Kansier: Hunting the Hart's Tongue 



31 



both kinds of ferns were found close by, sometimes 

 trying to occupy the same spot, with roots tangled 

 one with the other! Those found so close to the road 

 usually were only 2 to 6 inch fronds, but at one place 

 8 to 10 inch fronds came within 3 feet of the dusty road. 

 After turning off to the right at the church, it was a 

 tramp seemingly of several miles before the road dropped 

 down over the ledge again, and as I left the road to 

 follow the rocks eastward again, I never reached the 

 "fourth line." A log cabin, long since deserted, and 

 nearly hidden by the new growths about it, was found 

 soon after leaving the highway. The rocks were fear- 

 fully rent and the going not altogether free from danger, 



Fig. 6. A limestone ledge. 



especially as I tried to keep near enough to the edge to 

 keep a lookout for things of interest below, as well as 

 above. Mile after mile it was huge, detached rocks, 

 rocky woods, thickets, repeating itself over and over 

 again. Both kinds of ferns were found scattered over 

 most of the way, the hart's tongues uniformly under- 

 sized and struggling for an existence. Holly ferns were 

 just as uniformly thrifty and "well to do." 



