RED DEER. 



hedges; but I left it here, and walked out 

 among the cotton-grass of the moor. 



June had come in hot and dry, so that 

 the dark, peaty earth was firm, and com- 

 paratively easy to walk on. Even now there 

 were places where water stood, and I crossed 

 by stepping on thick tufts of matted grass, 

 dark water spirting aside under the pressure. 

 Where the turf had been cut away there 

 were ponds which it was necessary to go 

 round. Pale, short grass, the blades far 

 apart, and not close like the luxuriant growth 

 of a meadow, interspersed, too, with much 

 that was grey and dead, covered the broad 

 moor, which had been burnt in the spring. 

 My foot often caught in the dead stems of 

 furze withered by the flames. A lark rose 

 occasionally, else the expanse was vacant of 

 bird life an immense distance only. There 

 was nothing but distance. How far was it 

 across this roll or undulation, how far was it 



