AT LYNDHURST. 123 
circle being made by a mass of light-green Beech- 
tops, which away below at the foot of the hill, near 
whose crest we stand, dip midway as they stretch 
across from side to side. The space between this 
encircling leafy border is filled by a beautiful pic- 
ture formed by the distant landscape—meadow, 
and hedge, and Tree; gentle uplands darkly 
wooded, white houses scattered here and there 
over the country side, the misty blue line which 
denotes the limit of our vision, and over all the 
blue sky. 
But within a few yards of the spot on which 
we stand we can command what is perhaps the 
finest view of unbroken woodland to be obtained 
anywhere within the limits of the New Forest. 
The knoll-top has hidden this prospect from us. 
We reach its crest, and descend a short way its 
other side. The ground is densely covered with 
gorse and brake, and a rough pathway runs down 
the hillside. Moving in a little to the left of the 
pathway, we can look across the very heart of this 
magnificent woodland along a vista formed by the 
Trees which line the hillside. We look down the 
vista, over a sea of gorse and brake, into the 
H 
