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tlie question for himself as he could. During a visit paid to 

 Bournemouth this last summer (1885) I -was surprised to find how 

 few persons seemed to know much about these firs or cared to 

 consider the matter. The usual guide books scarce afford any 

 help, except on one point, to which I shall revert hereafter. They 

 speak of the firs as having been always there and forming part 

 of the place, and they go no further. Persons, however, who 

 say this do not consider of what modern growth the whole place 

 and its surroundings are, whether as a place of sea-side resort for 

 the public, or for permanent residence on the part of the large 

 numbers who have made it their home ; nor set themselves to 

 inquire what was the state of things previously, 



As the place appears now, broad roads, equal to any in England, 

 are seen branching off in various directions with elegant houses 

 or villas on either side, at intervals, each having its own grounds 

 and garden ; the firs that have been left simply growing by the 

 sides of the roads, or along the sides of the gardens, where 

 they often form a boundary, as it were, between two contiguous 

 properties. These roads and houses are mostly on the cliffs, or 

 they run back more or less away from the sea ; the town — 

 properly so called — being at the bottom, nearly at sea-level, 

 and, much like the towns in other watering places, calling for no 

 particular remark. 



What now was the character of the place before all these roads 

 and buildings came into existence ? I was informed by a lady 

 living in the neighbourhood, that an aged acquaintance of hers 

 had known the locality ever since the early part of this century, 

 when hardly a single building had been erected, or the first step 

 taken towards bringing it into its present condition. It was in 

 its wild primitive state — an enormous forest of Scotch Firs, with 

 scarce any break, reaching for miles away from the sea into the 

 surrounding country. Who, now, planted all these firs, supposing 

 them for a moment to have been planted ? Not one man, nor 

 many men. Is it likely either that the several owners of the 



