SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



107 



THROUGH THE MARSHES. 



By George Barham. 



T ONCE look Johnston, who is an editor of some 

 kind of a magazine, on a ramble across the 

 Graveney Marshes. We had talked natural history 

 for some hours, and he was still dense. His idea 

 of a snake was "a thing that crawled, and had 

 to do with Adam and Eve." His knowledge of 

 fish was limited to Billingsgate, and his staple 

 birds were sparrows and wild geese. A sparrow 

 he knew by sight : but a kittiwake or a sparrow- 

 hawk was always mistaken by him. He saw no 

 striking difference between a skipper-butterfly and 

 a clouded-yellow, whilst a meadow-brown was as 

 invariably a moth as an oak-eggar or a privet- 

 hawk was a butterfly He thought meadowsweet 

 was yarrow. He was, however, a good editor. 



We were proud of tho;e marshes of ours; and 

 though they are now well drained, and feed many 

 sheep, yet in quiet corners the bulrushes grow, 

 and the dykes are filled with delicate roach. 

 The tide goes out for two or three miles, and leaves 

 unctuous beds of ooze eminently suitable for 

 curlews, and the common gull and the kittiwake go 

 there for food. It was a magnificent morning, the 

 faim white mist was slowly creeping away ; the 

 gleaming sails of the Whitstable Oyster Company's 

 ( ould be seen, and further out at sea they 

 were dredging on the " Flats." Shellness, on the 

 distant Isle of Sheppey, shone very white, also the 

 Seasalter coastguards had freshly tarred their 

 ornamental cannon-balls. In addition the grass 

 was wet. 



Whil the north-east Kent coast, six 



miles from Canterbury and " within easy reach of 



as the guidebook puts it, 



is an ideal place for the Science-Gossiper. The 



Lnglish exposure of the London clay is at 



Warden Point, a few miles away by boat Swale- 



clifl and Hampton run it closely, 'Ihanc-t sands, 



Oldha alluvial deposit ind R imano- 



retnains arc everywhere. The I 



lad warri'ir . ol Kenl "ii tbi I iil 

 Hampton < lilt, and sal 



■ • lam . and Ii 



■ 



esina 

 urn My father has that same urn by right "f 

 vmir.rny, for he nan an acquisitive 



butied in 



■ ii the 

 Stoochead Popular n rmada 



led the 



"( tin- Old Wild bull •. 



and ibc 1 ■ ihl itorii horse. 1 here 



are other things, more gruesome, contributing their 

 quota to the general interest. 



Johnston gleefully started to gather puff-balls, 

 and was interested in learning that they were not 

 mushrooms. He listened patiently to my ex- 

 planation of their fructifying surface, which lies 

 concealed until by some means its outside envelope 

 is ruptured and its spores dispersed. I pointed out 

 to him that puff-balls are always to be found in 

 fields where there are a number of clumsy-footed 

 animals. Long years ago a solitary spore was 

 carried by a persevering breeze into a field where 

 there were cows. It grew and dried, and was 

 broken by a providential hoof, and its family 

 was established on a firm basis. That field then 

 grew several puff-balls, and being fitted for then- 

 environment they colonized the neighbourhood, 

 showing, in their humble, lowly way, an object- 

 lesson to our French neighbours. 



We lay down on the wet grass, under cover of a 

 clump of sea-holly, and rested, waiting the while. 

 Presently a heron came slowly within reach of our 

 field-glasses. It halted by a dyke-side, paused 

 there for a moment and then drew closer. " 1 

 know that — it's a crane," smiled Johnston. 

 " Sh — ! " I replied, laying a restraining arm upon 

 him. They are very shy now, are the herons of 

 the marshes, and but few in number, but this one 

 was a truly fine bird. Fully adult, we could see, 

 having the tall black crest and pendant breast 

 feathers which mark maturity. Ardea cincrca is 

 the learnedly scientific name that hides the beauly 

 of the " hernshaw," " 'ern " or " 'eron," as our 

 Marsh-folk call it. Whilst we were watching, an 

 unsuspicious young water-vole essayed to swim 

 across the sluice-dyke, on the bank of which the 

 bird was waiting. The long bill darted down and 

 the unfortunate rodent was pinched, and ducked, 

 and pinched again, squealing the while in abject 

 terror. Soon it was merely a shapeless mass of 

 dripping fur. Then it was " pouched " and cilteria 

 maje 1 ically flew away, 



Marsh Iil" will be seen to present features in 



common with Other well balanced and nicely 



regulated communities By the Red-sluice, a 



tendei sboi 1 1 >i gi .1 1 1 spi ings up, An entei pi 1 ling 



1. null', in 1 llendene wood a 



ig hatched, 1 be \ ig 1 al eats 1 be 



and tic he 1 al tbi ral Perhaps, in the 



• i ' ling town yondei . a man w ill take a gun 

 nd up the affairs "I the heron 1 he mills 



• .f tb" . Ind in ■ in theii 1 Wall) Blow 



and 1 "i tain mannei . ■■■■ ill nol miss thai man 



" wha up ! 1 in 1 1 lit ' I I hi lew I " A shrill 



