FEKNY KAMBLES IN SOUTH DEVON. 



had here, and the bridge parapet and sides are 

 also ornamented by the fronds of the Common 

 Polypody. 



And now, to return to Totnes through Dart- 

 ington Wood, we must retrace our steps for about 

 two hundred yards until we reach the edge of 

 the wood. Here a gate admits us on to a steep 

 ascent, at the top of which we enter a bridle-path 

 which leads away round to the right, under the 

 dark shadows of the trees. Presently we are 

 fairly buried in the wood, the trees in which rise 

 high on each side of our path and arch over us. 

 From the left cornes the roar of the unseen Dart, 

 as it rushes by somewhere on the verge of the 

 wood. Under the copse on the same side are 

 some splendid Ferns : grand specimens of the 

 Broad. Buckler Fern and of the purple-stemmed 

 Lady Fern; Male Ferns in abundance, many of 

 them standing four feet high ; and numbers of the 

 Hard Fern, finely developed. The luxuriance of 

 the Ferns in this part of the wood is no matter 

 for surprise; for the ground consists of soft, 

 spongy leaf-mould, a soil in which the Fern 

 family greatly delight. 



107 



