The road leads out upon the fen, and here run two great Levels, as
straight as a line for many miles, up which the tide pulsates day
by day; between them lies a wide tract of pasture called the Wash,
which in summer is a vast grazing-ground for herds, in rainy
weather a waste of waters, like a great estuary--north and south it
runs, crossed by a few roads or black-timbered bridges, the fen-
water pouring down to the sea. It is a great place for birds this.
The other day I disturbed a brood of redshanks here, the parent
birds flying round and round, piping mournfully, almost within
reach of my hand. A little further down, not many months ago, there
was observed a great commotion in the stream, as of some big beast
swimming slowly; the level was netted, and they hauled out a great
sturgeon, who had somehow lost his way, and was trying to find a
spawning-ground. There is an ancient custom that all sturgeon,
netted in English waters, belong by right to the sovereign; but no
claim was advanced in this case. The line between Ely and March
crosses the level, further north, and the huge freight-trains go
smoking and clanking over the fen all day.
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