202 BRITISH SERPENTS. 



absent, and the adder common and of large size in 

 the Monnow Valley ? 



1. Natural boundaries. — In the case of a small 

 inland area these are the topographical factors of 

 rivers, mountains, woods, and cultivated land. The 

 influence of such factors is at once evident in a case 

 such as the one under consideration. This valley is 

 approached from all directions through more or less 

 cultivated parts, highly so in several directions, and is 

 far more sparsely populated than the surrounding parts 

 of the counties. The transition is sharp from arable 

 or ploughed land to mountain and woodland. Ob- 

 viously as civilisation advanced towards the valley 

 from all sides, as the land became cleared and the 

 plough succeeded the axe, the wilder animals, which 

 shun the approach of man, would retire before him ; 

 and here at the northernmost point of Monmouthshire 

 and the south border of Herefordshire, coining from 

 both directions, these animals found a shelter in the 

 secluded valley, and in the thick and extensive woods 

 of Garway Hill and The Graig. To this day the latter 

 hill is the home of the foxes in the district, and, as 

 the Master and members of the Monmouthshire Hunt 

 know only too well, it is a nearly hopeless task for men 

 or hounds to turn an old fox out of his haunts in the 

 thick woods on The Graig. So that from the point of 

 view of natural boundaries, here is a place where one 

 would expect the most retiring animals to congregate 

 and make a last stand. 



