252 



— that I found an opportunity of transferring the coUeG- 

 tion to their present quarters. I persuaded my wife and 

 one of my daughters to accompany me, and on arriving 

 at Axminster we journeyed to Charmouth by the omnibus 

 which meets the principal trains, and here we met with our 

 first surprise. The coachman, who had to drive a pair 

 of horses, manipulate the brake and handle luggage had 

 lost one arm, but appeared to be able to discharge his 

 duties with alacrity with the aid of one hand and an iron 

 hook attached to the other arm. I am afraid the authori- 

 ties in some parts of the country would have hesitated to 

 grant a driver's license to an; individual so afflicted, but I 

 learned that the coachman had driven the omnibus for 

 years, and was regarded as an institution. 



On reaching Charmouth I explained my mission to the pro- 

 prietor of the hotel, where we had arranged to stay, who bade 

 me joy of my quest. Mr. Moly was regarded as, to say the 

 least, eccentric, leading the life of a recluse, and no woman 

 had been known to pass through his gates, and as my 

 wife and daughter with me were proposing to render me some 

 assistance, this was not encouraging. 



The next morning I walked to Langmore Manor House 

 with a view to reconnoitring, but I was not prepared for 

 the task with which I was confronted. What was 

 originally a fern paradise was completely overgrown with 

 rank weeds, brambles and sapling trees, many of which 

 had sprung up through the crowns of old specimens- 

 Huge clumps of apparently dead crowns, standing in some 

 cases a foot above the ground, others prostrate, and the 

 whole place a wilderness of neglect with only here and 

 there cultivated patches. I looked round in despair, and 

 then departed to purchase mattocks and forks, and to find 

 a man to render assistance. That afternoon I commenced 

 operations, and for five days we toiled early and late, 

 commencing a bed and making a clean sweep of every- 

 thing, as it was hopeless to endeavour to make selections. 

 Seedlings had sprung up everywhere, and in many cases 



