25 



den and unprepared ; the banks sometimes 

 broken and abrupt; sometimes smooth, 

 and gently, but not uniformly sloping; now 

 wildly over-hung with thickets of trees and 

 bushes; now loosely skirted with wood: no 

 regular verge of grass, no cut edges, no 

 distinct lines of separation; all is mixed 

 and blended together, and the border of 

 the road itself, shaped by the mere tread of 

 passengers and animals, is as unconstrained 

 as the footsteps that formed it. Even the 

 tracks of the wheels (for no circumstance 

 is indifferent) contribute to the picturesque 

 effect of the whole: the varied lines they 

 describe just mark the way among trees 

 and bushes ; often some obstacle, a cluster 

 of low thorns, a furze-bush, a tussuck, a 

 large stone, forces the wheels into sudden 

 and intricate turns; often a group of trees 

 or a thicket, occasions the road to separate 

 into two parts, leaving a sort of island in 

 the middle. 



These are a few of the picturesque acci- 

 dents, which in lanes and bye roads attract 



