144 NATURE IN DOWNLAND 



ping bright twittering notes as they fly swiftly past: 

 it is like the vibrating crystal chiming sounds of a 

 handful of pebbles thrown upon and bounding and 

 glissading musically over a wide sheet of ice. 



From these small sounds and the smaller still of 

 insect life, to the greater sounds of bird and mammal 

 the noise of the herring and black-backed gulls 

 drifting leisurely by at a vast height above the earth, 

 and ever and anon bursting out in a great chorus of 

 laugh-like cries, as if the clouds had laughed ; the in- 

 numerable tremulous bleatings of a driven flock ; the 

 percussive bark of the shepherd's dog, and the -lowing 

 of kine in some far off valley. They are all musical, 

 and are in a sense music. And, best of all, there is 

 the human voice. Even a musical artist, in spite of 

 an artist's prejudice, an old English composer, has 

 said that speech, the sweet music of it, is infinitely 

 more to us than song and the sound of all our musical 

 instruments. 



I cannot say that the Sussexians have more musical 

 voices than the people of any other part of the king- 

 dom, but their speech is pleasant, more so than in 

 most counties, and they are certainly fond of singing. 

 The people of the downs have in my experience the 

 nicest voices in speaking. And here as in other places 

 you will occasionally find a voice of the purest, most 

 beautiful quality. I would go more miles to hear a 

 voice of that description speaking simple words, than 

 I would go yards to listen to the most wonderful vocal 



