4 i4 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



variety, for it is of such surpassing depth, being 

 neither blue, purple, nor sapphire, but a combina- 

 tion of the three. 



On some of the downland hillsides, more espe- 

 cially those which, receiving the soakage from the 

 higher ground, remain more or less moist and 

 spongy until dried up by the summer sun many 

 of the rarer kinds of orchises may be found. 

 A friend of mine informed me that he has 

 gathered on one such hillside in my own 

 neighbourhood every one of the rarer kinds of 

 this curious and beautiful plant, of which there 

 are no fewer than fifteen varieties. Many years 

 ago a decoction prepared from the root of the 

 orchis was sold in the streets of London and our 

 larger towns, much as coffee is sold nowadays. 

 This decoction was termed salep or saloop ; 

 the grain to which the root was reduced before 

 cooking was imported from the East, and pre- 

 pared from the root of the orchis, the variety 

 employed being that known as Orchis masculd 

 the early purple orchis of Britain. This beverage 

 is stated by good authority to be extremely nour- 

 ishing and digestible, and would, doubtless, be 

 used at the present time were it not for the 

 moderate prices at which tea and coffee are re- 

 tailed. The early saloop-seller was, in former 

 days, a well-known feature of the London streets. 

 It is, however, doubtful if one saloop-merchant 

 could now be found in any part of Britain. 



A few years ago and it was late in October 



