HEATHLANDS 



species of lichen grows so profusely as to give a 

 grey undertone. In places it supplants the heath, 

 the ground is concealed by lichen only, which 

 crunches under the foot like hoar-frost. Each 

 piece is branched not unlike a stag's antlers ; gather 

 a handful and it crumbles to pieces in the fingers, 

 dry and brittle. 



A quarry for sand has been dug down some eight 

 or ten feet, so that standing in it nothing else is 

 visible. This steep scarp shows the strata, yellow 

 sand streaked with thin brown layers ; at the top it 

 is fringed with heath in full flower, bunches of 

 purple bloom overhanging the edge, and behind 

 this the azure of the sky. 



Here, where the ground slopes gradually, it is 

 entirely covered with the purple bells ; a sheen and 

 gleam of purple light plays upon it. A fragrance 

 of sweet honey floats up from the flowers where 

 grey hive-bees are busy. Ascending still higher 

 and crossing the summit, the ground almost sud- 

 denly falls away in a steep descent, and the entire 

 hillside, seen at a glance, is covered with heath, 

 and heath alone. A bunch at the very edge offers 

 a purple cushion fit for a king ; resting here a 

 delicious summer breeze, passing over miles and 

 miles of fields and woods yonder, comes straight 

 from the distant hills. 



Along those hills the lines of darker green are 

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