CHARM OF THE DOWNS 23 



is a good preparation, an intensifier of the pleasure 

 to follow. Those who know the downs are all agreed 

 that it is a rare pleasure to be on them. And when 

 we have had our upward toil on a hot day, and are at 

 length on the level plateau-like summit, on the turf; 

 when the wind has blown us dry, and we have ex- 

 perienced that sense of freedom and elation which is 

 the result of rising from a low level into a rarefied 

 atmosphere, these purely physical sensations are suc- 

 ceeded by a higher, more enduring pleasure, which the 

 mind receives from the prospect disclosed. I mean 

 the prospect of the vast round green hills extending 

 away on either hand to the horizon. What is the 

 secret of this peculiar pleasure ? We may say off-hand 

 that it is nothing but the instinctive delight which we 

 have in wild nature and a wide prospect. And this is 

 no doubt a principal element in the feeling — wild 

 nature and a wide prospect of unenclosed country, 

 an elastic turf under foot, and full Uberty to roam 

 whithersoever we will. There is another element 

 resulting from the conformation of the earth's surface 

 — the special character of the scenery. The wildness, 

 the wide horizon and sense of liberty after the confine- 

 ment of roads and fences and hedges, come first : it 

 is the local aspect, appealing as it does to the aesthetic 

 faculties, which makes the feeling distinctive. Thus, 

 among mountains, on moors, and in vast desolate 

 marshes, on iron-bound coasts, and on wide sea-side 

 flats and saltings, and on level plains, I experience 



