276 LATER YEARS 



to be a land agent, and to that end he has been learn- 

 ing his business under Baron Hambro's man at Milton 

 Abbey where, having a great taste for botany, he had 

 become acquainted with Mansel-Pleydell. 



As it was still early we declined being " refreshed " 

 and almost immediately started again in the carriage, 

 taking Mr. Stephens with us, and so went some 2 or 3 

 miles to the sea, along the right bank of the river that 

 runs through Wadebridge, our drive ending by crossing 

 a beautiful hard sand, for the tide was out. Then we 

 sent the carriage to a neighbouring farm-house to wait 

 for us and took to our legs, scrambling up the cliff and 

 along it towards Pentire Point. A great part of the 

 cliff here is steep for say 200 feet above the water with 

 a steep grassy slope above it. 



Mr. Stephens was very keen about the rare plants 

 that grew here, but I am afraid they were rather lost 

 upon me, though I could well admire the enormous 

 number of wild flowers which made the turf quite 

 bright with all sorts of colours. I don't think too that 

 I ever saw more butterflies at once, a great many of 

 one of the " Blues," which, by the way, exactly matches 

 in colour the flower of the Squill which was growing in 

 abundance. There was also a great number of Colias 

 edusa. We were scarcely ever out of sight of one, and 

 I hardly exaggerate when I say that in some spots they 

 were in flocks. As we kept ascending towards Pentire 

 Point the view became more and more extensive and 

 beautiful ; but of course our chief object was the 

 Choughs, which Mr. Stephens had seen constantly for 

 some weeks past. The cliff and slope were broken in 

 places by little ravines, " gugs " they call them, some 

 of which we could cross while others it was better to 

 walk round. Just as we were climbing the side of one 

 of them, rather a shallow one, we all three heard a note 

 which was perhaps most like a jackdaw's of any I had 

 ever heard, but still unmistakably different. I knew 

 at once it must be a Chough's, and looking up we saw 

 on the wing 3 black rook-like birds that seemed to 



