CHAPTER TWENTY 



SANDHILLS 



ually getting drained, and what was (a few years since) a 

 dreary waste of marsh and swamp, has nowbecome a range 

 of smiling corn-land. I shall not easily forget my old keep- 

 er's exclamation,on his first seeingone of his favourite spots 

 for stalking wild-fowl turned intoanoat-field. Wehad walk- 

 ed far, with little success, but he had depended on our find- 

 ing the ducks in a particular spot, not being aware that it 

 had been drained since his last visit to it. Having taken a 

 longand sonorous pinch of snuff, accordingto his usual cus- 

 tom when in any dilemma, he turned to me, muttering, 

 "Well, well, the whole country is spoilt with their improve- 

 ments, as they ca'them. It will no be fit for a Christian man 

 to live in much longer." He thought that oats and wheat 

 were a bad exchange for his favourite ducks and geese. 



