1863.] BELGIAN BOTANY. 389 



panj' at the supper table. On fitting seasons gaiety is not incon- 

 sistent with gravity ; trifles light as air may with propriety min- 

 gle in the most important concerns of life. The sage fabulist of 

 ancient times, who laid aside his philosophic garb and assumed 

 the manner of a child, offers an example worthy of imitation. 

 I was both diverted and edified with the great depth of gaiety 

 which unveiled itself in several of our new friends. 



In drawing near the gates of Nieuport we were met by the 

 excellent president, Mr. Dumortier, and Mr. Muller, president 

 of the Brussels Linneean Society, who had gone on before to 

 prepare our quarters. They were all very much pleased to see 

 us in such high spirits, for they expected we were thoroughly 

 drenched, and tliat our vivacity and good-nature had been car- 

 ried off by the storm, which had also burst rather furiously over 

 Nieuport. 



It may be worthy of remark that fatigue disappears as if by 

 enchantment on arrival at the gates of a town : there and then 

 the pedestrian walks witli a more stately bearing, and puts on a 

 brighter countenance. Weary as some of us were, we did not 

 neglect to return the smiles and kind though silent greetings of 

 the fairer part of the population of Nieuport, the Belgian maids, 

 who eyed us at their ease from their casements. If they did not 

 admire the style of our dress and accoutrements, Ave could not 

 help admiring their healthy and smiling faces. Under the 

 guidance of our friends, who had arrived before us, we drew up 

 at the ' Esperance,^ a respectable hostelry, which we admired not 

 more for its antique appearance than for the comfort and atten- 

 tion bestowed upon us by its owners. 



Our company was divided into three groups, to be quartered 

 respectively at the Hotel de PEsperance, the ' Perroquet,^ and 

 the ' Pelican.^ I was one of seven who lodged at the ' Perroquet.' 

 Having washed ourselves, and given a little attention to our 

 toilet, we returned to the ' Esperance,^ where a comfortable din- 

 ner had been prepared, and to which we were ready to do ample 

 justice. The exercise and sea-breezes sharpen the appetite. At 

 the dessert, of course, toasts were proposed ; the first to the pro- 

 gress of botany, the second to the honourable president, who, 

 notwithstanding his sixty-five summers, has preserved all his 

 pristine freshness and gaiety intact. Being an excellent narrator, 

 we begged him to recite to us some of his travelling adventures. 



