CHAP, xx.] FOXES OF THE SANDHILLS. 163 



agree with the popular story of their having been overwhelmed 

 with it by the wind ; but in some parts the ground is covered to 

 a good depth by shingle and water-worn stones of a size to pre- 

 clude the possibility of their having been brought there by the 

 action of the wind. In certain places, too, there are curious 

 reirularly formed pyramids of shingle, about sixteen feet high, 

 and of the same diameter at the base. These, and long banks of 

 shingle, having exactly the appearance of the sea-beach, make 

 me suppose that the destruction of what was once a fertile coun- 

 try was brought about by some sudden and unaccountable inroad 

 of the sea. Indeed, the appearance of the whole of this barren 

 district would lead one to the same conclusion. At any rate, 

 amongst the numerous traditions regarding the origin of the sand- 

 hills, I never heard one that quite satisfied my mind. Whatever 

 it once was, it is now a mere barren waste, or, as a friend of mine 

 named it, a kind of Arabia Infelix, inhabited only by wild animals ; 

 and it seems a wonder that even these have not long ago been 

 starved out of it. Whatever the rabbits and hares feed on, they 

 are larger there than in the more cultivated and fertile parts of 

 the country ; and the foxes are like wolves in size and strength. 

 Owing to the solitude and quietness of the place, I have seen the 

 foxe* at all hours of the day prowling about, or basking in the 

 sun, or sometimes coolly seated on the top of a sandhill watching 

 my movements. I have occasionally fallen in with their earth 

 or breeding-place. The quantity of remains of different animals, 

 which they have brought to these places to feed their young, 

 p'roves the fox to be a most universal depredator. Turkeys which 

 have been caught at several miles' distance, tame geese from the 

 farms, and wild geese from the sea-shore ; fowls, ducks, pheasants, 

 and game of every kind, including old roe that have been wounded, 

 and young roe too weak to resist tlieir attacks, all appear to form 

 part of tin's wily robber's larder. He also takes home to his 

 young any fish that he finds on the shore, or that he can 

 catch in the shallow pools of the streams during the nighttime 

 Iso animal is cunning enough to escape the fox ; wild duck or 

 wood-pigeon (the most wary of all birds) full to his share. 

 Patient and cunning, the fox finds out the pool where the mallard 

 and his mate resort to in the evenings, and lying in wait to the 

 leeward of the place, in some tuft of rushes, catches the bird 



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