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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



no harbour at all, and no landing pier or stage what- 

 ever, and though the beach, at its south-eastern end, 

 is good as far as it goes, it is not always accessible or 

 safe. Sometimes furious seas roll upon that beach, as 

 though they would wash the island away, and Lundy 

 is then completely cut off from all connection with the 

 mainland, except by telegraph, which of late years has 

 been laid down between Hartland, on the Devon 

 coast, and the south point. Off Lundy the anchorage is 

 excellent in westerly gales, and then, especially if the 

 storm lasts some days, large numbers of fine steamers 

 and splendid ships with whole fleets of skiffs and tugs 

 take shelter under the lee of the island, until, with a shift 

 of wind to the east, they are off to a less exposed spot. 

 I once lived on Lundy for three years and a half, 

 and after a long residence in great cities and much 

 hurrying to and fro, the contrast was startling. Quiet 

 and leisure I had in abundance ; but, cut off from the 

 conflict and competition of life, the inclination to work 

 and to turn my time to the most profitable uses was 

 wanting, and never did I do less, never did I get 

 through fewer books. No ! whatever poets may say, 

 the man exposed to the storms and distractions of life 

 works hardest and does the best work. Rural retire- 

 ment is more fascinating to the imagination than in 

 reality. I used to listen to the piercing shriek of the 

 restless wind, stroll about the island, exchange a few 

 words with the residents, and when evening came I 

 was quite tired enough to feel that I had earned a 

 good night's sleep in return for my arduous labours. 



Lundy is in many ways singular ; its chief attractions 

 are its configuration, climate, bird-life, and vegetation : 

 to say nothing of its history : not very eventful it may 

 be, but extending far enough back to invest it with 

 some interest. On the south point, overlooking a 

 narrow and dangerous neck of land, connecting the 

 greater mass of Lundy with Lametiy, stands a small 

 castle, rugged, ancient, and gloomy, once the strong- 

 hold of a Norman baron, and still called ' ' The 

 Castle." Its original lord and builder was a certain 

 De Marisco, which is said to be a corruption of De 

 Montmorency. The island, according to tradition, 

 was granted, centuries ago, to the Knights Templars, 

 who, however, never took possession of it. Then it 

 passed from noble to noble, was the scene of much 

 fighting between Welsh and Irish, and finally, fifty 

 or more years ago, came into the possession, by 

 purchase, of the late William Hudson Heaven, a 

 quiet, amiable country gentleman, who made it his 

 home for years, and there died a few years ago. The 

 present owner is his son, the Rev. Hudson G. Heaven, 

 M.A., formerly of Trinity College, Oxford, an able 

 and accomplished man of scholarly tastes, who has 

 the rare felicity, in the south of England, of being 

 absolute lord of all he surveys, without an equal or 

 rival within many miles. 



The top of the island is an extensive and tolerably 

 level plain, sloping somewhat towards the north and 

 east, with no trees, no hedges, and no shelter. This 



want of shelter is a serious drawback, and from the 

 comparative mildness of the winter and the absence 

 of severe frost, were there only substantial protec- 

 tion, large quantities of excellent early vegetables- 

 could be grown for the Bristol markets. Perhaps, 

 were sufficient expense incurred, a good deal of 

 shelter might be made amid the combes on the 

 eastern slopes, and vegetables of excellent quality 

 could be grown a month earlier than on shore. After 

 the end of March, white frost is extremely rare. In 

 March, 1878, the lowest reading was 32 F. and in 

 April 33° F., and in May 39°"5. In March, April, 

 and May, 1879, the readings were respectively 29 0, 5, 

 30 0- 5, and 36 0- 5 F., and in 1880 in the same months,, 

 the minima recorded were 36° - o, 39 0, o, and 3S°'5. 

 Unfortunately the elevation of the island and the 

 want of shelter from the winds, in some measure 

 counter-balance the signal advantages which the 

 absence of low temperatures would give the island. 



The south half has long been cultivated ; there the 

 grass is smooth and green, and the crops of superior 

 quality ; the northern half is, however, in a state of 

 nature, with shallow soil or bare rock, and more 

 lichen and moss than turf. The slopes of the island, 

 locally called sidelands, are, however, in places singu- 

 larly beautiful and attractive ; in others, principally, 

 though not wholly, on the west, they are majestic 

 and impress the few people who have an opportu- 

 nity of seeing them as sui generis. On the slopes,, 

 well under the shelter of the mass of the island, 

 and at some distance above the water, the soil is, in 

 places, deep and contained in pockets, where it has. 

 accumulated, and there the grass and many species of 

 wild flowers luxuriate,, and attain splendid proportions. 

 The speciality of the island is its wild birds, which 

 once abounded in millions. In those days, when they 

 rose, they filled the air with discordant cries. Long, 

 however, before I took up my residence on the island 

 their numbers had greatly diminished, [and though 

 protected, as much as possible, by the squire and his 

 sister, serious inroads have been- made upon their 

 numbers, and they no longer rise in the dense clouds 

 reported by earlier visitors. In April the sea birds 

 come in, and speedily almost cover the rocks and 

 the more inaccessible headlands and a little later 

 they commence to lay. The chief species are 

 several sorts of gulls, guillemots, shags, razor-billed 

 auks, puffins, and a few, only, alas ! very few 

 gannets, that noblest of British sea birds, darting 

 along like a ray of light far beneath the spectator's 

 feet and not much above the water. It is said, though 

 I cannot vouch for its truth, that Lundy is the lowest 

 latitude in which the Solan goose lays, though Dr. 

 W. F. Ainsworth has seen it flying along in its 

 characteristically majestic fashion, on the coast of 

 Portugal. These sea birds choose open ledges, and 

 most of them, almost of necessity, lay their eggs 

 where daring climbers can get to them. The tempta- 

 tion is too great, and as the work of destruction never 



