BREYDON 7 



The saltings or " ronds," that at one time fronted long 

 stretches of the walls, have grown less and less as the years and 

 the waves have rolled by ; and there remains but one of any 

 extent Duffell's rond, on the narrowest portion of which my 

 old houseboat Moorhen rests. The crumbling away of the 

 saltings, added to the silt from the rivers eddying on to the 

 flats, has made Breydon " grow up " fast and surely ; and one 

 or two other causes contributing to this to the Breydoners 

 disastrous result will be noted in the later chapters. 



Breydon, to my mind, looks charming from any standpoint. 

 I have viewed it with admiration from the parish church 

 steeple, from which one sees it spread like a lagoon of silver. 

 Looking down Breydon from Berney Arms, when the full 

 tide is flowing, one sees a noble lake divided, not exactly in 

 the middle, by two long rows of " stakes," (the larger division 

 on the left) : the water shallows abruptly over the flats, as it 

 does on the right of the red-painted guide-posts. The others 

 are tarred. Along the channel, between stakes, glide white- 

 sailed yachts, and laden wherries, "hulled" on the actual 

 pattern of the ships of the old sea-kings, race merrily along, 

 impelled by their huge, high-peaked sails. If the wind be 

 free they make easy work of it ; if not fair, they tack smartly 

 from side to side, gaining on each board, with more picturesque 

 action. And here and there, like tiny torpedo-boats, speed the 

 punts of the eel-babbers and the open boats of the smelters. 



The variations in cloud and sky are intensified in the waters 

 of Breydon, and the lover of the beautiful sees here a never- 

 ending, ever-changing panorama with fine "effects." The 

 sunsets, viewed from the townward end, are not surpassed in 

 England. The outlook changes every hour. On fine days, 

 even at low tide, when the flats are bare, amazing coloura- 

 tions greens, browns, and golden are seen at dawn and 

 sunset ; and at no season are they altogether unlovely. And 

 when the sun has set, and the stars see themselves reflected in 

 the cool depths ; when the moon flings her radiance on 

 rippling water and moist ooze ; there is yet something, to 

 charm and enthral one. 



Enough has been said of the charms of Breydon. Those 

 who would view them at their best should choose the sunnier 

 days, and make sure before starting that the flood-tide is 

 " making," for everything seems then full of life and beauty. 



