“The Ouse is generally a stagnant stream, neither giving nor receiving much beauty in all the great tract through which it passes. Its course is uniformly dull and unimportant to Buckingham; nor is it at all an object from the princely territory of _Stowe_, which abounds in grand scenes and buildings.” This river “does not improve much,” (he further observes) “as it traverses the plain counties of Bedford and Huntingdon, though it adds some consequence to their capitals, being there navigable; at St. Ives it sinks into those great marshes which abound on this part of the eastern coast, through Norfolk, Huntingdonshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire. “The _Hyee_ which meets it a little below Bedford, passes near the Duke of Bedford’s noble domain at Woburn Abbey, and the _Ivel_ flows northward to it through a dull uninteresting tract of country. “The _Cam_ is composed of two branches, one of which rises on the borders of Bedfordshire, and unites with the other, which bears the classic name of _Granta_, flowing from the confines of Essex, through the highly ornamented grounds of Audley End. They unite near Cambridge, and then run nearly eastward till the Ouse receives them, a little way from Ely. “The _Cam_ receives no small portion of beauty from the academical shades of Cambridge, being crossed by bridges from most of the principal Colleges, whose gardens join the public walks on its banks, which are finely planted and laid out. The stream itself is but stagnant and muddy, yet it adds something to the peculiar traits of the landscape, with the several stone bridges; nor do the fronts of the colleges, as they appear in succession, intermixed with thick groves, any where shew themselves to such advantage. The Area in front of Clare Hall, and the new building of King’s College, with its superb chapel, matchless in that species of Gothic Architecture which has been called “_the improved_,” exhibit one of the most striking displays in England. Soon afterward the Cam sinks into the Fens, where the proud pile and towers of Ely Cathedral appear finely elevated over the level, just above the junction of the Cam and the Ouse. “A dreary tract of Marsh accompanies these united rivers to Downham in Norfolk; nor does the country much improve afterwards, but the channel becomes very considerable, and the exit of these rivers is splendid, where the flourishing port and great trade of Lynn present a croud of vessels.”