CO ATE FARM. 9 



meditations upon prehistoric Britain. He 

 himself discovered it is an archaeological find 

 of very considerable importance how the 

 garrisons of these hill-top forts provided them- 

 selves with water. And as for his special 

 study of creatures and their ways, the wild- 

 ness of the country is highly favourable, both 

 to their preservation and to opportunities for 

 study. Perhaps no other part of England was 

 better for the development of his genius than 

 the Wiltshire Downs. Do you want to catch 

 the feeling of the air upon these downs ? 

 Eemember the words which begin " Wild 

 Life in a Southern County." 



" The most commanding down is crowned 

 with the grassy mould and trenches of an 

 ancient earthwork, from whence there is a 

 noble view of hill and plain. The inner slope 

 of the green fosse is inclined at an angle 

 pleasant to recline on, with the head just below 

 the edge, in the summer sunshine. A faint 

 sound as of a sea heard in a dream a sibilant 

 ' sish, sish ' passes along outside, dying away 

 and coming again as a fresh wave of the wind 



