CHARM OF THE DOWNS 23 



is a good preparation, an intensifier of the pleasure 

 to follow. Those who know the downs are all agreed 

 that it is a rare pleasure to be on them. And when 

 we have had our upward toil on a hot day, and are at 

 length on the level plateau-like summit, on the turf; 

 when the wind has blown us dry, and we have ex- 

 perienced that sense of freedom and elation which is 

 the result of rising from a low level into a rarefied 

 atmosphere, these purely physical sensations are suc- 

 ceeded by a higher, more enduring pleasure, which the 

 mind receives from the prospect disclosed. I mean 

 the prospect of the vast round green hills extending 

 away on either hand to the horizon. What is the 

 secret of this peculiar pleasure ? We may say off-hand 

 that it is nothing but the instinctive delight which we 

 have in wild nature and a wide prospect. And this is 

 no doubt a principal element in the feeling wild 

 nature and a wide prospect of unenclosed country, 

 an elastic turf under foot, and full liberty to roam 

 whithersoever we will. There is another element 

 resulting from the conformation of the earth's surface 

 the special character of the scenery. The wildness, 

 the wide horizon and sense of liberty after the confine- 

 ment of roads and fences and hedges, come first : it 

 is the local aspect, appealing as it does to the aesthetic 

 faculties, which makes the feeling distinctive. Thus, 

 among mountains, on moors, and in vast desolate 

 marshes, on iron-bound coasts, and on wide sea-side 

 flats and saltings, and on level plains, I experience 



