Though they have never known aught but peace and health, they, in one lesser aspect at least, look like countries depopulated by plague and war.

Every mile or two a house is passed untenanted.

The strength of the frame-work of these ancient buildings enables them long to resist the encroachments of decay.

Spotted gray and green with the weather-stain, their timbers seem to have lapsed back into their woodland original, forming part now of the general picturesqueness of the natural scene.

They are of extraordinary size, compared with modern farmhouses.