HEATHLANDS 109 



plant somewhat resembling a lowly nettle ; the leaves 

 have a hop-like scent, and so bitter and strong is the 

 odour that immediately after smelling them the mouth 

 for a moment feels dry with a sense of thirst. 



The angle of a field by the woods on the eastern side 

 of the heath, the entire corner, is blue in July with viper's 

 bugloss. The stalks rise some two feet, and are covered 

 with minute brown dots ; they are rough, and the lower 

 part prickly. Blue flowers in pairs, with pink stamens 

 and pink buds, bloom thickly round the top, and as 

 each plant has several stalks, it is very conspicuous 

 where the grass is short. 



There are hundreds of these flowers in this corner, 

 and along the edge of the wood ; a quarter of an acre 

 is blue with them. So indifferent are people to such 

 things that men working in the same field, and who 

 had pulled up the plant and described its [root as like 

 that of a dock, did not know its name. Yet they ad- 

 mired it. " It is an innocent-looking flower," they said, 

 that is, pleasant to look at. 



By the roadside I thought I saw something red under 

 the long grass of the mound, and, parting the blades, 

 found half-a-dozen wild strawberries. They were larger 

 than usual, and just ripe. The wild strawberry is a little 

 more acid than the cultivated, and has more flavour than 

 would be supposed from its small size. 



Descending to the lower ground again, the brake fills 

 every space between the trees ; it is so thick and tall 

 that the cows which wander about, grazing at their will, 

 each wear a bell slung round the neck, that their position 

 may be discovered by sound. Otherwise it would be 

 difficult to find them in the fern or among the firs. 

 There are many swampy places here, which should be 

 avoided by those who dislike snakes. The common 



