s; and a small river, called Luxford Lake, rises from some hills not
far from the south shore, so that the place is almost surrounded by
water.

About six miles off is Corfe Castle, on a hill almost in the centre of
Purbeck Island. It is a picturesque ruin, and full of interesting
associations. It was here that Edward, the dupe of the wily Dunstan,
was murdered in the year 979, at the instigation of Elfrida, the widow
of Edgar, and Edward's mother-in-law, who wished to have her own son,
poor "Ethelred the Unready," upon the throne. A far more interesting
event connected with it was the defence made by Lady Bankes, the wife of
the owner, in 1643, against the Parliamentary forces. It must have been
in those days a very strong place, for Lady Bankes, with her daughter
and her maid-servants, assisted by five soldiers, successfully defended
the middle ward against the attack of one of the storming divisions, the
whole defensive force not exceeding eighty men, unprovided with cannon.
It would probably have fallen, however, had not Lord Carnarvon raised
the siege.

Near Swanage also, in the middle of an open heath, is the celebrated
Aggie Stone, or holy stone, though it is more generally known at present
as the Devil's Nightcap. It is a long stone poised on a single point.
We agreed that it was something like a giant mushroom. The country
people say it was thrown from the Isle of Wight, with the intention of
destroying Corfe Castle, but that, falling short, it descended where we
found it, on the top of the hill, eighty or ninety feet high. We could
not decide whether it was placed here by art or Nature, for similar
stones exist in other places where water and the atmosphere have cleared
away the surrounding earth. Papa was of opinion that it was formed by
natural causes.

Getting under weigh from Swanage, we stood round Peveril Point and
Durlestone Head. The wind being off shore, we kept close in with the
coast, which consists of high cliffs full of fossils, we were told. As
we were passing Saint Alban's, or Saint Aldhelm's Head, we got out our
mackerel lines. We had half a dozen each, about forty fathoms long. To
each line were fastened eight or ten snoods: a snood is a short line
with a hook at the end. At first we baited with pieces of white linen,
as the mackerel is a greedy fish, and will bite at any glittering object
in the water.

"Two lines overboard will be enough, or they will be fouling each
other,