42 BIOGRAPHY. 



the ponds generally eight or ten inches below water-mark. 

 This encouraged the growth of weeds to a most incommo- 

 dious extent, which at last put an end to all pleasure in 

 fishing. Finding that the 'green mantle from the standing 

 pool ' was neither useful nor pleasant, I ordered the ponds 

 to be drained, and a plantation to be made in the space of 

 ground which they had occupied. 



" Had I known as much then as I know now of the 

 valuable services of the heron, and had there been a good 

 heronry near the place, I should not have made the change. 

 The draining of the ponds did not seem to lessen the 

 number of rats in the brook ; but soon after the herons 

 had settled here to breed, the rats became extremely 

 scarce ; and now I rarely see one in the place, where 

 formerly I could observe numbers sitting on the stones at 

 the mouth of their holes, as soon as the sun had gone 

 down below the horizon. I often watch the herons on the 

 banks of some other store-ponds with feelings of delight ; 

 and nothing would grieve me more than to see the lives of 

 these valuable and ornamental birds sacrificed to the whims 

 and caprices of man." 



A portion of one of these now dry fish-ponds may be 

 seen in the illustration of the " Grotto/' on page 68. On 

 such a rich soil as that afforded by the bed of an old fish- 

 pond, the trees grew with great rapidity, and the spot is 

 now a singularly picturesque one, with bold effects of 

 light and shade, and shelter from the wind and sun. 



The next important work was the extension of the moat, 

 a long and costly operation. 



The present house is comparatively modern, standing well 

 clear of the water. But, the original house extended to 

 the water on the south side, and was a fortified building of 

 sufficient strength to justify a siege under Cromwell's 

 personal direction. 



