A fair and fertile region,
and amidst a scene of busy rural life. We saw fields and
inclosures, and here and there corn-stacks, some made, and others
not yet completed, about which people were employed, and waggons
and horses moving. Passing over the top of the hill, we began to
descend the southern side, which was far less steep than the one we
had lately surmounted. After a little way, the road descended
through a wood, which John Jones told us was the beginning of "the
Park of Biddulph."
"There is plenty of game in this wood," said he; "pheasant cocks
and pheasant hens, to say nothing of hares and coneys; and in the
midst of it there is a space sown with a particular kind of corn
for the support of the pheasant hens and pheasant cocks, which in
the shooting-season afford pleasant sport for Biddulph and his
friends."
Near the foot of the descent, just where the road made a turn to
the east, we passed by a building which stood amidst trees, with a
pond and barns near it.
"This," said John Jones, "is the house where the bailiff lives who
farms and buys and sells for Biddulph, and fattens the beeves and
swine, and the geese, ducks, and other poultry which Biddulph
consumes at his table."
The scenery was now very lovely, consisting of a mixture of hill
and dale, open space and forest, in fact the best kind of park
scenery.
