30 NATURE IN DOWNLAND 



much struck by an effect of this kind at sea, in the 

 South Atlantic, when during perfectly calm weather 

 there was a stupendous swell, the long vast glassy 

 rollers succeeding one another at regular intervals. 

 Viewed from the bridge of the steamer the ocean 

 appeared to have increased immeasurably in extent; 

 the horizon was no wider than before, yet it was as 

 if I had been lifted hundreds of feet above the surface. 

 Those of my readers whose minds run on moun- 

 tains, and the joy of mountains, may say here that, 

 in spite of the illusion produced, the height of the 

 downs is really so small that the pleasure arising 

 from that cause must be comparatively very little. 

 It is, I think, a very common error that the degree 

 of pleasure we have in looking on a wide prospect 

 depends on our height above the surrounding earth 

 — in other words, that the wider the horizon the 

 greater the pleasure. The fact is, once we have got 

 above the world, and have an unobstructed view 

 all round, whether the height above the surrounding 

 country be 500 or 5000 feet, then we at once ex- 

 perience all that sense of freedom, triumph, and 

 elation which the mind is capable of. This " sudden 

 glory," which may be ours on a very modest eleva- 

 tion, is the most we can hope for : we can no more 

 get a new sensation or a larger measure of the 

 quickly vanishing pleasure we have enjoyed by trans- 

 porting ourselves to the highest summits on the 

 globe, than we can change a Skye-terrier into an 



