1863.] NORFOLK BOTANY. 429 



the first place, we had to discover on which side of the city it was 

 situated, whether ou the north, or on the east, or on the west, or 

 on the south, or — what was more definite — on what road it was. 

 {Note. We were utter strangers in Norwich.) This point was 

 settled, after some close inspection of the map, hy younger eyes 

 than belonged to him who had to walk thither. The distance 

 was the next question, and on this point the difference of opinion 

 was extreme : some said it was seven miles, some said six, some 

 five, and one said only four. It is probable that they were 

 all about right, for the first informant was a charioteer, and as it 

 was at the station where he was asked, and as it was six good, 

 i. e. long miles, from that point, he was justified in saying seven, 

 for he would have exacted payment for this distance. The others 

 were right, for they reckoned from the places where they were 

 when they gave the information. The good man who estimated 

 the distance to St. Faith's at four miles, evidently intended from 

 St. Augustine's gate. 



Our impression was, that when we reached St. Faith's, we 

 should have as much difiiculty in finding the marshes or bogs as 

 we had in ascertaining the right way and the exact distance from 

 Norwich. This turned out precisely as we feared. 



All the information procurable amounted to this, viz, that 

 there was some rough, or waste, or pasture land, at St. Faith^s, 

 some distance beyond the workhouse. 



The way from Norwich to St. Faith's is about as straight as 

 the crow flies, and there being no other parish on the road, and 

 only a few detached houses, there was no difiiculty in finding it. 

 But the difficulty of finding the marshes or bogs was not les- 

 sened by our being at St, Faith's. We found the workhouse or 

 "union" all right, and the pasture-ground beyond, but no bog; 

 only a few marl-holes here and there, and the chief part of the 

 space nearly as firm and dry as the downs above Buckland and 

 Dorking, 



We applied to the farmer of the place to help us in this emer- 

 gency, telling him the whole history of the ancient celebrity of 

 the place when Sir Thomas Brown botanized here more than 

 two centuries ago, and when Sir James Edward Smith wrote the 

 ' Flora Britannica,' more than fifty years since. 



He told us that persons did come here to look for plants, and 

 especially referred to a fair visitor, who came periodically to look 



