SEPTEMBER, 1881. 63 



been killed when seeking to make their way in, for they 

 were aliens and belonged to a neighbouring community ! 

 The bees look large, for they are crossed with the 

 Ligurian, but they have not managed to do any good this 

 year, when few indeed are the days on which they could 

 have worked outside ; and flowers, even when somewhat 

 plentiful, were deficient in honey from the lack of sun- 

 shine. It is very interesting to find the latest beehives, 

 supplied with artificial combs and a queen-bee screen, in 

 our somewhat isolated locality, and we should much like 

 to see this industry developed more extensively among 

 us. 



Two wounded stags, after a somewhat severe chase, 

 took to the water ; but one was sorely stricken, and the 

 pursuing dog, on reaching it, with surprising courage and 

 intelligence, got upon its head and sat there, despite its 

 struggles, until the animal was drowned. Its purpose 

 was quite clear, and carried out with resolution and 

 success, and seems worthy of note as an instance in an 

 animal of shrewdly considering how best and most easily 

 to attain a definite object. 



We were sitting in a beautifully-situated farm-house, 

 with the wild and graceful bay curving before us, and, 

 nearer still than the splendid beach and the bathing-tent 

 on the green, a well-filled and well-ordered garden. 

 With patriotic devotion to the national emblem, a nobly- 

 grown thistle thrusts its sturdy head before the window, 

 and we listen with amusement to the discussion that 

 proceeds as to whether this is really a Scotch thistle or 

 not. We never before had the question suggested, nor, 

 indeed, evei doubted that a "Scotch" thistle was a 

 specific variety of the most readily recognised character. 

 No one could suppose that a sow thistle or a ground 



