208 MY DEVON YEAR 



Over the remote estuary of Exe the sun shot long 

 rays out of the mists ; while to the North extended 

 forests, and appeared a church above white cots all 

 set in woods. Then fertile leagues spread with many 

 undulations, until afar off, twin towers arose and faint 

 smoke hung above the Faithful City. Along the 

 river there extended a great and peaceful park, and 

 wooded hills in many folds above it lifted the eye 

 to Dartmoor, whose ancient loneliness arose out of 

 the West with peaks and pinnacles and one huge 

 dome, where Cosdon Beacon hove up its girth and 

 guarded the central Moor. At the footstools of the 

 hills great forests loomed darkling through the haze, 

 and above them, the faint diaphanous breath of the 

 wind spun magic webs of light, with an inner glow that 

 enshrined the day's splendour. To the West, golden 

 mists shone above the setting-place of the sun and 

 already fashioned the glories of his pall ; such rest and 

 peace as only Autumn knows brooded over the world ; 

 and in the silence one could almost hear the downward 

 flutter of each leaf, the fall of seed and gleaming 

 berry, as they descended to the earth. Orchards and 

 beechwoods, oakwoods, sere stubbles, and acres of 

 ripe roots lay there in the glory of accomplishment. 

 The harvest was complete, to the cup of the little 

 campion brimming with grain beneath my eye ; all 

 had nobly ended, and the blessing of rest was well 

 won. 



To the East, red cattle dotted a great, gentle heath 

 that unrolled in the glory of the hour ; it spread in 



