40 ON SURREY HILLS. 



through. The mass gets frozen, and forms a roof 

 which leaves an open space underneath. It may- 

 freeze, and the north-east winds may sweep over, 

 day and night, but it is warm below the surface. 

 And there vegetation thrives : the grass, heath, and 

 whortleberry shrubs are in a grand conservatory 

 designed by the same Great Power that created all 

 things. The blackcock and other birds live beneath 

 the snow ; so do the hares, rabbits, and other 

 creatures. I have pulled the top roofing of snow off, 

 like a tablecloth, from some places, in one large 

 frozen flake, after six weeks of bitter weather, and 

 have found the vegetation below green, tender, and 

 growing in good condition. 



And that is how the large birds live. When Black 

 Prince wants to come out and look round him, he 

 knocks a hole through quickly. The covering is 

 only a slight one in some parts, and he knows all 

 about it. It is somewhat startling to see a large 

 bird like that come from nowhere, as folks say, and 

 disappear again in the same mysterious direction. 



Pay a visit to a furze brake, when the snow covers 

 all the top — a furze brake where the stems in many 

 places are as thick as a man's leg and as high as 



