SIX WEEKS IX A TOWER. 103 



was to keep in check the excitement and loquacity of 

 the accused and accusers. After he passed his judg- 

 ment, no demur whatever was made, and even the 

 victim for the rattan appeared perfectly satisfied. 



So soon as my patient was at all able to be removed, 

 preparations for departure were made, and I really 

 felt sorry at leaving our tower, and the interesting 

 people around. The country in which it was situated 

 had a strange charm. On the other side of the fields, 

 in front of the house, were little white hamlets stand- 

 ing against a background of graceful bamboos and tall 

 fir-trees. The trees dwindled in size and number on 

 the rolling moorland beyond, Avhich stretched away 

 for miles, and at that season the grass upon it had a 

 brown heathery look. The distant view was bounded 

 by high mountain-ranges, with forests creeping up the 

 glens, light and shadow wandering over the grey crags, 

 and dark heavy clouds giving a gloomy grandeur to 

 the scene. Two books that I had with me were im- 

 bued with the spirit of the kind of country which 

 lay around. One of these was the poetical works of 

 the Laureate of the Lakes, which, and especially the 

 'Excursion,' I read with renewed satisfaction and 

 gratitude, as a voice from one who understood the 

 life of the silent earth, the meaning of the melancholy 

 moon, and of "the forms perennial of the ancient 

 hills." 



" The spirit of nature was upon me there ; 

 The soul of beauty and enduring life 



