The rib and groove of the flag so
closely resemble those of the ancient bayonet that it might be supposed
the weapon was modelled from the plant. Indoors among the lumber there
was a rusty old bayonet that immediately called forth the comparison:
the modern make seem more triangular.
The rushes grew nearer the shore of the meadow--the old ones yellow, the
young green: in places this fringe of rush and sedge and flag must have
been five or six yards wide, and it extended as far as could be seen up
the brook. No doubt the cattle trod in the edge of the firm ground by
degrees every year to get at the water, and thus widened the marsh. It
was easy to understand now why all the water-fowl, teal and duck,
moorhen and snipe, seemed in winter to make in this direction.
The ducks especially exercised all our ingenuity and quite exhausted our
patience in the effort to get near them in winter. In the large
water-meadows a small flock sometimes remained all day: it was possible
to approach near enough by stalking behind the hedges to see the colour
of the mallards; but they were always out of gunshot. This place must be
full of teal then; as for moorhens, there were signs of them everywhere,
and several feeding in the grass. The thought of the sport to be got
here when the frosty days came was enough to make one wild.
After a long look across, I began to examine the stream near at hand:
the rushes and flags had forced the clear sweet current away from the
meadow, so that it ran just under the bank.
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