Page:Artabanzanus (Ferrar, 1896).djvu/45

Rh sun, if it condescends to shine at all, does so with a sublime indifference to the effect of his rays in giving life and warmth. I well remember what the lake was like in the long bright days of summer; everything was then fresh and beautiful. The bright blue water, changing sometimes to rich emerald, reflected in varied tints the floating clouds above it. The three islands looked like little fairy gardens, and amid their crags the keen eye of imagination might see tiny medieval castles holding sway over diminutive domains. But now everything is sombre and desolate. The shore is encrusted with ice; the air is heavy with gloomy fogs and snow-laden clouds; the wind is blowing with searching, chilling keenness; the waters look dark as if threatening some coming calamity; the birds are silent; the flowers have hidden themselves, and I am shivering with cold.

I sat down on a rock, and gave way to reflections that were quite in harmony with the gloomy scene around me. I put myself for the time being in the place of the large landed proprietor. The life of a sheepowner may be more free and happy than that of a brave defender of his country, but, except for its health and freedom-giving qualities, it is not an enviable life. Just at the present time the farmer has emerged from the severest drought that has ever been experienced in this usually favoured island. It was so protracted and so intense that it killed thousands of trees, and caused great loss and deterioration of his flocks. He has been visited by calamitous Bush fires, which have destroyed thousands of acres of grass, and miles upon miles of valuable fencing which cannot be replaced save at great labour and expense; and he is constantly suffering from other losses, annoyances and anxieties.

I grew quite excited as I thought over the social and political anxieties of the class to which I belong, and I