What made Falmouth at one time a place of importance was that from it sailed the packets. At first they were a matter of contract between the General Post Office and the captains of the several boats; and this system continued till 1823, when the packets were placed under the orders of the Board of Admiralty. The transfer of the packets from the Post Office to the Admiralty at first excited much alarm among the inhabitants, and doubtless many of them suffered, owing to the decreased demand for ships' stores of all descriptions, as the sloops-of-war were provided by the Government; but the change did not prove so disastrous as was expected, for many persons were drawn to live at the place, persons who belonged to the families of the commanders, and also because a greater number of men were employed on the new system. Packets were first stationed at Falmouth in or about the year 1688, when some were employed to sail to Corunna; and in 1705 they ran to the West Indies; in 1709 five sailed to Lisbon; and the number gradually increased. In 1827 there were thirty-nine packets employed. But all this came to an end in 1850, when the mails were sent from Southampton in place of Falmouth. The church was dedicated in 1663 to Charles the Martyr. It is a mean building, without architectural merit, and with a stumpy tower, vastly inferior to the other church dedicated to the royal martyr at Plymouth. Pendennis Castle (Pen-Dinas, the Castle on the Head) is not a very striking feature. It was erected in the reign of Henry VIII., but it has been since somewhat extended. In 1644 Pendennis sheltered the unfortunate Henrietta Maria, when embarking for France. It was from hence that Arwenack House, esteemed the finest mansion in Cornwall, was fired, during the siege by the Parliamentary troops, lest it should furnish them with shelter. John Arundell, of Trerice, commonly called Jack-for-the-King, defended it for six months, he being in his eighty-seventh year, and only surrendered when starved out. From the ramparts a fine view is obtained of the Lizard promontory, and of the terrible Manacles, on which the _Mohegan_ was lost in October, 1898. Perhaps even more terrible was the wreck of the _Despatch_, in January, 1809, when, two days before Sir John Moore's death, three officers and seventy-two non-commissioned officers and privates were lost on Lowland Point; and almost simultaneously the _Primrose_, with 120 officers and men and six passengers, was wrecked on the Manacles. About half-way across the mouth of the harbour is the Black Rock, exposed at low water, but covered when the tide rises. An eccentric Mr. Trefusis, of Trefusis, opposite Falmouth, one day invited his wife to boat with him to the Black Rock and picnic there. She incautiously accepted, and when he had landed her, he made his bow, and rowed away with, "Madam, we are mutually tired of each other, and you will agree with me that it were best to part."