1890 GEANIES 153 



kind of sea-bird, and it is almost impossible to de- 

 scribe the weird, uncanny effect which the long 

 endless twilight of the summer, the silence broken 

 by hootings of owls, by the scream of a sea-gull, pro- 

 duce on one. 



It is an old rambling house with long passages 

 and mysterious staircases, and, as the children found, 

 endless conveniences for playing at hide-and-seek. 

 The library is a most lovely room, lined with book- 

 cases, and leading into an old-fashioned garden, full 

 of sweet-smelling flowers. 



It is impossible to imagine a more ideal abode for 

 a poet, a naturalist, a botanist, a sportsman, than 

 this, his summer home ; and as Mr. Romanes was, 

 to some extent, all four, Geanies was a place of 

 exceeding happiness to him. 



Two of his sonnets are dedicated to his dogs, ' To 

 my Setters,' and ' To Countess,' and the following 

 letter will show him as a sportsman. 



To Mrs. Romanes. 



Achalibster, 1 Caithness : August 14, 1883. 



To-day turned out not at all bad after all ; and 

 although there was a good deal too much rain I 

 had a glorious time. Bag twenty brace of grouse, 

 one brace plover, one hare, one duck; I could 

 easily have got more, only Bango got so tired in the 

 afternoon that we knocked off at five o'clock, more- 

 over I did not begin till eleven, as I did not wake till 

 ten ! 80 the twenty brace was shot in about five 

 hours. The new setter ' Flora ' is a beauty. She is 



1 A moor taken in addition to the low ground shooting of Geanies, 



