That the surroundings of an educational establishment such as Sandhurst should be picturesque may not perhaps be regarded as a necessity; still, the stranger to the neighbourhood, as well as the dweller in these parts, can hardly fail to be charmed with the beauty of the grounds surrounding the Royal Military College.<br><br>The building itself is best described as a massive though ugly structure. In all else a considerable amount of artistic taste has been displayed, and the men of a by-gone age, to whom we are indebted for the planning and laying out of the estate, seem to have been endowed with a rare faculty for skilfully combining their handiwork with the already existing beauties of nature. In the foreground are to be seen smooth lakes - a vast expanse of water - fringed with dark fir-trees and silvery birches, and dotted with evergreen-planted islets; beyond their margins the eye rests on solemn pine forests, which extend for miles, clothing the shallow valleys and low hills; while here and there sparkling streams flow down through woods of birch and alder. Black morasses, overrun with bog-myrtle and willow scrub, form in the hollows, or beech woods or oak plantations ring the changes.