OCTOBEB. 473 



Britain, and, according to Sir JAMES SMITH, in the 

 world ! I seized my prize, I fear, with a rapacity 

 worthy of " gloomy Dis" himself, when he carried off 

 the " fairer flower" of Sicily ; but, for the satisfaction 

 of my brother botanists, I beg to say, I left a store of 

 plants behind for the stock of another season, and 

 many had evidently spread their seeds around long 

 before my arrival. 



Many a delightful capture of this kind has it been 

 my lot to obtain, though, frequently, from weather or 

 accident, proving " a fearful joy ;" nor, on the present 

 occasion, did I entirely escape unscathed. I had lin- 

 gered so long upon the rocky promontory, wandering 

 to its remotest end, that the shades of evening had 



o 



gathered round, and I began to fear for the fidelity of 

 my boatman, for by this time the tide had set in, and 

 so filled the little estuary of the Axe, that it appeared 

 like a broad lake. For some time, when I got to my 

 starting place, I could see nothing but a boat got 

 loose from its moorings, which, imagining to be mine, 

 I began to calculate upon a long round-about toilsome 

 pilgrimage back to my quarters ; but, after some loud 

 shouting, Charon fortunately appeared, having re- 

 moved his boat farther up the stream, and picked up 

 an auxiliary in the shape of a "Westonian, who begged 

 a passage in the boat. So away we scudded with the 

 tide, nor with that alone behind us, for in its wake a 

 driving rain burst upon our devoted heads. It was 

 now dark, wind and rain rendered obscurity doubly 

 obscure, and I should certainly have got into some 

 misadventure, had not the "Westonian, whom I had 

 accommodated with a passage, offered the aid of his 

 local knowledge to guide me over the sands. Amidst 



