36 WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



made upon the lack of water on these hills, the very 

 curious question arises, How did such an army, or 

 such a refugee population with cattle and horses, 

 supply themselves with sufficient water for drinking 

 purposes ? The closest examination of the camp it- 

 self fails to yield even a suggestion for an answer. 



There is not the slightest trace of a well, and it may 

 fairly be questioned whether a well would have been 

 practicable at that date. For this bold brow itself 

 stands high enough ; but then, in addition, it is piled 

 on an elevated plateau or tableland, beneath which 

 again is the level at which springs break out. The 

 wells of the district all commence on this tableland or 

 plain A depression, too, is chosen for the purpose, 

 and their depth is about ninety feet on the average ; 

 many are much deeper. But when to this depth 

 the task of digging right down through the hill piled 

 up above the plain is added, the difficulty becomes 

 extreme. 



On walking round the entrenchment at the bottom 

 of the fosse, and keeping an eye upon the herbage 

 the best of all guides one spot may be noticed where 

 there grows a little of that " rowetty " grass seen in 

 the damp furrows of the meadows. But there is no 

 sign whatever of a basin or excavation to catch and 

 contain this slight moisture slight indeed, for the 

 earth is as hard and impenetrable here as elsewhere, 

 and this faint moisture is evidently caused by the 

 rainfall draining down the slope of the rampart. Look- 

 ing next outside, the works for the source of such a 



