Prehistoric Fields. 35 
greater ease, than would be the case at present. This 
may explain the traces of primeval cultivation to be 
Seen here on the barest, bleakest, and most unpromis- 
ing hill-sides. Such traces may be discovered at 
intervals all along the slope, on the summit, and near 
the foot of the down at the rear of the entrench- 
ment. 
It is easy to pass almost over them without 
observing the nearly obliterated marks—the faint 
lines left on the surface by the implements of men 
in the days when the first Caesar was yet a living 
memory. These marks are like some of the little 
used paths which traverse the hills : if you look along 
way in front you can see them tolerably distinctly, 
but under your feet they are invisible, the turf being 
only so slightly worn by wayfarers. So, to find the 
signs of ancient fields, look for them from a distance 
as you approach along the slope; then you will see 
squares and parallelograms dimly defined upon the 
sward by slightly raised and narrow banks, green 
with the grass that has grown over them for so many 
centuries. 
They have the appearance sometimes of shallow 
terraces raised one above the other, rising with the 
‘slope of the down. This terrace formation is perhaps 
occasionally artificial ; but in some cases, I think, the 
natural conformation of the ground has been taken 
advantage of, having seen terraces where not the 
faintest trace of cultivation was visible. It is not 
D2 
