276 LATER YEARS 



to be a land agent, and to that end he has been learn- 

 ing his business under Baron Hambro's man at Milton 

 Abbey where, having a great taste for botany, he had 

 become acquainted with Mansel-Pleydell. 



As it was still early we declined being " refreshed " 

 and almost immediately started again in the carriage, 

 taking Mr. Stephens with us, and so went some 2 or 3 

 miles to the sea, along the right bank of the river that 

 runs through Wadebridge, our drive ending by crossing 

 a beautiful hard sand, for the tide was out. Then we 

 sent the carriage to a neighbouring farm-house to wait 

 for us and took to our legs, scrambling up the cliff and 

 along it towards Pentire Point. A great part of the 

 cliff here is steep for say 200 feet above the water with 

 a steep grassy slope above it. 



Mr. Stephens was very keen about the rare plants 

 that grew here, but I am afraid they were rather lost 

 upon me, though I could well admire the enormous 

 number of wild Howers which made the turf quite 

 bright with all sorts of colours. I don't think too that 

 I ever saw more butterflies at once, a great many of 

 one of the " Blues," which, by the way, exactly matches 

 in colour the flower of the Squill which was growing in 

 abundance. There was also a great number of Colias 

 edusa. We were scarcely ever out of sight of one, and 

 I hardly exaggerate when I say that in some spots they 

 were in flocks. As we kept ascending towards Pentire 

 Point the view became more and more extensive and 

 beautiful ; but of course our chief object was the 

 Choughs, which Mr. Stephens had seen constantly for 

 some weeks past. The cliff and slope were broken in 

 places by little ravines, "gugs" they call them, some 

 of which we could cross while others it was better to 

 walk round. Just as we were climbing the side of one 

 of them, rather a shallow one, we all three heard a note 

 which was perhaps most like a jackdaw's of any I had 

 ever heard, but still unmistakably different. I knew 

 at once it must be a Chough's, and looking up we saw 

 on the wing 3 black rook-like birds that seemed to 



