'LIFE/ 'VIEWS,' AND WEATHER 277 



has sometimes occurred to me, when we have cut 

 through an ant-heap, and the little creatures were 

 dispatched, scurrying about in all directions, out of 

 their beautifully celled-out habitations, that if some 

 of my labourers saw the ant tugging along with an 

 egg twice its own size they might profit by the 

 example. And yet it is doubtful. I am not learned 

 in butterflies, but I have observed a sufficient number 

 of these beautiful insects — not, of course, counting 

 the chalk-hill blues and little duns— to make me 

 wonder why a hunter with a gauze net was not 

 oftener encountered in the neighbourhood. There 

 are mavellously fine and extensive views to be 

 obtained from some of our heights, Cottington 

 especially. From the highest part of what used to 

 be called Freemantle Park you can see across Hants 

 into Berks, Wilts, Oxon, and Surrey ; and you may 

 obtain a good view of the Isle of Wight in one 

 direction, and of Windsor Castle in the other. You 

 can taste the salt of the sea when the wind blows 

 from the English Channel, and you may fancy 

 yourself at sea when the white fogs blind the valleys 

 and here and there trees show upon the uplands 

 like ship masts. It blows hard enough sometimes 

 to make even Park House appear to rock in the 

 gale ; and there is a spot on the Downs, called the 

 North Pole, which is occasionally cold enough to 

 cause visitors to think that they have discovered 

 the other one. This was quite my friend Dollar's 

 impression when we met the gamekeeper there- 

 abouts, and he, in answer to a question, was unable 



