18 



wonder" (a species of doughnut) melting away in the 

 mouth before one fairly knows it is there, the pitcher of 

 cider or bottle of wine, everything is freely ottered, and 

 the guest made welcome to the best. The exquisite neatness 

 which characterizes the house is just as plainly visible in its 

 out-door surroundings. The well-kept walks, the neat, 

 orderly barns and sheds, the gardens with their flowers and 

 fruit, and, above all, the trim, cleanly roads, all bespeak the 

 same care and thrift. Everything is turned to account ; the 

 droppings of the horses and cattle along the roads are care- 

 fully swept up and placed on the manure heap, the twigs 

 broken by the gales are picked up and put away for fuel, 

 and the leaves falling from the trees are gathered together 

 and carried away to enrich the land. Nothing is lost, and 

 the waste, except in questions of labor, is reduced to a 

 minimum. But the tools are heavy and clumsy, and to 

 this day most of the farmers work their ground with a 

 plough that has a wooden mold-board with an iron point, 

 the horses being hitched tandem. 



The roads and lanes deserve special mention. The former 

 are well built, and as a general thing follow the windings of 

 the valleys, while branching from them in every direction 

 are an infinity of lanes, so narrow that at intervals bays are 

 constructed to allow teams to pass each other. No weeds 

 along the margins are to be seen, for both road and lane are 

 macadamized and bordered, sometimes by stone walls or 

 well-trimmed hedges, but oftener by earth banks, upon or 

 beside which are rows of trees. These high, earthen banks, 

 taking the place of fe'nces, with trees growing on top and 

 covered all over with the greenest and most luxuriant of 

 ivies, give to the lanes the appearance of trenches cut in the 

 soil, and this effect is heightened by the arching of the trees 

 overhead and the interlacing of their branches, which even 

 in midday cas^t a shade that is almost twilight ; and for miles 

 you ride along through these leafy bowers, sheltered from 

 the sun, protected from the wind, listening to the song of 

 birds, till at last the vista opens, and suddenly you see the 

 waves rolling madly in, and catch the thunders of the surf 

 upon the granite cliffs. 



The question is often asked, To what do the Channel 



