202 WITHIN AN HOUR OF LONDON TOWN. 



goes the narrow path, partly covered in places by 

 the tangle, and littered with stones, a most trying 

 path to follow. No sheep -bells tinkle here, no 

 sound from farm or snugly placed cottage reaches 

 you. Not even the distant crow of some lively 

 rooster makes itself heard ; for this is the very 

 centre of the hollows of the hills a district of fir- 

 trees, furze, heath, and old thorns, growing in a 

 mixture of stone, sand, and peat. 



This growth is grey with moss. You will see no 

 bits of wool hanging from branch or stem, to tell 

 you that sheep graze here ; you will never find any 

 animal or bird, wild or domesticated, frequent a 

 spot that is not beneficial to it. If domesticated 

 animals are placed in pastures that do not suit 

 them, they are certain to make a way out of them 

 if it is possible for them to do so. This is now so 

 well understood that farmers grow just what they 

 know the stock will take to. You do not find 

 cattle breaking bounds as they used to do in past 

 years. 



Where three or four cross roads meet, you will 

 often find the pound which serves for different scat- 

 tered hamlets ; and close to the pound the finger- 



