Wild Life in a Southern County 



and barley equally short. With all the resources of modern 

 agriculture, artificial manure, deeper ploughing, and more 

 complete cleaning, such results do not seem altogether 

 commensurate with the labour bestowed. Of course it 

 is not always so, else the enterprise would be at once 

 abandoned. But when I come to think of the ancient 

 tillage in the terraces upon the barren slopes, I find it 

 difficult to see how, with their rude implements, the men 

 of those times could have procured any sustenance from 

 their soil, unless I suppose the conditions different. 



If there was forest all around, to condense the vapours 

 rolling over and deposit a heavy dew or grateful rainfall, 

 then they may have found the stubborn earth more fruit- 

 ful. Trees and brakes, and thickets, too, would give 

 shelter and protect the rising growth from the bitter winds ; 

 while when first tilled the soil itself would be rich from 

 the decay of accumulated leaves, dead boughs, and vege- 

 table matter. So that the terrace gardens may have yielded 

 plentifully then, and were probably surrounded with stock- 

 ades to protect them from the ravages of the beasts of the 

 forest. Now the very site of the ancient town can scarcely 

 be distinguished : the sheep graze, the lambs gambol 

 gaily over it in the sunshine, and the shepherd dozes hard 

 by on the slope while his dog watches the flock. 



A long day of rain is often followed by a moderately 

 fine evening — the clouds breaking up as the sun nears the 

 horizon. It happened one summer evening, after just 

 such a day of continuous showers, that I was in a meadow 

 about two miles distant from the hills. The rain had 

 ceased, and the sky was clear overhead of all but a thin 

 film of cloud, through which the blue was visible in places. 

 But westward there was still a bank of vapour concealing 

 the sinking sun ; and eastwards, towards the downs, it 



