290 WITHIN AN HOUR OF LONDON TOWN. 



showing you plainly that he can go down quicker 

 than he got up. They have many enemies to 

 contend against, these small spring-jacks of trout. 

 The brown owl is one of them, the crow another ; 

 and when the heron drops off one of the trees, 

 where he has been standing unseen, floats down to 

 the bottom of the runs, and then proceeds to walk 

 up them in the most deliberate manner, fishing hole 

 after hole as he works upwards, there will be, the 

 next day, plenty of room for fresh comers. They 

 are very handsome little fish, but they do not grow 

 larger. Bird-life here is not abundant. We have 

 as yet only seen one hawk, a male sparrow-hawk, 

 two wood-pigeons, and a few jays. Our glass tells 

 us that just below, in a dry, sheltered, sandy hollow, 

 there are some signs of animal-life, for a great heap 

 of sand has been freshly turned over. We find this 

 out presently, for as we turn westwards the light in 

 the sky tells us the sun has got low down. This 

 decides us to make for the top at once, to see where 

 we are, for we have lost all trace of the way by 

 which we got here. On reaching the summit, we 

 find that by simply walking off the top, so to speak, 

 of this hill or mound, you are at once on the high- 



