A Treeless Forest.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 212, 23 July 1887, Page 3

A Treeless Forest.

Away down in Devonshire, in the southwestern part of England, there is a very interesting tract of land. It is known as Dartmoor forest, and is so named in all old 1 deeds and grants of land ; yet, with the exception of a small grove of dwarf oaks, it is almost entirely without trees ! This strange contradiction is said to be due to the fact of the greater part of Dartmoor having actually been a forest years ago, but it was so infested r with fierce wild animals that the people were forced in self-defonce to set fire to the trees, and so, by degrees, the forest was destroyed. Certain it is that the soil of the moor is composed of rich, black vegetable matter, and that remains of tree trunks have been found under the ground. Moreover, the people of one district have, for generations, enjoyed the privilege of free pasturage, through a grant awarded their ancestors for services in destroying wolves in Dartmoor forest; for the same reason they are allowed to gather the peat which abounds in the fens or marshy lands, and which makes an excellent fuel. The atmosphere of the moor is nearly always moist and foggy. Indeed, the people who live there say that : The west wind always brings wet weather, The east winds wet and cold together ; The south wind surely bring us rain, The north wind blows it back again. So it seems the people of Dartmoor have very little dry weather, but in spite of this salt dampness (or perhaps because of it), the region is one of remarkable healthfulness, and the little barefoot children of the moor, who live in low huts made of sods, are as fat and rosy a set as can be found anywhere. ■