Wistman's Wood,

a little further north, but visible from the door of the inn, is equally interesting, for it is believed to have been part of the primeval forest of Britain, of which very scanty remains are in existence. It occupies the side of a hill, overlooking the Dart; it covers an area about four hundred yards long, by a hundred wide; and it consists of a few stunted oaks, the average height of which is from ten to twelve feet. These are gradually decaying, owing to the close embraces of the ivy and other parasitic plants that entwine them; and they are divided into small groups by the blocks of granite from which they seem to spring, and between which are deep chasms, scarcely concealed by the ferns which clothe them. Great care must therefore be taken in springing from one block to another, as a "nasty fall" may await the incautious visitor ? a fall made all the more dangerous by the presence of the adders and other reptiles, which, we are told, infest their hollow crevices.

[Text may be taken from a different source or edition than that listed as the source by Somers Cocks.]