70 
THE FERN PARADISE. 
as not to disturb the free inhabitants of this wood- 
land, admire and enjoy their unrestrained move- 
ments. The snake will wriggle on to the sunlit 
path again ; the rabbit will come quietly out from 
his hiding-place ; the rat will return from his hole ; 
the trout will skim about on the surface of the 
river close to where you are sitting, if your shadow 
does not fall across the sunlit pool. As you sit 
and rest, you may listen with a deep sense of 
enjoyment to the soft buzzings of the insects 
which surround you ; and watch the bushes, the 
grass, the ground, and the water. Everywhere 
•there is life — fresh, delightful, enjoyable life. 
Such a scene as we have attempted to describe 
is not imaginary. It is real and tangible. Who 
that has visited Devonshire has not experienced 
the varied and varying sensations of a ramble so 
essentially Devonian ? 
After pursuing this river-side path for some 
little distance, we reached the waterfall, where 
a division in the river makes provision for the 
stream which drives the mill at Fingle Bridge. 
o o 
Close by the fall there is a light and open planta- 
