As we were anxious to see them, we had kept more in mid-channel than we should otherwise have done.  We now hauled up for Portsmouth Harbour. Far off, on the summit of the green heights of Portsdown Hill, we could see the obelisk-shaped monument to Nelson, an appropriate landmark in sight of the last spot of English ground on which he stepped before sailing to fight the great battle of Trafalgar, where he fell.  We could also trace the outline of a portion of the cordon of forts--twenty miles in length--from Langston Harbour on the east to Stokes' Bay on the west. Along the shores, on both sides of the harbour, are two lines of fortifications; so that even should a hostile fleet manage to get by the cheese-like forts, they would still find it a hard matter to set fire to the dockyard or blow up the Victory.  That noble old ship met our sight as, passing between Point Battery and Block House Fort, we entered the harbour.