WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 41 



a view for many miles could have been obtained over 

 the tops of the primeval trees, must then have had a 

 strangely different strategical position to what it now 

 seemingly occupies in the midst of almost treeless 

 hills. Possibly, too, the powerful effect of so many 

 square miles of vegetation in condensing vapour may 

 have had a distinct influence upon the rainfall, and 

 have rendered water more plentiful than now a con- 

 sideration which may help to explain the manner in 

 which these ancient forts were held. 



The general deficiency of moisture characteristic of 

 these chalk hills is such that it is said agriculture 

 flourishes best upon them in what is called a " drop- 

 ping " summer, when there is a shower every two or 

 three days, the soil absorbing it so quickly. For the 

 grass and hay crops down below in the vale, and for 

 the arable fields there with a stiff, heavy soil, on the 

 other hand, a certain amount of dry weather is de- 

 sirable, else the plough cannot work in its seasons, nor 

 the crops ripen, nor the harvest be garnered in. So 

 that the old saying was that in a drought the vale 

 had to feed the hill, and in a wet year the hill had 

 to feed the vale which remains true to a considerable 

 extent, so far at least as the cattle are concerned, and 

 was probably true of men and their food also before 

 the importation of corn in such immense quantities 

 placed both alike free from anxiety on that -account. 

 This deficiency of moisture being borne in mind, it is 

 a little curious to find ponds of water on the very 

 summit of the down. 



