It is twenty-five miles
across the fields to Salisbury. Sheep can be seen everywhere and
the great number of them is really wonderful. All around the
city of Salisbury, as far as twenty-two miles to the west, and
six miles south, down to the coast, farmers raise sheep. There
could be as many as six hundred thousand sheep fed within six
miles of Salisbury, measuring every way round and the town
in the centre.
As we travelled through this country, we saw many old relics
from ancient times and ruins of the native population of this
kingdom. These are interesting to a traveler who has read
something of the history of the country. The cathedral is famous
for the height of its tower, which is without doubt the highest
and the most handsome in England, being from the ground 404
feet.
Salisbury itself is a large and fine city. It is built where two
rivers come together. Neither of them is very big, but they
become a large river when joined together, and yet larger when
joined by a third river, about three miles below the city. Then,
through a deep channel they flow through some gardens, and down
to Christchurch, into the sea.
The city of Salisbury has two important kinds of produce and
trade, which employ the poor of a great part of the country
round – namely, making cloth and sheets, called Salisbury
Whites. The people of Salisbury are happy and rich. Their
business is doing well, and there is a great deal of good
manners and good company among them.
I have written before that this country has high hills, whose
tops out into green fields upon which great numbers of sheep are
fed. But I want to tell the reader that these hills and fields
are most beautiful, with many small and clear rivers, and rich
fields bearing fruit and grain. All around we find nice little
towns, villages and houses, and among them many of good size. So
you look at the fields and think
the country wild and empty, and yet when you come down the hills
you are surprised with the most beautiful and rich country in
England.
(Senior English for China Student's Book 2A Unit 5
INTEGRATlNG SKILLS Reading)
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