upstream the valley becomes narrower, and the sides steeper, winding in
long beautiful curves. The shallow stream is brown, but very bright and
clear and pebbled; boggy patches lie here and there by the side, and in
one patch the sweet-ferns grow so large and thick that their
characteristic 'sharp sweet' scent is strong enough to betray them
before one catches sight of the finely-cut fronds. On the east side of
Badgeworthy Water is Deer Park, where many deer lie and the fir-woods
come down to the water's edge. On the opposite side is Badgeworthy Wood,
chiefly of oaks, most of which are not very large, but many of them are
gnarled. The number of oak-apples that I have seen in this wood was
amazing; on one tree they seemed like cherries on a cherry-tree. Nearly
all were scarlet, and they glowed in the sunshine.

'Lorna Doone' has brought so many visitors to the scene that it is no
news to say that the account of the water-slide is fictitious. This word
is deliberately chosen instead of 'exaggerated,' which is often applied
to Mr Blackmore's picture of the fall; for he was not describing
scenery--he was setting a scene in his novel, and there was no reason
why he should be bound to inches, or even feet! And this argument
applies to what he has said of the Doone Valley. At the same time, in
his 'Exploration of Exmoor,' Mr Page observes that a true description of
the valley of Badgeworthy Water would very nearly represent Mr
Blackmore's Glen Doone; and it still seems absolutely apart from the
ordinary race and fret of life.

Two long, smooth slopes of rock one below another form the chief part of
the water-slide, and the thin stream slipping over them makes one wish
to see how the fall would look when the water comes down, a roaring
torrent, swollen by heavy rains and melting snow. On one side of the
water-slide the ground rises very sharply, but up the other side a tiny
path twists through the wood, and opens quite suddenly on a very still
valley with steep sides and a broad, open space between. A mountain-ash
bearing vividly scarlet bunches of berries hangs over the stream close
to the opening; but beyond, only a few stunted thorns grow sparsely
amongst an abundance of heather, furze, bracken, and whortleberries.
Lorna's bower seems to have been seen to some extent through the
author's imagination. In a shallow combe at a little distance are the
ruins of what appear to have been the walls of enclosures, but they are
very