HARVEST AND GLEANING TIME 167 



fortunately, the viper, no matter what his size, 

 is really dangerous. Unless well acquainted 

 with the whole family as few are you had 

 best give the lot a wide berth, and just look 

 round and about before you sit on a thymy 

 bank or throw yourself on the heather. 



Miles of heather of both shades of colouring, 

 rose-pink and purple, lie all around us, showing 

 in distinct patches on some parts ; whilst the 

 two species are about equally mingled on other 

 portions of this glistening, sandy tract of 

 country. Here are dwarf furze, green broom, 

 and trailing brambles, with tufts of wire-like 

 grass, where this can get enough soil to grow 

 on ; the two latter will trip you up, if your foot 

 should hang in them, and give you a nasty fall. 

 Very few fir-trees show, and the few clumps that 

 can be seen are ragged and broken by the fierce 

 winds that rush over these open heaths ; ap- 

 parently they are fairly level, but deep hollows 

 intersect them, where ferns and bush -growth 

 flourish luxuriantly ; also black alders, sallows, 

 and dwarf-birch. It is easy to tell when you are 

 nearing one of the heath-hollows, for the sand 

 has soil mixed with it. The hollows are filled 

 with soil not very sweet, certainly ; yet vegeta- 

 tion flourishes in the shape of low bushes and 



