alluvial soil reclaimed at some time from the river.
They are intersected by ditches and water-courses, and covered with rank
vegetation, chiefly of grass, rushes, and flags, where not cultivated.
Higher up the land is rich, and large tracts of it are planted with
vegetables as market gardens. Sea-gulls, plovers, and herons are
numerous; their call-notes in the still evening sounding shrill and
uncanny over the long stretches of flat lands.

Dear old Michael Drayton, the Warwickshire poet, who touched upon almost
everything, has not omitted to describe the Marshes in a somewhat
similar locality, for in the _Polyolbion_ (Song XVIII.) he gracefully
compares them to a female enamoured of the beauties of the River Rother,
thus:--

"Appearing to the flood, most bravely like a Queen,
Clad all from head to foot, in gaudy Summer's green,
Her mantle richly wrought with sundry flow'rs and weeds;
Her moistful temples bound with wreaths of quiv'ring reeds;
And on her loins a frock, with many a swelling plait,
Emboss'd with well-spread horse, large sheep, and full-fed neat;
With villages amongst, oft powthered here and there;
And (that the same more like to landscape should appear)
With lakes and lesser fords, to mitigate the heat
In summer, when the fly doth prick the gadding neat."

Readers of _Great Expectations_ wi