NO MAN'S LAND. 211 



shall have to pass a portion of the great weald before 

 we climb once more, and what a change we find 

 here ! A woodland country. Well cultivated it is. 

 There are vast fields as in the uplands ; but here, 

 in all directions, are rustic cottages, like warm red- 

 brown spots they show against the trees that sur- 

 round them. Large manor farms too, the moated 

 manor-houses of the past, can be seen at intervals, 

 each one the centre of its own lands. It is a truly 

 English landscape ; no other country has such home- 

 like features. Such of these houses as remain are just 

 as they were many generations ago. The moats are 

 there, crossed by wooden bridges in place of the old 

 drawbridges. The carp and tench roll, nozzle, and 

 root there, as in times long past, growing to such 

 a size as would have gladdened the hearts of the 

 monks who used to feast on them. Several monastic 

 institutions were about this district. Many traces of 

 them remain still. The names of some of those who 

 yet farm these lands are mentioned in the Domesday 

 Book. 



Bright dace rise and glide, now here now there ; 

 and striped perch swim to and fro from the clear 

 feeding - stream that comes running through the 



