The water below, the revulsion came and he
was mad with himself for having done such a thing, and on his
return to the house, or palace, he angrily told his people to
"let the starlings alone" for the future - never to molest them
again!
I thought it one of the loveliest stories I had ever heard;
there is no hardness comparable to that of the sportsman, yet
here was one, a very monarch among them, who turned sick at
his own barbarity and repented.
Beyond the flowery wet meadows, favored by starlings and a
breeding-place of swans, is the famous Chesil Bank, one of the
seven wonders of Britain. And thanks to this great bank, a
screen between sea and land extending about fourteen miles
eastward from Portland, this part of the coast must remain
inviolate from the speculative builder of seaside holiday
resorts or towns of lodging-houses.
Every one has heard of the Fleet in connection with the famous
swannery of Abbotsbury, the largest in the land. I had heard
so much about the swannery that it had but little interest for
me. The only thing about it which specially attracted my
attention was seeing a swan rise up and after passing over my
head as I stood on the bank fly straight out over the sea.
