306 WITHIN AN HOUR OF LONDON TOWN. 



racing-course for the waders. We are told by one 

 we meet that this large sheet of water is "the little 

 pond," that if we keep going over the hills, we shall 

 find " the big pond." The one we have been looking 

 at, according to his account, is only a duck-pond 

 compared with the other. When we have almost 

 given up all thoughts of seeing the "big pond," we 

 come upon it so suddenly that it startles us. One 

 turn round a sandy road places us in front of this 

 mere. For many years nay, from boyhood the 

 name of this place has been familiar to me. This 

 pond has indeed a grand ornithological record that 

 goes very far back. I do not for one moment 

 imagine that one half of the birds procured here 

 have been recorded, but even those that have been 

 recorded make a fine list. The big pond is like the 

 little one first seen by us, quite bare at the edges, 

 and the hills that surround it are treeless. From 

 one end to the other there is not enough cover to 

 hide a teal, so far as rush or reed is concerned. 

 There are no banks, the water and the moor-turf 

 are level. As the water is perfectly pure and very 

 clear, we can see the grass growing underneath it 



