568 Wales. 



This is especially the case in the comparatively low- 

 lying lands, from the circumstance that the rocks are 

 generally soft, and therefore easily decomposed; and 

 where the surface is covered with drift, the loose ma- 

 terial is chiefly formed of the waste of the partly cal- 

 careous strata on which it rests, and this adds to its 

 fertility, for the soil is thus deepened and more easily 

 fitted for purposes of tillage. If anyone is desirous to 

 realise the exquisite beauty of the scenery of the Eng- 

 lish Old Eed Sandstone, let him go to the summit of 

 the Malvern Hills, or of those above Stoke Edith, and 

 cast his eye north and west, and there in far-stretching 

 undulations of hill and dale, with towns and villages, 

 farms and parks, he will survey a vast tract, unrivalled 

 in varied beauty, dotted with noble woods and orchards, 

 and fruit trees set in every hedge, while through the 

 fertile scene wander the Teme, the Lug, and the stately 

 Wye, in many a broad curvature, winding its way from 

 the distant Plynlimmon to lose itself in the wide estuary 

 of the Severn. 



On the whole, however, the moist character of the 

 climate of much of Wales and Cumberland, and of the 

 north of England in its western parts, renders these 

 regions much more fitted for the rearing of cattle than 

 for the growth of cereals. 



In the centre of England, in the Lickey Hills, near 

 Birmingham, and in the wider boss of Charnwood Forest, 

 where the old Palaeozoic rocks crop out like islands 

 amid the Secondary strata, it is curious to observe 

 that a wild character suddenly prevails in the scenery, 

 even though the land lies comparatively low, for the 

 rocks are rough and untractable, and stand out in 

 miniature mountains. Much of Charnwood Forest is, 

 however, covered by drift, and is now being so rapidly 



