Then they began going up， slowly and zigzagging a good deal， for the hills were steep. It was all open park.like country with no roads or houses in sight. Scattered trees， never thick enough to be a forest， were everywhere. Shasta， who had lived all his life in an almost tree.less grassland， had never seen so many or so many kinds. If you had been there you would probably have known （he didn’t） that he was seeing oaks， beeches， silver birches， rowans， and sweet chestnuts. Rabbits scurried away in every direction as they advanced， and presently they saw a whole herd of fallow deer making off among the trees.
“Isn‘t it simply glorious！” said Aravis.
At the first ridge Shasta turned in the saddle and looked back. There was no sign of Tashbaan； the desert， unbroken except by the narrow green crack which they had travelled down， spread to the horizon.
“Hullo！” he said suddenly. “What’s that？”
“What‘s what？” said Bree， turning round. Hwin and Aravis did the same.
“That，” said Shasta， pointing. “It looks like smoke. Is it afire？”
“Sand.storm， I should say，” said Bree. “Not much wind to raise it，” said Aravis.
