MAY 131 



Oh, those middag-mads I how exquisite, but how far 

 too frequent for safety ! Mid-day meals the term 

 signifies, but they met us at almost every hour in the 

 day. The company stands round the table while the 

 host pours out red wine for each guest. Then there is 

 a general pledging and quaffing, chairs are set, and the 

 viands, bewildering in variety, seductive in their ex- 

 cellence, undergo a sustained assault. Coffee, dry 

 (absolutely sugarless) kummel and good cigars come in 

 their course, and one is expected to bring a clear head 

 to the business which follows. 



It is charming to drive in spring from village to 

 village, each with its church tower like an exaggerated 

 dovecot ; still more charming to stop the carriage and 

 dive into the recesses of the beech woods. Endless 

 vistas of silvery trunks, and below them a carpet, partly 

 russet with fallen leaves, partly green with springing 

 grass and wood hyacinths, and gemmed all over with 

 purple lungwort, anemones white and yellow, and cow- 

 slips. Not such cowslips as may be gathered in Surrey 

 or Herts ; if you are a bit of a botanist you will notice 

 that all through Zeeland the oxlip takes the place of 

 cowslip and primrose, a form intermediate between 

 both, stalked like a cowslip, but with larger flowers. It 

 is a striking adornment to the meadows and woods. 



Of game not much is to be seen, though the land- 

 owners are fond of pheasant-shooting. There are far 

 too many grey crows prowling around, with less 

 numerous magpies, to allow partridges much chance 

 of rearing their broods. A hen harrier (a species now 



