The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1893-09-07
RAMBLES IN EPPlNG FOREST.
A Place That Is a FaYorite Resort for
Holiday Parties From London.

A Place That Is Favorite Resort fOl
Holiday Parties From London.
On summer Saturdays, Sundays and
holidays thousands of trippers go to
Epping forest. They come down by
train loads and wagon loads, and most
of them bring the days provender in
hampers, baskets, and bags, and bun
dies, from which, as the custom of the
country is, the jovial jug and the fes-
tive bottle are not wanting, and the
alluring cask is often conveyed under
the coachman's seat. But no matter
how many thousands of holiday
makers go up to Epping forest, there
are always hooks enough for quiet and
for freedom from intrusion. The best
places in the woods have, like the best
places elsewhere, to be searched for,
and, when found, they should be noted
for further use.
l Iwent down the other day to visit
William Westall, the novelist, who
lives in cozy cottage at High Beech,
with the loveliest portion of forest in
front of his windows, and the whole
range of it, as he says, for his private
park. 1t was like being in some re-
mote place in the Midlands or some
pretty isolated spot in rolling De-
Won. We trudged in the forest
half day, and we were ever coming
upon new beauties of woodland and
surprises of landscapes. The whole
thing was revelation. | had previ-
ously shared the usual notions of Lon
don with regard to Epping forest, but
this first visit dispersed them all.
When day or two later l heard a
friend say that he had driven through
the forest and had seen no tree larger
than sapling, and no wilderness be-
side scrubby underbrush, llnfolded to
him tale of my own trarnping there
which he could not reconcile with his
own experiences on top Of a coach. But
1T was easy then to understand how it
is that the average Londoner knows so
little about the place. l went there on
a Saturday. The trains were well
laden, and the roads are we'll ground
under the heels and wheels of half-holi-
day cockneys. There must have been
several thousands picnicking in the
forest. In some places we could hear
them, and at some places we could see
them. But few strides would take us
out of sight and out of hearing and we
might have been fifty or 100 miles away
from any living creatures-except the
birds, the insects, or an occasional
strolling cow.
Eor>i,,or ifCo1F 1.4+1a
with an inn, should think, to every
inhabitant. 1t is droll, sleepy place,
where nobody goes and nothing is done.
Waltham pronounced "Waltam'') alb
bey is not in the forest, but you get a
glimpse of it from High Beech, and
somebody reminds you that the dust of
Harold, the last of the Saxon kings,
lies buried there. Then there is the
fat land of Wanstead and the pretty
land of Woodford.
But one does not care a button for
the villages. The forest is our concern.
1t was wise on the part of the city
fathers to leave the forest in state of
nature. The only bad roads | have
seen in England are in the forest. But
they are bad only by comparison with
the other English roads. They would
be thought amazing fine in the rural
parts of most of our states.
There is any amount of delightful
woodland scenery in Epping forest 1t
is old world forestry, altogether unlike
our own. There are glades here like
old Norman churches, and groves like
- ~ A., e.. ez~1s,
there were never such masses of
shifting green outside of these islands.
And the forest is alive with singing
birds. There are great populations OF
nightingales, and from the neighboring
fields the larks mount clamoring.
The forest is set in pretty country,
and you can reach it in half an hour
by the train. East London, though, is
fond of going down by road. One does
not see innumerable wagon loads OF
hard-fsted, strong-voiced townspeople
moving countryward from our Ameri-
can cities for days outing. But here
the sight is common enough. Part Of
the pleasure of living in England
comes in these road jaunts which
everybody takes in one way or an
other. In America we would prefer
electric cars, and by SO much miss the
fun of the fair. But then we have not
the good roads, and if we had them we
should still be without the snug inns.
In England there is always the inn,
and the meat and drink, and one or a
hundred and one, can jaunt without
taking thought where he may MUNICH
and rest. 1t is very comfortable
country, and you would think SO if you
could see the Easten1ers making for
Epping forest.-Boston Herald.
Curiosities of the Wild Fig Tree.
The wild fig tree is found at various
points along the southern coast, being
entirely tropical, and most every island