AT THE ISLES OF SHOALS 47 



berries and blackberries, the last two blessing the 

 tangle with fruit. Among the grasses grow yar- 

 row, St. John's wort, mullein, toad-flax, cranes- 

 bill, evening primrose and other herbs, while 

 Virginia creeper and fragrant clematis make many 

 a spot a bower of climbing vines. Not only do all 

 these familiar pasture folk grow here, but in many 

 instances they seem to grow with a luxuriance that 

 exceeds that of their favorite shore locations. 

 Their tangle makes passage difficult except by 

 established paths, and the road which circumnav- 

 igates the island is cut almost as much through the 

 compacted shrubbery as through the rough rocks 

 along the tops of the cliffs. Rainfall collects in the 

 hollows of the granite in some places and makes 

 miniature marshes, and in one spot a tiny pond 

 which is big enough to supply ice to the islanders, 

 filling to the brim with the winter rains and in 

 some winters freezing pretty nearly solid. In Au- 

 gust this pond, which is high in the middle of the 

 island, is dry, its bottom green with rushes and its 

 sides rampant with the spears of the blue flag. 



Often in the tiny valleys in the heart of the island, 

 surrounded by its dense shrubbery, you lose sight 



