nbasomc Dress of Ploughmen, ^c. 1.59 



To Donsn v, nine miles, the country is very 

 flat, and the soil of a strong quality. Great 

 numbers of persons were busily employed in 

 getting their wheat crops into the ground. 

 Early sowing on cold lands is assuredly an ad- 

 vantageous practice. Great pains appeared to 

 be bestowed in cleaning and keeping the fur- 

 rows open ; the long-handled shovel answers 

 well for this purpose, as it enables the workman 

 to spread what is taken out equally over the 

 ridge. In some instances we observed the 

 space intended for the furrow left unploughed, 

 in order to give the lands on each side a greater 

 covering. 



Several yokes of oxen were working four in a 

 plough ; each pair had a driver, who, loaded 

 with a trusty, and armed with a ponderous 

 shelala, made a grotesque appearance. How 

 the extreme absurdity of such an equipment 

 should fail of provoking the derision of a peo- 

 ple so alive to ridicule is my astonishment ! If 

 the poor beasts groaned under the heavy weight 

 they had to drag, well might their conductors 

 under their cumbrous appointments. Although 

 the practice on reflection occasioned very dif- 

 ferent feelings, yet at the moment it was im- 

 possible to repress a laugh. How comes it 



