{273}
CHAMBERS’S JOURNAL
OF
POPULAR
LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART.
CONTENTS
NORFOLK BROADS AND RIVERS.
BY MEAD AND STREAM.
QUEER LODGERS.
CHEWTON-ABBOT.
EPISODES OF LITERARY MANUSCRIPTS.
ANIMAL MEMORIALS AND MEMENTOES.
SOME FOOD-NOTES.
SERENADE.
No. 18.—Vol. I.
Price 1½d.
SATURDAY, MAY 3, 1884.
NORFOLK BROADS AND RIVERS.
To many, the wild solitudes of marsh and mere,the rivers and ‘broads’ of Norfolk, are almost asentirely unknown as the arid solitudes of theunexplored Australian deserts. Yet there arefew spots where the holiday-seeker can find moreeasily and cheaply relaxation and enjoyment thanin these vast reedy wildernesses of East Anglia.Mr G. Christopher Davies, in his interestingbook, Norfolk Broads and Rivers (Blackwood andSons), paints in a graphic manner the engrossingcharm of these placid inland seas, with theirreedy margins shimmering softly green in thegray morning mists, or flushing into warm tintsof beauty beneath the smile of sunset. A strangeris apt to fancy that marsh scenery is uninteresting;but the very reverse is the case; it has abeauty of its own, which is seldom even monotonous,so incessant is the play of sunshine andshadow over the wide sedgy flats and shallows.The marsh vegetation is luxuriant, even tropicalin some of the more sheltered nooks among thereeds; grasses are abundant, and so are flowers,which often grow in broad patches, and warmwith vivid gleams of colour the low-toned landscape.In May and June, the banks are gay withthe vivid gold of the yellow iris and marshbuttercup; then come the crimson glow of theragged-robin, the delicate blue of the forget-me-not,the deep purple flush of the loosestrife, andthe creamy white of the water-lilies, which spreadtill they almost cover the shallow bays with theirbroad glossy leaves and shining cups of whiteand gold.
The reedy capes and bays, the sedgy islets,with the green park lands and wooded gladesbeyond, give an irresistible charm to these broads,which is enhanced by the soft stillness of theirutter solitude and loneliness. The passing cloudsand rising wind give a certain motion and varietyto the great marsh plain; but nothing speaks ofthe busy world beyond save the white sail of asolitary yacht, or the rich red-brown canvas ofa gliding wherry; and not a sound falls on thelistening ear except the monotonous measuredplash of the oars or the wild