72 HAMPSHIRE DAYS 



joined in one, but diffused and flowing like water 

 over the surface, under the trees, and the rough bushy 

 tangle. The incredible number and variety of blood- 

 sucking flies makes this same low hot part of the 

 Forest as nearly like a transcript of tropical nature in 

 some damp, wooded district as may be found in Eng- 

 land. But these Forest flies, even when they came in 

 legions about me, were not able to spoil my pleasure. 

 It was delightful to see so much life to visit and sit 

 down with them in their own domestic circle. 



In other days, in a distant region, I have passed 

 many a night out of doors in the presence of a cloud 

 of mosquitoes ; and when during restless sleep I have 

 pulled the covering from my face, they had me at 

 their mercy. For the smarts they inflicted on me 

 then I have my reward, since the venom they injected 

 into my veins has proved a lasting prophylactic. But 

 to the poor cattle this place must be a very purgatory, 

 a mazy wilderness swarming with minute hellish imps 

 that mock their horns and giant strength, and cannot 

 be shaken off. While sitting on the roots of a tree in 

 the heart of the wood, I heard the heavy tramping 

 and distressed bellowings of several beasts coming at 

 a furious rate towards me, and presently half-a-dozen 

 heifers and young bulls burst through the bushes ; and 

 catching sight of me at a distance of ten or twelve yards, 

 they suddenly came to a dead stop, glaring at me with 

 strange, mad, tortured eyes ; then swerving aside, crashed 

 away through the undergrowth in another direction. 



