28 Wild Life in a Southern County 



liquid which bubbles out in the narrow coombes far 

 below. 



The indirect bearing of the phenomena of these dew- 

 ponds upon the water-supply of the ancient fort is found 

 in the evidence they supply that under different conditions 

 the deposit of moisture here might have been very much 

 larger. The ice formed upon the branches of the beech 

 trees in winter proves that water is often present in the 

 atmosphere in large quantities ; all it requires is some- 

 thing to precipitate it. Therefore, if these hills were once 

 clothed with forest, as previously suggested, it appears 

 possible that the primitive inhabitants, after all, may have 

 carried on their agriculture with less difficulty, and have 

 been able to store up water in their camps with 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 unpromising 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 entrenchment. 



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 Cassar was yet a living memory. These marks are 

 like some of the little-used paths which traverse the hills : 

 if you look a long 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. 



