THE FERNY MOORLANDS. 61 



peeps of fern-land which are to be obtained be- 

 tween Totnes and Newton ; for the steep inclines 

 necessarily render the eight miles of railway journey 

 between the two places unusually long. 



Changing trains at Newton, on our way to the 

 moors, we were not long in getting to our point 

 of departure at Moretonhampstead. On this 

 branch line, twelve miles in length, the changing 

 scenes are supremely beautiful. During the whole 

 distance the line passes along a valley which is 

 preeminently Devonian. It is curious and interest- 

 ing to watch in the early summer the gradual 

 substitution of the barren moorland for the cul- 

 tivated tract. Grand slopes of rich greenwood, 

 flower-dotted meadows and June corn-crops stand- 

 ing proudly .up, with rich promise for the autumn 

 the light waving green of the stalks and ears 

 charmingly contrasting with the red and full blown 

 poppies, which are scattered in patches here and 

 there first meet the eye. But the cultivated land 

 is shorn of no picturesque surroundings : hill, wood, 

 and river, each with its peculiar Devonshire charm, 

 intermingle in rich and varying proportions, fling- 



