142 
THE EERN PARADISE. 
Ferns which grow shuttlecock fashion on the 
sloping banks. Here, in the full daylight, we 
can see and admire the varying shades of glorious 
green which the Fern-fronds wear—the dark 
green of full-grown Brakes contrasting, for in¬ 
stance, with the lighter shade of the incipient 
fronds, or with their own golden-green tips. 
Again, for a moment, on its way down the 
hill-side, the lane opens up a prospect of the 
richly-clothed valley which we are now nearing 
once more. On our right, below the hedge-bank 
—over the open top of which we can peer—a 
meadow runs steeply down to a point where it is 
met on each side by two gracefully sloping up¬ 
lands, beautifully though sparingly wooded. From 
the point of junction of meadow and upland the 
ground, by a slow descent, sweeps away to the 
town, which, partly hidden by the trees which 
embower it, and partly screened by the rise of the 
uplands, lies picturesquely along the river banks. 
Beyond the town the wood and meadow-covered 
slopes rise upwards towards the sky. The peep 
is exquisite, and affords for a moment a delightful 
contrast to the peculiar charms of the ferny lane. 
