WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 47 



dry summers I have seen ripening oats barely a foot 

 high, and barley equally short. With all the resources 

 of modern agriculture, artificial manure, deeper plough- 

 ing, and more complete cleaning, such results do not 

 seem altogether commensurate with the labour be- 

 stowed. Of course it is not always so, else the enter- 

 prise would be at once abandoned. But when I come 

 to think of the ancient tillage in the terraces upon 

 the barren slopes, I find it difficult to see how, with 

 their rude implements, the men of those times could 

 have procured any sustenance from their soil, unless 

 I suppose the conditions different. 



If there was forest all around to condense the 

 vapours rolling over and deposit a heavy dew or grate, 

 ful rainfall, then they may have found the stubborn 

 earth more fruitful. Trees and brakes, and thickets 

 too, would give shelter and protect the rising growth 

 from the bitter winds ; while when first tilled the soil 

 itself would be rich from the decay of accumulated 

 leaves, dead boughs, and vegetable matter. So that 

 the terrace gardens may have yielded plentifully then, 

 and were probably surrounded with stockades to 

 protect them from the ravages of the beasts of the 

 forest. Now the very site of the ancient town can 

 scarcely be distinguished : the sheep graze, the lambs 

 gambol gaily over it in the sunshine, and the shepherd 

 dozes hard by on the slope while his dog watches the 

 flock. 



A long day of rain is often followed by a moderately 

 fine evening the clouds breaking up as the sun nears 



