Travel Notes: Rural England. 261 



Beyond the Tyne, near which we crossed the remains of the 

 old PvOtnan wall, we had our first view of ir;Oorlands — a forma- 

 tion we were to see for several days in dilTerent localities along the 

 Scotch -En,c;;lish border. The Tyne separates the moorlands 

 from the less hilly country to the south, and is the logical, if not 

 the actual, boundary of the two countries. We had no sooner 

 crossed than the change was evident in the broad Scotch dialect 

 which assailed our ears, in the different occupation of the farmer 

 who was here a raiser of sheep, and also in the character of the 

 country itself. To the south of the Tyne a feature of the country 

 is the abundance of plantings and the evident fact that the gen- 

 eral conditions of plant life are favorable; but as one gets into 

 the Cheviot Hills haw hedges give way to stone walls and, ex- 

 cept for more favorable valleys, trees are absent. Generally 

 speaking the bleak character of the country increases with 

 altitude and is most noticeable in the highlands, as where the 

 road crosses the pass at Carter Fell, at an altitude of 1,250 feet, 

 and enters Scotland. From the pass we had a fine view of the 

 moors, where rounded hills mounted hill on hill until, somewhat 

 to the east and north, they culminated in mountains 2,600 feet 

 above the sea. Through the country traversed, up to the moors, 

 it was always evident that the primitive character of the vege- 

 tation had long since been lost, but in the m.ooriands there is yet 

 much that is w41d and not at all suggestive of long occupation by 

 man. The moors, in fact, constitute as distinct a type of forma- 

 tion as plain or desert, and are probably quite as tenacious of 

 their leading characters. 



The plants at Carter Fell, and in a few other places on the 

 moorland, are probably to be considered as representatives. 

 The mass of the vegetation was seen to be low grasses and sedges. 

 Here and there are large masses of bracken, and, especially on 

 the summits, heather in flower in the middle of June, little more 

 than 20 cm. high. Sphagnum moss is abundant where the con- 

 tour of the ground permits the accumulation of moisture. 



The climate of the moors is apparently a severe one. We 

 were told by a shepherd, in whose hut we found protection from 

 a passing shower, that the snows of winter were very heavy and 

 that snow often lingered on the ground on northern exposures 

 until summer. 



