46 STUDIES OF NATUEE 



but by careful watching you soon come to find 

 the narrow tracks that are made by the shep- 

 herds and their sheep, and these are generally 

 dry. We observe that every important water- 

 course is marked by a birch wood. Strange 

 places are these dim and dark, or lighted only 

 by a green glimmer. The trees are low you 

 must often stoop to pass under them and are 

 much withered beneath, the verdant branches 

 being only those next the sky. All the ground 

 is strewn with fallen twigs, which snap and 

 crack under your feet. These dry and twisted 

 birch stems are singularly like serpents ; and, 

 as we know that the adder is not uncommon in 

 Arran, we frequently get a slight shock of alarm. 

 Nearer the shore many of the trees are large, 

 but at the same time gnarled and hollow. 

 Whenever I come into these groves by the sea 

 I bethink me of the wild woods of Broceliande 

 and of the lissome and snakelike Vivien lying 

 at Merlin's feet. 



