SEVERE WINTER. 57 



has been unusually harsh and protracted: but 

 whatever may have been the rigour of the season 

 in more northern latitudes, it has never, at least 

 in this part of England, reached such a point 

 of intensity, or been attended with such results 

 as marked the memorable period to which I have 

 alluded. 



Many feathered visitors of rare occurrence 

 have certainly been met with lately in different 

 parts of Great Britain, but they have been found 

 more frequently in the interior of the island 

 than on the southern coast, the cold having been 

 sharp enough to drive them from their usual 

 haunts, and to scatter them over the face of the 

 country, but not sufficiently severe to induce 

 them to continue their progress to the southward 

 or to concentrate vast flocks of different species 

 in the sheltered bays and estuaries of the channel. 



Our evergreens, too, have escaped unhurt. The 

 laurel groves exhibit their wonted verdure and 

 luxuriance, and the bay-tree flourishes as before. 

 Even the myrtle has withstood the chilling blasts 

 of the last four months. How differently did 

 they fare in 1838 ! While on our sandy soils 

 they were perceptibly affected by the severity of 

 the season, in the clay district of the weald they 

 were killed outright, their foliage in the ensuing 

 spring presenting the appearance of deciduous 



D 5 



