March — The Low Country. 71 



and flashing dark emerald from one end to the other 

 like the scales of some swiftly-gliding serpent, that it 

 seemed to have more than simply vegetable life, and to 

 be a water-spirit tied fast in the stream's path and seek- 

 ing relief in ineffectual struggles. Strangely enough, one 

 of my horses came exactly to the same conclusion ; for 

 as I was riding him across the river at a ford down in the 

 plain, where the stream had a certain width and a depth 

 of two feet or thereabouts, he saw the green ranunculus 

 waving in the clear current, and, being at once per- 

 suaded that it was some living creature likely to do him 

 bodily harm, became frantic with fright, and bolted with 

 me down the stream's bed till he got into a deep pool, 

 where the necessity for swimming brought him to his 

 senses again. I do not know whether artists have ever 

 cared much for this plant, but it adds infinitely to the 

 beauty of some rivers at this early time of the year, the 

 effect of the waving various green through the lightly- 

 rippling transparent water being a beautiful variety in 

 the otherwise rather monotonous topaz of river-sands. 



Alexis and I quitted our retreat amongst the hills 

 for an excursion in the low country to see the opening 

 of the spring season, which occurs about a fortnight 

 earlier there. The plain was rich in trees and fore- 

 ground plants that were not so common in our forests, 

 and the most conspicuous of these, at this time of the 

 year, were the willows. During a walk of a few miles 

 we found half-a-dozen varieties, the most frequent and 

 most effective near the rivers being the purple willow, 

 whose thin red stems, all speckled with young shoots of 



