s, though they
seldom prove fatal.

W. Well--I then took my course up to the windmill, on the mount. I
climbed up the steps of the mill, in order to get a better view of the
country around. What an extensive prospect! I counted fifteen
church-steeples; and I saw several gentlemen's houses peeping out from
the midst of green woods and plantations; and I could trace the windings
of the river all along the low grounds, till it was lost behind a ridge
of hills. But I'll tell you what I mean to do, sir, if you will give me
leave.

Mr. A. What is that?

W. I will go again, and take with me the county map, by which I shall
probably be able to make out most of the places.

Mr. A. You shall have it, and I will go with you, and take my pocket
spying-glass.

W. I shall be very glad of that. Well--a thought struck me, that as the
hill is called Camp-mount, there might probably be some remains of
ditches and mounds, with which I have read that camps were surrounded.
And I really believe I discovered something of that sort running round
one side of the mound.

Mr. A. Very likely you might. I know antiquaries have described such
remains as existing there, which some suppose to be Roman, others
Danish. We will examine them further, when we go.

W. From the hill, I went straight down to the meadows below, and walked
on the side of a brook that runs into the river. It was all bordered
with reeds and flags, and tall flowering plants, quite different from
those I had seen on the heath. As I was getting down the bank, to reach
one of them, I heard something plunge into the water near me. It was a
large water-rat, and I saw it swim over to the other side, and go into
its hole. There were a great many large dragonflies all about the
stream. I caught one of the finest, and have got him here in a leaf. But
how I longed to catch a bird that I saw hovering over the water, and
that every now and then darted down into it! It was all over a mixture
of the most beautiful green and blue, with some orange-color. It was
somewhat less than a thrush, and had a large head and bill, and a short
tail.

Mr. A. I can tell you what that bird was--a kingfisher, the celebrated
halcyon of the ancients, about which so many tales are told. It lives on
fish, which it catches in the manner you saw. It builds in holes in the
banks, and is a shy, retired bird, never to be seen far from the stream
which it inhabits.

W. I must try to get another sight of him