192 ON SURREY HILLS. 



about the ruins in luxuriant profusion, bearing fruits 

 untended and uncared for. On and about the clusters 

 butterflies and lizards darted and played, whilst the 

 viper basked in the sunlight. 



An entomologist would have thought himself in a 

 paradise of insect -life within those old walls. It 

 seemed to me as though the very spirit of desola- 

 tion had made his home in that old garden. Over 

 the lawn and on the terrace of the forsaken man- 

 sion vipers swarmed to such an extent that the 

 front part of the house was regarded by the rustics 

 far and near as the embodiment of everything 

 evil, or of ill omen. The hurtful creatures basked 

 not only on the moss-grown stones of the terrace, 

 but even on the flags of the portico ; and on the 

 winding walks in the dell it was even worse. This 

 dell joined the terrace, and it had long been covered 

 with a mass of tangled herbage and tree-branches. 

 This again joined a secluded portion of the deer- 

 park, which had a southern aspect. No wonder the 

 reptiles congregated in this harbour of refuge ; they 

 know well where they are in safety. 



When a change came and this region of desolation 

 and decay was to be awakened into blooming life 



