346 



THE NATURE BOOK 



under quite natural conditions; where 

 for the greater part of the 3'ear two flocks 

 of sheep are grazed; where rabbits hve 

 in a warren, and water-\-oles enjoy their 

 native element ; where numerous singing 

 birds, with jackdaws, crows, and doves, 

 li\'e and breed, whilst land and water are 

 frequently \-isited by strange and rare 



he leans there, lifeless but not fallen, 

 stayed witli doubtful comi)assion by 

 iron crutches ; like dead Cccsar, with his 

 mantle of ivy drawn over his head. 



Hard by here, two centuries ago and 

 more, was the famous Ring — a much 

 contracted Rotten Row of the time — 

 where the coaches of the great used to 



A LONDON PASTURE: HYDE PARK. 



species ; where bees and butterflies hover 

 over the flowers, the dragon-fly gleams 

 in the sunshine, and bats and moths flit 

 abroad at dusk. 



I suppose no trees in the world ha\'e 

 seen quite so much of human history as 

 the oldest of the elms in Hyde Park. 

 Take that scattered party of veterans — 

 remnants doubtless of an army — dotted 

 about the neighbourhood of the Royal 

 Humane Society's house by the Serpentine. 

 With worn and hollowed trunks, dis- 

 membered again and again by the hand 

 of man and the ravages of tempests, they 

 still make a brave show of summer green, 

 and live on ; the dignity and the feeble- 

 ness of age alike protected by the decent 

 iron railing. They live, all but one ; 



drive round and round that the world 

 of rank and fashion might see and be 

 seen. Mr. Pepys' coach amongst them, 

 varnished to " make it more and more 

 yellow, with the horses' tails tied in red 

 ribbons, the standards gilt, and green 

 reines, so that people did mightily look 

 upon us." 



" My Lord Protector's coach, too, with 

 his three daughters all in green," hunted 

 by the multitude of sight-seers. My 

 Lord Protector himself, essaying to drive 

 his own coach, and lashing the horses 

 furiously, so that he was run away with, 

 and violently thrown ; his ])istol going 

 off in his pocket. The restored Court 

 in laces and periwigs. Hanm-erians and 

 Jacobites. The plague-stricken camp of 



