220 TRANSACTIONS OK KOYAI- SCOT'l'ISH AKBOKICUI.TUKAL SOCIETV. 



tation of the Higlilands — a task worthy indeed of Scottish 

 energy. Accept, gentlemen, for all our heartiest thanks !" 



M. Pardc, speaking in French, said: — "My Lord Provost 

 and Gentlemen, — My ignorance of the English language, of 

 which I am really ashamed, compels me to express myself in 

 French ; I beg you to excuse me, and in order to merit your 

 pardon I will be very brief. I only wish to tell you how much I 

 have enjoyed the time which I have passed in your company in 

 visiting your country, examining your woods and seeing your 

 trees. Your country, gentlemen, is superb ; your lakes and 

 mountains possess a beauty, derived from their dark-blue tint, 

 which I have seen nowhere else. Your woods, also, have a 

 great deal of artistic beauty ; indeed, in opposition to what is too 

 often seen in France, it sometimes seems as though you had 

 considered their aesthetic beauties rather than their financial 

 returns. As to the trees, one may say that -Scotland is a 

 veritable museum ; native and exotic species are represented 

 in many places by magnificent specimens whose perfect health 

 and great size I have much admired. You love trees, gentle- 

 men, and that is the first requisite for a forester. The days 

 which I have just passed with you will always remain fixed in 

 my memory as the most agreeable and interesting of my life. 

 In the name of my colleagues, the delegates for foreign countries, 

 as well as on my own account, I wish to express to you our very 

 deep gratitude for your hospitality, which you must allow me to 

 call ' Scottish,' because in my own country this word expresses 

 hospitality of the widest and most cordial cliaracter. I also wish 

 to thank most sincerely the Lord Provost and the Municipal 

 Councillors of Edinburgh, one of the most beautiful cities in all 

 Europe, for the hearty reception given us this morning. I drink 

 to the prosperity of Edinburgh, which combines the interest of an 

 ancient city with all the beauties of a modern town. I also 

 drink to the prosperity of the Royal Scottish Arboricultural 

 Society, which ought to be a most precious auxiliary to the 

 'Government in the afforestation of the waste lands of Scotland, 

 a work which will increase the riches and beauty of the country ; 

 to your President, Captain Stirling, to Sir John Stirling-Maxwell, 

 and to the members of Council, who have shown for us an 

 unique friendship. You will also allow me, gentlemen, in the 

 name of my colleagues and myself, to thank your Secretary, 

 Mr Galloway, who throughout the excursion took such pains to 



