where are sold refreshments of all sorts, for the ladies and gentlemen
who come hither to divert themselves in its labyrinths; for which reason
a certain author has thought fit to call it the Palace of Venus, and the
Temple of Nature; there being an enchanting prospect from it of a fine
country, which is scarce to be equalled for affording so surprising and
magnificent an idea both of earth and sky."

But these delightful retreats, like Arcadia of old, have long since
vanished. The _yews_ were cut down in the year 1780; and their
successors fall very short of the luxuriant descriptions of old
topographers. The _box_ has also at various times produced the
proprietors of the estate great profit. In 1608, the receipt for
box-trees cut down upon the sheepwalk on the hill was 50_l_.; in an
account taken in 1712, it is supposed that as much had been cut down,
within a few years before, as amounted to 3,000_l_.; and in 1759, a Mr.
Miller lamented that "the trees on Box Hill had been pretty much
destroyed; though many remained of considerable bigness."

An immense quantity of box is annually consumed in this country, in the
revived art of engraving on wood. The English is esteemed inferior to
that which comes from the Levant; and the American box is said to be
preferable to ours. But the ships from the Levant brought such
quantities of it in ballast, that the wood on Box Hill could not find a
purchaser, and not having been cut for sixty-five years, was growing
cankered. The war diminished the influx from the Mediterranean; several
purchasers offered; and in 1795 it was put up to auction at 12,000_l_.
The depredations made on Box Hill, in consequence of this sale, did not
injure its picturesque beauty, as twelve years were allowed for cutting,
which gave each portion a reasonable time to renew. In 1802, forty tons
were cut, but the market being overstocked, it fell in value more than