290 THE .VILLE OF DUNKIRK AND ITS FLORA. [October, 



not extend far beyond the woods of Dunkirk, with the exception 

 of the marshes and seacoast about Seasalter. There is a strag- 

 gling hamlet, to which the name of the "Ville," or rather, in 

 the dialect of the neighbourhood, the " Willy," is given. The 

 boundary-stones of the parish are marked with a V ; and when 

 an explanation was asked, the ready answer was, " Why, Sir, you 

 you see V stands for ' Willy .^ " This answer will doubtless ap- 

 pear as reasonable to our cockney friends as it does to the men 

 of Kent. The so-called " Willy " had at one time the reputation 

 of being a smugglers^ nest, and a stranger stood a good chance 

 of being roughly handled if found in the neighbourhood after 

 nightfall. In the present day he would be as safe in the " Willy " 

 as in any part of her Majesty's dominions.'^ 



The Flora of this neighbourhood possesses considerable claims 

 to the attention of English botanists from its lying near to Faver- 

 sham, a district which has been so fully investigated and illus- 

 trated by Jacob, in his 'Plantse Favershamienses' (1777) ; Cowell, 

 in his 'Floral Guide' (1839) ; and Stowell, in his papers in the 

 ' Phytologist ' on the " Flora of Faversham" (1856-7). Having 

 been preceded by such reapers, but little has been left for me to 

 glean. The ground over which I have gone is partly the same 

 that they have so well searched ; and where I have broken new 

 ground it was so immediately adjoining that which came under 

 their observation, or of such a uniform character (woodland), as 

 to give faint hope of greatly adding to the Flora of the neigh- 

 bourhood. The general result of a three weeks' search may be 

 briefly summed up as amounting to 525 species and varieties, in- 

 cluded in 233 genera and 70 families. This is much about the 

 same number of species enumerated by Cowell in his 'Floral 

 Guide ' (498) ; the number of genera however being 60, and of 

 families 4 fewer than those which he mentions. Instead of 

 giving an extended list of the plants observed by me, I believe I 

 shall best consult the convenience and patience of your readers 

 by setting down only such plants as are not found in the lists 

 furnished by the Rev. H. S. Stowell, marking by italics those 



* Carrying a large vascidum with me in my walks, I fancy I fell under the sus- 

 picion of having dealings with smugglers. Having gone into a cottage near the sea- 

 coast to rest after a long walk, its owner closely questioned me as to the contents 

 of my tin case : "Have you got tea in your can ?" When I told him that I had 

 been collecting plants, he replied, " Oil, I see, to make yarb-tea." 



