THROUGH FIRS AND HEATHER. 305 



the least intention of visiting begin to get near 

 to us. So we turn, as we think, by the way we 

 have come, jumping, blundering, and tripping 

 through the moist desolation. After a bit we see 

 light, and find ourselves on the open moor in quite 

 a different direction from what we had expected. 

 Here also we have to go through some kangaroo 

 exercise before we can travel properly. In the 

 distance on the moor a large cottage looms out, 

 the only one we can see, so we make for that in 

 order to seek information. Some children at play 

 in the garden a rough one it is, but still a garden 

 tell us we are seven miles from where we wish to 

 go, seven miles over the hills, up and down through 

 the heather, not under the firs. When we have 

 gone about half the distance, in a hollow that we 

 dip into suddenly we find a large piece of water, 

 which is a mere or large pool in the wet season. 

 This must be a paradise for all the waders that 

 migrate backwards and forwards, surrounded as 

 it is by the moors, treeless here and wild. There 

 are no rushes, reeds, or water-lilies, only the water 

 with a rim of white sand round it, just the very 



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