It's a work by Charles Kingsley, a prolific English novelist and author whose main power lay in his descriptive faculties. Kingsley wrote poetry and political articles, as well as several volumes of sermons.

Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819–23 January 1875) was a priest of the Church of England, a university professor, historian and novelist. He is particularly associated with the West Country and northeast Hampshire. He was a friend and correspondent with Charles Darwin.