222 IN THE ISIS VALLEY 



while more true to fairy hours 



" Some war with rere-mice for their leathern wings." 



It was the same hour which made Milton for once 

 strike a note of gladness, unborrowed from the con- 

 ventions of his classic store, and bid the Nymph of 

 Gladness 



" At his window bid good-morrow, 



Through the sweet-briar, or the vine, 



Or the twisted eglantine." 



And it was the rose-gardens of Damascus, in which, 

 then as now, the Syrian lords sat among the damask 

 flowers by the rushing stream from Lebanon, that 

 Naaman had in mind when he asked if Abana and 

 Pharpar were not better than all the waters of Jordan ? 

 It is by the banks of English rivers that the natural 

 beauties of the midsummer months are seen in their 

 greatest perfection. The contrast of cool waters and 

 sun-lit levels of meadow appeals equally to the sense 

 of sight and the enjoyment of coolness, tranquillity, and 

 repose. The Upper Thames, and its tributaries, the 

 two Colres, the Loddon, the Cherwell, the Windrush, 

 and the Evenlode, are the natural summer haunt of 

 those who can choose their locality to suit the months. 

 To appreciate the beauties of the water-garden you 

 must be on the water itself, and row among the lilies, 

 and in front of the flower-set banks. The growths in 

 the two have this contrast. All the plants of the bank 

 are tall and upright ; all those of the stream, except 

 the arrowhead, are level and flat. Thus the purple 

 and yellow loose-strife, the yellow iris, burr-reeds, the 



