132 THE FORESTS OF ENGLAND. 



F. St Leonard's Forest. 



" St Leonard's Forest presents but little of pictur- 

 esque variety of thicket and glade, of open lawns dotted 

 with spreading trees, and skirted with broken lines of 

 dark wood. The soil, consisting chiefly of hungry sands, 

 is unfavourable to the growth of timber ; the trees, there- 

 fore, generally are not of large size. But there is great 

 variety in the surface of the forest, which is mostly un- 

 dulating, and towards the centre swells into ridges of 

 considerable elevation. The long lines of these, rising one 

 above the other, clothed as are their slopes with thick 

 woods, give an air of interest and grandeur to the features 

 of the country. In this central ridge several rivers take 

 their rise, some flowing northwards, and falling into the 

 Thames, and others, in the opposite direction, finding their 

 way through valleys in the Souths Downs into the English 

 Channel. Among the former the chief is the Medway 

 and others sung by Pope : 



' The chalky Wey, that rolls a milky wave, 

 And sullen Mole, that hides his diving flood, 

 And silent Darent, stain'd with British blood.' 



" Among the latter are the Arun, the Adur, the Ouse, 

 and the Cuckmere, all forming harbours of more or less 

 importance at their outfall on the coast of Sussex. The 

 glens through which the springs which feed these rivers 

 pour their tributary waters are, many of them, exceedingly 

 beautiful/ 



G. Tilgate Forest. 



" At one time, iron ore in considerable quantities was 

 dug in Tilgate Forest; and, as it was smelted on the 



* In the records of the Harleian Miscellany, the curious reader may discover one 

 which might impress his mind with some terrific ideas of the natural history of the 

 South of England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is styled " The True 

 and Wonderful." The portion of the MSS. to which we allude is the " Legend of the 

 Serpent of St Leonard's Forest." 



