170 ROUND THE GREAT WHITE HORSE 



corn-land, and is now laid down to pasture, naturally 

 invite visits from the hungry sheep on the adjacent 

 downs. Sometimes, when the coast is clear, their 

 human guardian, unlike the " humble and innocent 

 Abel " of Hooker's biographer, so far falls in with the 

 wishes of his flock as to aid them in an organized raid 

 into the heart of the neighbouring pastures ; and the 

 owner of the soil, when making a spring ramble on the 

 hill, has occasionally the satisfaction of capturing a 

 pirate-shepherd thus engaged. Farms intersected by 

 one or more of the broad green tracks which do duty 

 for roads on the downs are best suited for his operations, 

 especially if he can secure the pasturage of some patch 

 of land which gives him the right to drive his sheep 

 along the track. When the shepherd concludes that 

 the right moment for a foray has arrived, the conspira- 

 tors for the sheep-dog and the sheep seem perfectly 

 intelligent parties to the scheme approach the scene of 

 action with due precautions. The dog quietly assembles 

 the sheep on the edge of the down next to the high- 

 road, and the sheep follow intelligently, the dog trotting 

 quietly behind, with none of the officious barking and 

 fuss which usually mark its behaviour when in charge 

 of a moving flock Arrived at the point where the 

 green track leaves the main road, the shepherd makes a 

 careful survey of the ground, and gives the signal for 

 advance. Buried in the loose straw of a rick, we 

 watch the foray through the binoculars with mixed 

 feelings of indignation and amusement. Three hundred 

 yards further along the track is a hollow, full of rich 



