282 WITHIN AN HOUR OF LONDON TOWN. 



of it; either to see them all corn -lands, or, if 

 the seasons change, as they have been changing 

 of late, the fen country may once more be drowned 

 lands. 



One circumstance we may note as we walk along, 

 all the cottages, the old ones, dotted here and there 

 half a mile or a mile away from the main roads or 

 paths leading to them, appear to have been built 

 just where a strip of land cropped up that could be 

 cultivated. Evidently the country-folks had hunted 

 for the ground to suit them, and then built a house 

 upon it. All around these homesteads was too poor 

 to grow a thistle. No doubt a geologist could ac- 

 count for the few and widely scattered patches of 

 spade- tickling ground existing in a waste of shining 

 silver sand and dwarf-stunted heather. One thing 

 is very certain, the soil was not carried there. 



There are some new cottages dotted here and 

 there on the edge of the forest-road, which looks 

 itself as if it had been newly made. Many of these 

 are empty, and those that are occupied do not 

 look at all cheerful. Two enterprising individuals, 

 with that reckless courage which leads men on to 

 conquer or to die, had opened shops some time ago. 



