CHAPEL CARN BREA. 49 "consider how he is to order all things. God preserve you in safety, most beloved Son. Given the 13th 66 66 day of the kalends of June, in the nineteenth year "after the consulship of our said Lord. The fourth "indiction A.D. 601." It may be remarked, that crosses by the way side, and at cross roads, abound in Cornwall, and particularly in the west; the reason of which appears to be, that these were originally Druidical stations which the Christians did not venture to destroy, but suffered the people to pay their adorations at them as they had been accustomed to do, after they had cut a cross as a symbol of the new religion. And the foregoing letter of Pope Gregory sanctioned the compromise. 66 But Dr. Borlase goes on to say, "the artificial hill rising on the centre of the natural one is 100 paces "in circumference. You ascend it by steps to the east "and south. The rest was walled round with large "stones. The perpendicular height of it may be about "20 feet; it rises into a conic figure. As this makes a large heap or mass of stone, it seemed very probable "that some other use might be intended than barely 66 66 66 66 66 supporting the chapel above, as it is capable of ad mitting a large vault or grot; we therefore searched as narrowly as possible for openings, thinking that "an hermitage might have been concealed among the " ruins, but we were disappointed; not the least vestige "of that kind appearing. On the S. side, ascending "by a large flight of steps, you enter by a small door "into the chapel which is arched with stone well wrought." 66 G This was Dr. Borlase's account of this ruin about the year 1737 or 1738. It is now, 1841, little more than a confused heap of stones, scarcely any traces of the building remaining, his sketch therefore is valuable. "The chapel was a free privileged manumized chapel,” says Hals, "where the Bishop could not visit." The gentlemen's houses of this parish were of a very secondary order, and offered little worthy of notice in point of age or architecture; neither did they stand in spacious deer parks surrounded with gnarled oaks, the growth of ages, but were generally closed in by stone walls. Whatever of wood there may have been in by-gone ages has disappeared; the surface of the country is entirely denuded, not a twig will be found wherewith to whip a sorry horse, nor a bush to hide the nest of the singing bird. It is said, however, that in days of yore, Bostraze Moor, now a peat moss, was covered with timber, and it is confirmed by the fact, that when cutting peat, of which fuel it affords a valuable and abundant supply to the cottager, at about twelve feet beneath the surface are found stumps of trees, some erect, some prostrate. A good specimen may be seen in the Penzance Museum of Natural History. Various opinions have been offered, whether it is oak, fir, alder, or other wood; and who shall decide when doctors dis agree? Full grown hazel nuts are frequently found quite perfect. From this moor flows a clear crystal stream of water, which maintains its purity, till it reaches the first mill in its winding course towards the sea. As it proceeds, it suspends a portion of the ochrous substance of the minerals, which are pounded and washed in |