38 RAMBLES OF 



sued, may prove interesting to those who love the works 

 of nature, and may not be aware how great a field for 

 original observation is within their reach, or how vast a 

 variety of instructive objects are easily accessible, even 

 to the occupants of a bustling metropolis. To me it will 

 be a source of great delight to spread these resources be- 

 fore the reader, and enable him so cheaply to participate 

 in the pleasures I have enjoyed, as well as place him in 

 the way of enlarging the general stock of knowledge by 

 communicating the results of his original observations. 



One of my favourite walks was through Turner's lane, 

 near Philadelphia, which is about a quarter of a mile 

 long, and not much wider than an ordinary street, being 

 closely fenced in on both sides ; yet my reader may feel 

 surprised when informed that I found ample employment 

 for all my leisure, during six weeks, within and about its 

 precincts. On entering the lane from the Ridge road, I 

 observed a gentle elevation of the turf beneath the lower 

 rails of the fence, which appeared to be uninterruptedly 

 continuous ; and when I had cut through the verdant 

 roof with my knife, it proved to be a regularly arched 

 gallery or subterranean road, along which the inhabitants 

 could securely travel at all hours without fear of discovery. 

 The sides and bottom of this arched way were smooth 

 and clean, as if much used ; and the raised superior por- 

 tion had long been firmly consolidated by the grass roots, 

 intermixed with tenacious clay. At irregular and fre- 

 quently distant intervals, a side path diverged into the 



