4i94< Growth of Trees at Flashy Hall. 



passing over a rough stony bed. On leaving the thicket, a level 

 plain appears, bounded nearly all round by woods; on the left 

 the flat is covered with single trees planted in groups. Across the 

 brook is a steep wooded bank, covered with some ancient oaks, 

 -^thorns, hazels, &c. This bank, with the water at its foot, ex- 

 tends along the side of the road till it begins again to ascend, 

 and which it does till it reaches the level of the house, during 

 which space it is always enclosed in wood. On nearing the 

 house, the road turns sharply to the right ; when all at once the 

 mountain Sharpah bursts upon the view, 2000 ft. above the level 

 of the sea, with its expansive cove, from which the mountain 

 takes its name ; its broken ground, with its zones of different 

 woods completely clothing its steep sides ; the larch alone creeping 

 in places towards the top, which is too exposed and elevated to 

 allow the trees to attain their upright growth, they being there 

 only dense shrubs, though quite old. The whole of this wood 

 shows no fenced outline, and on that account encloses a con- 

 siderable tract of open heath, which has become old and strong 

 from the great number of years it has been unused. Amongst 

 this, various exotics have been from time to time introduced in 

 experimental patches, the particulars of which I could give you 

 if desirable. A large portion of the lower part of the wood 

 consists of indigenous oak and aged trees. The ground on the 

 sides is very much broken with rock and deep ravines, down 

 which the mountain torrents pour ; and there are several most 

 singular slips of several acres in extent, producing nearly flats on 

 the mountain side. Two of these, which lie together, have been 

 called dead eyes, with nose between, and brows above. The 

 usual heaths of the north are common. Of rare plants, I have 

 found Campanula /zederacea near the top ; and in the lower 

 wood (for I forgot to mention that the first wood is half a mile 

 or more from the commencement of the continuous ascent on the 

 hill, a second valley or stream intervening) are found O'rchis 

 bifolia and Cypripedium Calceolus, though now become excessively 

 rare ; and in the meadows near the house, O^'phrys muscifera 

 and apifera. The floral arrangement here is various, by reason 

 of three distinct formations ; viz. mountain limestone, shale, and 

 millstone grit, in addition to the great difference in elevation. 

 From what I have written, it will appear that there must be 

 much variety within a small compass ; and that this place com- 

 mands a fine outline of hill and rock, and that that hill is clothed 

 with a strong contrast of colours, produced from the brown and 

 purple of the heath when in flower. Above the wood, the light 

 green of the larch, the blue green of the Scotch pine, and the 

 massive round tops of the oak, intermix with the deep green of 

 the alder, and elegant foliage of the birch. The situation of the 

 hall, also, is good, backed as it is by plantations, and placed 



