WILD EXMOOR. 23 



advantage to the cattle, sheltering them from 

 storms and breaking the force of the tre- 

 mendous gales which blow over Eed Deer 

 Land. 



All the hedges beside the roads and 

 about the fields are beech, for hawthorn will 

 not grow to any height ; the soil or the 

 climate does not suit it, and it always remains 

 thin and stunted. Beech springs up quickly 

 and makes a very beautiful hedge to look at, 

 especially in spring, when the leaf is in its 

 first fresh green. These hedges grow above 

 walls of loose stone, earth is banked against 

 the wall, and the beech flourishes upon it. 

 Long grass and moss droop over the stones 



OS 1 



of the walls like arras, and are hollow beneath ; 

 in these hollow spaces humble bees have 

 their nests. Ferns are almost as thick as the 

 grass, and sometimes where the walls are 

 exposed and without the arras of moss, 

 hart's-tongue springs from every crevice. 

 Foxgloves flower by the gateways, and from 

 every gateway there is a pleasant view of the 



