xxxvn LETTERS TO MARCO 253 



down. The whole operation was very simple, 

 and occupied somewhat less than a quarter of 

 an hour. Two old men and one old woman 

 did it ; none of them grand in any way, in 

 fact they were very short in stature. One of 

 these men first cut neatly through the spread- 

 ing root-tops at the base of the stem of the 

 tree, making perfectly clean notches in them 

 all round with a very sharp axe, which 

 seemed to go through the beechwood as if 

 it were only cheese. Then what they called 

 the fall was made ; this was a larger and 

 deeper notch on the side the tree was in- 

 tended to fall. It requires some knowledge 

 to select where a tree should fall, so as to do 

 least damage to its neighbours. Many 

 young tall saplings are hooked back with 

 hooks on the end of long poles, so as to 

 make way for the fall. The tree we saw 

 brought down had a strong natural list to 

 the south ; but by the proper placement of 

 the fall - notch, the tree was eventually 

 brought down due west. When the fall 



