THROUGH FIRS AND HEATHER. 281 



alter the character of the country and the country 

 people. 



The fields we have passed have been very large, 

 those at least which are under cultivation. It must 

 have taken centuries to have prepared them to 

 yield corn as they do now ; for adjoining them, 

 with only a fence to keep cattle off them, is bog- 

 land, full of running water, about two feet below 

 the level of the corn - lands. The difference in 

 the soil must have been taken advantage of in 

 the earliest times for the growth of corn, to judge 

 from the old records. This district must also 

 have been under monastic sway at one time, for 

 the pilgrims to Canterbury travelled over these 

 hills and through the hollows. I have known 

 many instances where bogs have been drained 

 and converted into corn-fields ; but when ground 

 is left as it always has been from the first, de- 

 pend upon it there is a reason, and that a good 

 one, for not trying to cultivate it. The draining 

 of the fens has from the time when the monks 

 held sway there proved costly work, and it is not 

 completed yet, having ruined many in past times. 

 It will be for coming generations to see the end 



