Of the small islands in the vicinity of the British coast, the only one which as yet has railways, is the beautiful little Isle of Wight, the climate of which is said to be the most salubrious of any part of Great Britain. It is, at its nearest point, about 85 miles from London, and, thanks to express trains and rapid steamboats, it is not farther in time than three hours, _viâ_ Portsmouth or Stokes Bay, to Ryde, or _viâ_ Southampton and the Solent, to Cowes. For an island, the length of which is only 22 miles, and the extreme breadth (as nearly as possible at its centre) 13 miles, the whole of which is necessarily, from its picturesque character, extremely undulating, it is very abundantly supplied with railways. The most important, and the most costly is the Isle of Wight Railway, running from Ryde to Ventnor, with its long tunnel near the latter place. The length of this railway is 12 miles, and the last section (through the tunnel) was opened for traffic in October 1866. By recent enactments, the company has obtained powers to construct 26 miles of extensions, so as, by means of them, to connect with the Newport and Cowes Line (5¼ miles long), and thus to establish a sufficient net-work of railways over the frequented portions of the island. The Isle of Man is about to construct a railway, which is to run from Douglas, its capital, into the interior of the island. There are no railways in Jersey or Guernsey, although possibly one may be soon made in the former island, from St. Helier’s to St. Aubin’s. Its length would be five or six miles, and, from a cursory inspection of it on the occasion of a visit we made to the island a couple of years ago, there appear to be abundant elements for traffic, if the line were cheaply constructed. The expense of carrying it farther from the capital would not be justifiable, both on account of the expensive works that would be necessary, and the comparatively small traffic, except during the tourist season. Then it is very considerable. We have now brought our Rambles on British Railways to a conclusion. CHAPTER XI. PARIS TO ST. MICHEL—“ABOVE SEA-LEVEL”—THE HOLBORN VIADUCT—THE MONT CENIS RAILWAY.