THE RIVER SID 7 



thing of the kind ? Year after year there is less ; 

 I see it vanishing before my eyes. Directly the 

 hanks want repairing, trees are felled upon them, 

 and laid beneath them to mend them. Why 

 cannot trees be brought from some other place 

 where they will not be missed ? It may save 

 trouble and expense for the moment to utilise 

 these growing on the spot ; but it is shortsighted, 

 for, setting aside the loss of beauty, which the 

 offenders are unable to appreciate, the roots of 

 growing trees are the only things that can resist 

 the rush of water. The dead ones laid under the 

 bank are quickly destroyed and washed away. 



And the curves of the river ! Almost every 

 year some tasteless riparian owner cuts straight 

 some of its beautiful curves. Where is the 

 lovely silver serpent that glided amongst the hills 

 when I first came here ? It is becoming some- 

 thing between a ditch and a canal for the greater 

 part of its course as one sees it from the hills. 

 Surely the natural beauty of a country is a valuable 

 public property, one that ought to be guarded by 

 the law, even at the expense of the landed proprie- 

 tors, large or small. If the large landed proprietors 

 will not be at the expense, nor take the trouble to 

 preserve the beauty of their native country, which 

 is, as it were, committed to their careless hands, 

 their raison d'etre ceases. 



