ourt 



or fed upon the flocks which they pastured in the open 

 country. 



Years passed on, and while the aspect of nature re- 

 mained the same, all else was changed. This part of 

 Britain bore no longer the appellation of Dobuni; a 

 term derived from the British word DufFen, because the 

 inhabitants frequently resided in places which lay low, 

 and were sunk under hills. It formed a considerable 

 portion of Britannia Superior, and along the side of its 

 beautifully wooded hills, and on its thickly peopled 

 plains, palaces and forums, extensive military roads, 

 aqueducts and schools were rapidly erected. The rat- 

 tling of heavy-laden cars, and the loud sound of the 

 woodman's axe, with the crash of stately trees, made 

 way for these improvements. In the course of a few 

 short years, the country of the Dobuni lost its wild and 

 forest-like appearance, and far as the eye could reach, 

 the wide-spread landscape presented objects of fertility 

 and beauty. The ancient forest was also curtailed of its 

 grandeur and extent ; and the plain country, whose rank 

 luxuriant vegetation concealed marshes, on which it was 

 rarely safe to tread, except in seasons of great drought, 

 was cleared, and thrown open to the sun, and being 

 quickly drained, was covered with towns and villages ; 

 corn-fields and meadows succeeded to a growth of un- 

 derwood, and sheep and oxen grazed where the wolf had 

 been. Sounds too, which of all others awaken images 

 of security and peace the bleating of sheep along the 



