OLD POND. 



17 



THE ISLAND IX OLD POND. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE piece of water called Old Pond, about one mile 

 from Godalming, on the London road, is a most attractive 

 spot to waterfowl ; and an island in its centre is the resort 

 of some of them in the breeding season, and also of a va- 

 riety of other birds, which find it a safe and unmolested 

 place for the same purpose. I have often delighted, in 

 years that are gone, to visit this island and its inmates; the 

 owner, Mr. Robert Moline, used to allow us free ingress 

 to all and every part of the estate ; a liberty of which any 

 one, with an incipient thirst for a knowledge of Natural 

 History, would be sure to avail himself. One day, having 

 pushed off from the shore, and moored the little shallop to 



