THE EARLY COLD WEATHER 189 



without ever alighting or at any time diminishing their 

 speed. 



As the cranes and the geese pass by overhead, they 

 often utter their shrill, screaming cry. High as they 

 are aloft, their cry is still quite distinctly, loudly heard ; 

 and yet, when uttered by the birds on the ground, I do 

 not know that it seems louder, or is heard further, than 

 that of many other animals. 



I think, but am not sure, that when the flocks of wild 

 ducks happened to fly lower than usual, that I have 

 sometimes heard the beating of their wings against 

 the air. 



The weather is now so cool that I often walk instead 

 of riding in the early morning. To-day I returned 

 home by a footpath that led across the open fields. I 

 had, as usual, a servant with me. We presently came 

 on a large party of labouring women, at least thirty or 

 forty in number ; they were walking over the fields 

 a little to" our right. They were singing as they went, 

 and I noticed that most of them carried small sheets of 

 coarse cotton cloth, such as the poor in harvest-time 

 use to hold their gleanings. As there was then no 

 harvest being gathered, I was curious to know where 

 the women were going, and sent my servant to inquire. 



The man went, the women stopped, and a long 

 conversation ensued. Presently the servant returned 

 and informed me that the women were on their way 

 to a tract of fallow land about a mile in front, where 

 a wild grass grew. The seeds of this grass were now 

 ripe, and the women were going to gather them to 

 grind up with their flour. 



