226 FALLEN MONAECHS. [Aug: 



paid 8d. per cubic foot for tlie timber, as the following figures 

 will show : — 



80 cubic feet at 8d., . . . .£2 13 4 



Cost of manufacturing and sending to "Wick, 12 



£3~T5 i 

 Highest prices at present obtainable at 



\vick for 1000 superficial feet, . . 2 14 



£1 1~~4. 

 Leavinci: 21s. 4d. of a clear loss to the wood merchant. 



The prices Mr. Gunn quotes may be obtained if the trees are 

 wanted for any special purpose, and the partj" purchasing very 

 anxious to secure what will suit his purpose ; but an exceptional 

 sale of this kind is no rule to go by, 



Mr. Gunn has considerably understated the prices obtainable in 

 Ross-shire for sycamore (plane), as 2s. per cubic foot can be easily 

 obtained for fair-sized timber of this sort. D. Hobertson. 



NOVAR, EV ANTON, RoSS-SHIRE, lltli July 1885. 



FALLEN MONARCHS. 



N aged and exceedingly picturesque ash of large dimensions, 

 which for centuries had overhung and adorned the lake in 

 the middle of Surrenden-Dering Park, in Kent, has within the last 

 few days split in two, and the one half has tojDpled over into the 

 water, whence its removal will be a task of considerable difficulty. 

 The diameter of the divided trunk at 5 feet from the ground is 

 6 feet 10 inches, and the entire tree had a circumference of nearly 

 21 feet. It was one of the principal ornaments of this highly 

 attractive park. In describing some scenery adjoining this lake a 

 fevr years ago, I could state — " At its northern extremity stands an 

 ash of gigantic proportions, some of its lower limbs towering aloft 

 in sizes equal to the trunks of most of the surrounding timber 

 trees, and other branches drooping gracefully to the surface of the 

 lake, and then recurving and rising far above it. Where some of 

 its limbs have been broken off, new growths start up at right angles 

 to the old stumps, crossing and interlacing in such a manner as to 

 charm the eye with their intricacies. Springing, as this tree does, 

 from the base of a small escarpment of Kentish Eag, out of which 

 issues a copious stream of the clearest water, and falls into the lake 

 in the form of a small cascade ; its huo-e roots run alonsj the 

 weather-worn face of the rock in endless contortions, binding up 

 and holding together large masses which have become partially 

 loosened by the action of the water and the atmosphere." 



