The Cleveland. 385 



territory. Behind this front line of strongly wooded 

 hill — andj indeed^ breaking also through its midst — 

 is gently sloping upland to form the base of the 

 rougher heights surrounding. The little town of 

 Guisborough lies behind this frontier hill (with its 

 heather clad summit of Barnaby Moor) ; and tolerably 

 light, and quite rideable ground — chiefly arable — 

 reaches Guisborough from two sides. So a fox from 

 Wilton or Kirkleatham, when he is forced to leave — as 

 can generally be managed, unless he goes to ground 

 — can find plenty of room to travel before reaching 

 the rough background of highland. The neighbour- 

 hood of Stangnow and Moorsome brings us up to 

 the moors ; but nearer the sea on the east are found 

 both broken ground and more strong woods. Every 

 gill is thickly fringed with trees and thicket. Some- 

 times they are difficult to draw, and often they are 

 difficult, or even impossible, to cross on horseback. 

 Indeed, a horse for the Cleveland, besides possessing 

 a more than rudimentary knowledge of how to cross 

 a plain hedge-and-ditch country (as both the vale 

 and the tilled upland may be termed), should have a 

 certain turn for mountaineering, or at least should 

 have the full use of his limbs and senses, to enable 

 him to creep through and climb over the gills and 

 other kindred difficulties. 



Saltburn Gill and the Kilton Woods (both the pro- 

 perty of Mr. Wharton) are the first strong coverts we 

 come to on the east, followed by Grenkell and the 

 Roxby Woods (of great size and length). At Hutton 

 is a very large extent of young woodland, recently 

 planted by Sir Joseph Pease. But at every point 



