n it was all covered with gay flowers, many of which I had never
observed before. There were at least three kinds of heath (I have got
them In my handkerchief here), and gorse, and broom, and bellflower,
and many others of all colors, that I will beg you presently to tell
me the names of.

_Mr. A._ That I will readily.

_W._ I saw, too, several birds that were new to me. There was a pretty
grayish one, of the size of a lark, that was hopping about some great
stones; and when he flew he showed a great deal of white above his
tail.

_Mr. A._ That was a wheatear. They are reckoned very delicious birds
to eat, and frequent the open downs in Sussex, and some other
countries, in great numbers.

_W_. There was a flock of lapwings upon a marshy part of the heath,
that amused me much. As I came near them, some of them kept flying
round and round just over my head, and crying _pewet_ so distinctly
one might fancy they almost spoke, I thought I should have caught one
of them, for he flew as if one of his wings was broken, and often
tumbled close to the ground: but as I came near, he always made a
shift to get away.

_Mr. A._ Ha, ha! you were finely taken in then! This was all an
artifice of the bird's to entice you away from its nest; for they
build upon the bare ground, and their nests would easily be observed,
did they not draw off the attention of intruders by their loud cries
and counterfeit lameness.

_W._ I wish I had known that, for he led me a long chase, often over
shoes in water. However, it was the cause of my falling in with an old
man and a boy who were cutting and piling up turf for fuel, and I had
a good deal of talk with them about the manner of preparing the turf,
and the price it sells at. They gave me, too, a creature I never saw
before--a young viper, which they had just killed, together with its
dam. I have seen several common snakes, but this is thicker in
proportion, and of a darker color than they are.

_Mr. A._ True. Vipers frequent those turfy, boggy grounds pretty much,
and I have known several turf-cutters bitten by them.

_W._ They are very venomous, are they not?

_Mr. A._ Enough so to make their wounds painful and dangerous, 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 round. What an extensive prospect! I counted fifteen church
steeples; and I saw several