EPPING FOREST. 



ITS TOPOGRAPHY. 



" I advise them to study large scale maps." 



The Marquis of Salisbury. 



The routes which I have attempted to describe in 

 the following pages lead through what I consider, 

 after roaming through the Forest all my life, to be 

 its most beautiful glades and thickets, but I by 

 no means claim to have exhausted its charms. 

 On the contrary, even with the intimate knowledge 

 of every part which I have acquired, I almost 

 daily light on some picture which I have never 

 before observed. Still more will the discerning 

 visitor be constantly tempted to diverge from the 

 lines I have indicated, and discover fresh scenes 

 for himself That he will be amply repaid I do 

 not doubt. 



I have, as a rule, avoided the more formal roads, 

 and sought the by-ways, where nature has had the 

 freest play, and in these, owing to the absence 

 of landmarks visible from the denser thickets, it 

 is difficult to give clear and .unmistakable direc- 

 tions. The numerous tracks which intersect one 

 another are trodden out aimlessly by cattle, and 

 are consequently more confusing than useful as 



