Leaving these good people, who were very hospitable, giving tea and
offering wine, we reached Salisbury in time to take the train for
Southampton.
June 18th.--Yesterday we left the Castle Hotel, after paying a bill of
twenty pounds for a little more than a week's board. In America we could
not very well have lived so simply, but we might have lived luxuriously
for half the money. This Castle Hotel was once an old Roman castle, the
landlord says, and the circular sweep of the tower is still seen towards
the street, although, being painted white, and built up with modern
additions, it would not be taken for an ancient structure. There is a
dungeon beneath it, in which the landlord keeps his wine.
J----- and I, quitting the hotel, walked towards Shinley along the
water-side, leaving the rest of the family to follow in a fly. There are
many traces, along the shore, of the fortifications by which Southampton
was formerly defended towards the water, and very probably their
foundations may be as ancient as Roman times. Our hotel was no doubt
connected with this chain of defences, which seems to have consisted of a
succession of round towers, with a wall extending from one to another.
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