IN THE HIGHLANDS 253 



most striking climber. Acacia dealbata, the Antarctic 

 beech, Betula Maximowiczii from Japan (with leaves 

 as big as those of the lime), the New Zealand Rata, and 

 Buddleia Colvillei from the Himalayas, are all flourishing 

 thanks to the Gulf Stream and lots of peat and shelter. 

 There are (as I suppose must be the case everywhere) a 

 very few plants which are not happy here, and they are 

 varieties which I dare say most people would have 

 thought would revel in this soil and climate — viz., the 

 Wistarias, Camellias, Kalmias, Euonymus, Tamarix, and 

 Cyclamens. I hope to master even these in course of 

 time. One thing I wonder at is why so many of my 

 exotics seed themselves far more freely than any natives, 

 except perhaps birch, and gorse, and broom, though I 

 ought perhaps to mention that neither gorse nor broom 

 is indigenous to this particular district. The strangers 

 which seed so freely are Rhododendrons, Cotoneaster 

 Simonsii, Berbens Darwinii, Veronica salicifoUa, 

 Olearia macrodonta, Diplo'pa'ppus chrysophylla, and 

 Leycesteria Formosa. 



And now I venture to say something about the 

 garden — the *' kitchen garden,'" as my English friends 

 always take care to call it. As is often the case with us 

 Highlanders, I possess only the one garden for fruit, 

 flowers, and vegetables, and, as I have already stated, 

 it was mostly made out of an old sea-beach, which most 

 people would say does not sound hopeful. Even now, 

 in spite of a wall and a good sea-bank, the Atlantic 

 threatens occasionally to walk in at its lower doors, and 

 the great northern divers, who float about lazily just 

 outside, appear quite fascinated by the brilliant colours 



