SUMMER IN SOMERSET. 283 
The stones are red that lie about, the road dust has a 
reddish tint, so have the walls of the cottages and mills. 
Where the banks of the hedges can be seen (or whcre 
rabbits have thrown out the earth) they are red, and the 
water in the ditches and streamlets looks red--it is in 
fact clear, and the colour is that of the sand and stones. 
The footpath winds a red band through the grass of the 
‘meads, and if it passes under a cliff the rock too rises 
aslant in red lines. Along the cropped hedges red cam- 
pions flower so thickly as to take the place of green 
leaves, and by every gateway red foxgloves grow. Red 
trifolium is a favourite crop ; it is not much redder than 
the land which bears it. The hues of the red ploughed 
squares, seen through the trees, vary as the sun dries or 
the rain moistens the colour. Then, again, the ferns as 
the summer advances bring forward their green to the 
aid of the leaves and grass, so that red and green con- 
stantly strive together. 
There is a fly-rod in every house, almost every felt 
hat has gut and flies wound round it, and every one talks 
trout, Every one, too, complained that the rivers were 
so low it was difficult to angle. This circumstance, how- 
ever, rendered the hues of the rocky banks more distinct. 
Sitting down to dinner by chance with two farmers, one 
began to tell me how he had beguiled three trout the 
previous evening ; and the other described how, as he 
was walking in a field of his by the river, he had seen 
an otter. These creatures, which are becoming sadly 
scarce, if not indeed extinct in many counties, are still 
fairly numerous in the waters here. I hope they will 
long remain so, for although they certainly do destroy 
great numbers of fish, yet it must be remembered that 
in this country our list of wild animals has been gradually 
‘decreasing for centuries, and especially wild animals that 
