208 FACT AGAINST ITCTION. 



Wlicn three or four liunclrecl ducks all sliout a 

 prolonged quack togetlier, if tlic wind sets that 

 way down the hollows of the moors, it can be 

 heard two miles off. One day a Bournemouth 

 inhabitant Avas riding through the village of 

 Kinson, and pulling up his horse by a cottage 

 garden hedge, he asked tlie labourer digging his 

 potatoes, ^^What extraordinary noise that was 

 coming down the wind ? It sounds, my friend, 

 as if all the ducks on earth were gone mad ! but 

 it must be something; else." 



'^ 'Tain't," replied the matter-of-fact rustic ; '^ 'tis 

 his honour's, Mr. BurJcly^Sj ducks a cheering for 

 the Proosians." 



The rustic never raised his head in making this 

 reply, and his equestrian querist rode on, muttering 

 to himself that '' the man was mad ! " 



To dam successfully across narrow valleys is 

 not difficult, if }'ou can get a sufficiently stable 

 foundation ; giving a slanting and an ample 

 back, so as to hold up a sufficient front to sustain 

 the collected weight of water. Some peoj^le say 

 that the supporting back should have the same 

 amount of slant behind and before ; but that course 

 I did not pursue, because I expected a consider- 



