to the spot as soon as dawn disclosed the inevitable danger of the vessel.—­For some hours afterwards a hideous spectacle was here presented,—­the naked and mangled bodies of the unfortunate sufferers, with the remains of the vessel and cargo, were tossed about in dire confusion by the raging waves, or dashed again and again on the stony beach; but before the close of the day, most of the former had been drawn ashore, and the broken fragments of the wreck were strewed on the beach for several miles.  Six of the passengers (an officer named Shore, his wife, and daughters,) were buried in Newport churchyard, where a monument has since been erected to their memory; and it is a strange fact that the premises which adjoin that cemetery on the western side, had been but a short time previously engaged for their reception by a near relative, who there anxiously awaited the ship’s arrival.  Most of the others (as already mentioned,) were interred at Chale.

Subsequently, the wrecks on the island coast have been less numerous, and rarely accompanied by loss of life or any other circumstance of particular interest:  the case of H.M.  Steam-sloop SPHYNX, however, having excited so large a share of public attention, claims a brief notice.  Returning from her first voyage to Africa, she neared the coast during a thick fog about six o’clock on the morning of Jan. 16, 1847:  and by the force of her engines was driven over the outer ledge (off Brooke), and firmly fixed in the clay beds within.  The suddenness of the accident caused great alarm amongst her crew and passengers (300 in number):  and the startling discharges of her heavy artillery quickly aroused the inhabitants for miles round:  but daylight and the ebbing tide enabled her people to reach land with no great difficulty,—­although a boat, sent to her from another war-steamer, capsized with the loss of seven men.  For nearly two months, repeated efforts were made to extricate the Sphynx from her awkward position:  and after her masts, guns, and most of her stores and machinery had been removed, and the hull itself buoyed up by a vast number of empty casks, and some decked lighters (called camels), she was at length brought off and towed into Portsmouth harbour on the 3rd. of March.  Her bottom had sustained considerable injury, though much less than was expected from her having lain so long in such a situation, and during several severe gales.

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The VILLAGE OF CHALE lies at the foot of St. Catharine’s Hill, and comprises a considerable number of scattered cottages:  none of them however deserving a stranger’s notice, except perhaps the Parsonage, and the Abbey-farm-house; the latter covered with the most luxuriant ivy.

If the visitor be on his return to Newport, he will within three miles of it pass GATCOMBE, a small village, and a first rate seat:  exhibiting altogether perhaps the most charming inland scenery in the Isle of Wight:—­