28 RED DEER. 



the wall, and the beech flourishes upon it. 

 Long grass and moss droop over the stones 

 of the walls like arras, and are hollow be- 

 neath ; in these hollow spaces humble bees 

 have their nests. Ferns are almost as thick 

 as the grass, and sometimes where the walls 

 are exposed and without the arras of moss, 

 hart's- tongue springs from every crevice. 

 Foxgloves flower by the gateways, and from 

 every gateway there is a pleasant view of 

 the green valleys beneath, and of the dark 

 moors above. 



At a distance the enclosed fields seem 

 surrounded with hedges, not merely cropped, 

 but smoothed and polished, so rounded and 

 regular do they appear. It is the natural 

 tendency of beech to grow to a regular 

 level, so that looking down upon it it ap- 

 pears cropped. I suppose the square shape 

 of most of the fields is caused by the walls ; 

 walls are more easily built in straight lines 



