THE FERNY MOORLANDS. 6 1 
peeps of fern-land which are to be obtained be- 
tween Totnes and Newton; for the steep inclines 
necessarily render the eight miles of railway journey 
between the two places unusually long. 
Changing trains at Newton, on our way to the 
moors, we were not long in getting to our point 
of departure at Moretonhampstead. On this 
branch line, twelve miles in length, the changing 
scenes are supremely beautiful. During the whole 
distance the line passes along a valley which is 
preeminently Devonian. It is curious and interest- 
ing to watch in the early summer the gradual 
substitution of the barren moorland for the cul- 
tivated tract. Grand slopes of rich greenwood, 
flower-dotted meadows and June corn-crops stand- 
ing proudly up, with rich promise for the autumn 
— the light waving green of the stalks and ears 
charmingly contrasting with the red and full blown 
poppies, which are scattered in patches here and 
there — first meet the eye. But the cultivated land 
is shorn of no picturesque surroundings : hill, wood, 
and river, each with its peculiar Devonshire charm, 
intermingle in rich and varying proportions, fling- 
