Page:Cornwall (Mitton).djvu/196

 THE INLETS OF THE SOUTH COAST 123 called by the pretty name of Roseland, which has however nothing to do with flowers, being derived from Rhos, the Celtic word for heath or gorse. About a mile along the southern shore of Fal- mouth is the Swan Pool, a sheet of fresh water cut off from the sea by a narrow bar of sand, and sup- posed by the Falmouth folk to outrival completely the better-known Looe Pool near Mullion. The whole of the Lizard peninsula is nearly shorn through by the Helford River, which almost reaches across to Looe Pool. If this is the heel of Cornwall, it, like the heel of Achilles, is vulner- able, and nearly severed by the slash! There is less to say about the Helford River estuary than any other. Beyond the fact that it was once a well-known harbourage for pirates it does not seem to have any striking title to fame. It is rather odd that though Cornwall is so liber- ally endowed with coast-line, so that at no part of the Duchy is one really far from the sea, yet she should have in addition these delightful winding waterways cutting deeply and widely into her south coast and affording excellent means of transit.