DEER IN SUMMER. 53 



is all woods ! woods ! woods ! a valley of 

 woods, interminable oak, under which hun- 

 dreds of deer might hide. On the right 

 it is heather thousands of acres of heather 

 gradually expanding into the mountainous 

 breadth of Dunkery Beacon. 



Now in June the heather is dark, yet be- 

 neath the darkness there are faint shades of 

 purple and green ; it looks dry and heated 

 under the sunshine. Dunkery towers over 

 as if the green Ball were a molehill. I 

 can see now that a deep trench a natural 

 fosse surrounds me on every side, except 

 where a neck of land like a drawbridge 

 gives access to the mount. Go in what 

 direction you will, you are met by this 

 immense circular trench, and beyond that 

 by a steep and high ascent. The heather 

 and the woods of the opposite slopes wind 

 round you, so that by merely crossing the 

 summit of the mount you change one view 



