HIS NOTES OX THE LILFORD COLLECTION 277 



' I fear that this chat and the constant 

 but inevitable use of the first person may 

 have wearied many present; to those whom 

 it may have interested I can only repeat the 

 cordial invitation with which it commenced. 



' LILFORD : February 22, 1894.' 



This fragment was written by my brother 

 shortly before his death. It was possibly the 

 beginning of an article for a magazine : 



1 It is only fair to the general reader to warn 

 him or her that the following lines contain 

 neither stirring adventures nor sensational epi- 

 sodes of any kind, nor, indeed, will he find any 

 poetic descriptions of picturesque or romantic 

 scenery. 



' Having thus warned off my " public," I will 

 invite any brother naturalist of the age that 

 we vaguely denominate as " certain " to cast off 

 some forty years thereof, and accompany me in 

 imagination, gun in hand, for a ramble along our 

 ancient river, let us say in any January from 

 1848 to 1855 inclusive. I warn him that he 

 will have to content himself with a very modest 

 numerical bag, but I shall confidently hope to 



