126 
THE FERN WORLD 
roars through the mass of branches overhanging it ; the 
V. 
long shelving bank, which from our path reaches down to it, 
being covered with oak and ash. All along the route we 
have been describing, the hill, rising from the stream bank, 
has continued densely clothed with trees. But at this par- 
ticular spot it soars higher still towards the sky, and the 
sensation is one of keen enjoyment and wondrous delight as 
the eye is lifted from the deep ravine to the top of the woody 
height which stands out in majestic relief against the clear 
sky. A few steps further on and we come upon a rare 
combination of woodland scenery. Fringing the path on 
our right are trees whose topmost branches overlap each 
other, but leave some gaps through which you can look at 
the bosky sea formed of the tops of the trees, which on the 
lower ground of the sloping river bank stretch away to the 
water below, from which comes a musical roar as the stream 
hurries down the glen on its course to the sea. The eye for 
a moment delightedly rests on the cool and verdant expanse. 
Then it follows the uninterrupted sea of green away higher, 
and higher, and higher over the trees, until the hill-top ends 
the view. 
If we turn again for a moment to the opposite side of our 
path, the scene, though different, is charming still, for the 
steep rocky bank is studded with many a mossy clump and 
graceful waving Fern. 
Winding on still, this glorious glen widens out into new 
beauty. Our path curves round to the right and is lost from 
view just where to the left it winds again. At the point 
where it disappears a solitary tree stands out like a sentinel, 
and we can just see the commencement of a narrow path 
which leads down over the long sloping, shrub-covered 
bank to the brink of the Lyn, now far down below us. We 
stand in sight of Watersmeet, but the meeting of the waters 
is hidden under an impenetrable curtain of trees lying below 
