DAWS IN THE WEST COUNTRY 67 



built of white stone in the hollow of an oblong basin, 

 with the river Avon flowing through it ; and though 

 perhaps too large for perfect beauty, it is exceedingly 

 pleasant. Its " stone walls do not a prison make," 

 since they do not shut you out from rural sights and 

 sounds : walking in almost any street, even in the 

 lowest part, in the busiest, noisiest centre of the 

 town, you have but to lift your eyes to see a green 

 hill not far away ; and viewed from the top of one 

 of these hills that encircle it, Bath, in certain favour- 

 able states of the atmosphere, wears a beautiful 

 look. One afternoon, a couple of miles out, I was 

 on the top of Barrow Hill in a sudden, violent storm 

 of rain and wind ; when the rain ceased, the sun 

 burst out behind me, and the town, rain- wet and sun- 

 flushed, shone white as a city built of whitest marble 

 against the green hills and black cloud on the farther 

 side. Then on the slaty blackness appeared a com- 

 plete and most brilliant rainbow, on one side stream- 

 ing athwart the green hill and resting on the centre 

 of the town, so that the high, old, richly-decorated 

 Abbey Church was seen through a band of green 

 and violet mist. That storm and that rainbow, 

 seen by chance, gave a peculiar grace and glory to 

 Bath, and the bright, unfading picture it left in 

 memory has perhaps become too much associated 



