go By Leafy Ways. 



But there is an overpowering sense of dreariness 

 among it all Greater than the wonder of its beauty 

 is the wonder of its solitude. Vainly the eye wanders 

 over the landscape searching for some signs of life ; 

 there is no man, no moving thing. The faint cry of 

 some restless bird serves but to emphasize the silence. 

 It is the stillness of the desert. 



At far intervals the ground rises, gently at first, then 

 more abruptly, with here and there a block of granite 

 lifting its grey head above the heather. At last the 

 hill is crowned with a huge mass of seamed and 

 weathered stone that towers over the country like a 

 robber stronghold. Round its base soft mosses gather 

 thick. A multitude of plants have found footing on 

 its narrow ledges. Harebells hang their graceful 

 blooms among the rifted stone. Niches in the rocky 

 walls are the haunt of dove and jackdaw. Here on 

 the windy summit rests the wandering raven, and 

 with keen eye looks down on his wide hunting- 

 ground. 



The heath near by is broken with long hollows, the 

 work of an ancient race of miners, of whom all other 

 trace has vanished. 



Here, too, in the very heart of the wilderness, is a 

 haunt of birds. In the steep face of rock, that softened 

 by the touch of time bears now no mark of miner's 

 tool, the rockdove breeds. Quiet as our footsteps are 

 upon the springy turf, the faint sound disturbs the 

 timid tenants. Suddenly from the narrow cleft comes 



