160 IN BIRD-LAND 



Edmonton. It is but a comparatively short 

 piece that I have followed ; but from this portion, 

 being a little world in itself, my notes have been 

 gathered. 



The water always moves sluggishly except in 

 stormy weather, and then it sometimes overflows 

 the banks, and is quickly transformed into a rush- 

 ing torrent, carrying before it all things that would 

 hinder its course. What floods on the Green as 

 well as in the street, the " oldest inhabitant " of 

 Lower Edmonton could tell us of ! I have known 

 a storm of rain suddenly to transform fields into 

 lakes. In very dry weather, however, the water 

 ceases to flow at all, and even pools in hollows 

 will gradually dry up. A very thick vegetation 

 then quickly grows in places, amongst which a 

 number of rabbits will take up their quarters and 

 stay in security until the rains come on again,. 



A long stretch of this Brook is bordered on 

 one side by a large and charming orchard, and 

 on the other by a private wood, one of the few 

 remaining pieces of Old England which has never 

 been cultivated a portion of Enfield Chase 

 over which the Tudor and the Stuart sovereigns 

 hunted the stag, and only a mile away from 

 which one of their palaces in part still remains. 

 It was part of this picturesque tract of land that 



