A GARDEN OF DELIGHT 179 



friend, even in a pot. Yet brave as the scarlet 

 lobster-claws looked, my heart flew back with 

 a sudden pang of longing to a hedge of Ery- 

 thrina we came upon in an early ride up from 

 the Laventille circular, towering above the 

 path, beside which a huge negro was clearing 

 away the sulphur Thunbergia alata with a 

 sickle, as we should clear goose-grass from 

 our hedges. But return, my heart, from 

 Trinidad to this Berkshire garden not such 

 a poor place after all, even though it is not 

 in the tropics. Your travelling days are over, 

 therefore be content with nature and art near 

 at hand, and you will find rest and peace. 



On the farther side of the ponds, in subtle 

 contrast to this extreme of civilisation, all kinds 

 of wild and water-loving plants, yellow Iris 

 from the Blackwater meadows, purple Loose- 

 strife, blue Geranium from the Thames, and so 

 forth, are allowed to grow at their own sweet 

 wills in an admired tangle, with reeds of many 

 kinds, and here a blue Eryngium, there the 

 great white heads of Hydrangea paniculate^ till 

 the eye is carried far back over the winding 



