NATURE NEAR LONDON 



or against a wall the effect, no doubt, of the 

 winds. Into and between its gnarled branches, 

 dry and leafless, furze boughs have been woven in 

 and out, so as to form a shield against the breeze. 

 On the lee of this natural hurdle there are black 

 charcoal fragments and ashes, where a fire has 

 burnt itself out ; the stick still leans over on which 

 was hung the vessel used at this wild bivouac. 



Descending again by the footpath, the spur of 

 the hill yonder looks larger and steeper and more 

 ponderous in the mist; it seems higher than this, a 

 not unusual appearance when the difference in alti- 

 tude is not very great. The level we are on seems 

 to us beneath the level in the distance, as the 

 future is higher than the present. In the hedge 

 or scattered bushes, half-way down by the chalk-pit, 

 there grows a spreading shrub the wayfaring 

 tree bearing large, broad, downy leaves and 

 clusters of berries, some red and some black, flat- 

 tened at their sides. There are nuts, too, here, 

 and large sloes or wild bullace. This Ditchling 

 Beacon is, I think, the nearest and the most acces- 

 sible of the southern Alps from London ; it is so 

 near it may almost be said to be in the environs of 

 the capital. But it is alone with the wind. 



