248 TUTIRA 



inclined and there is not a word in Shakespeare to suggest that this 

 was not the case I am confident that, after his interview with Juliet, 

 her nightie and hair must have been plastered with seeds. 1 



Lastly, I would fain forestall criticism as to the groupings of Tutira 

 aliens in chapters to come ; I have, at any rate, found it impossible quite 

 to satisfy myself. The claims and qualifications of a species are not infre- 

 quently so evenly balanced that it may with nearly equal propriety be 

 classed in several categories. To give but a single instance : I have 

 transplanted the weeping-willow (Salix babylonica) from group to group 

 till the unfortunate plant must be dazed. It has figured at one time 

 as a garden escape, at another as a pedestrian, before becoming firmly 

 rooted and grounded amongst the missioners. Before segregating my 

 aliens into groups according to their manner of arrival, I propose 

 enumerating : 



A. Species in possession of the run prior to 1882. 



B. Plants reaching Tutira between 1882 and 1892. 



C. Plants reaching Tutira between 1892 and 1902. 



D. Plants that have appeared between 1902 and 1920. 



A. 



LIST OF PLANTS NATURALISED ON TUTIRA PRIOR TO 1882. 



Peach (Prunus persica). Strawberry (Fragaria elatior). 



Dwarf Cherry (Prunus Ceraaus). Vine (Vitex vinifera). 



Apple (Pyrus malus) (var.). Cape Gooseberry (Physalis peruviana). 



Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus). Watercress (Nasturtium officinale). 



1 Seeds in their life-history strangely resemble jests both are distributed every day in 

 millions over the surface of the globe, both depend on a sympathetic soil for their germination, 

 perpetuation, and increase. Such " faceetiousness," for instance, as the pronouncement that it 

 is "easier for a coo to climb a larrik tree tail foremost to harry a craw's nest, than for a 

 mooderate to enter the Kingdom of Heaven," could strike root only in minds humorously 

 cognisant of the bitterness of religious sects during a particular period in a particular country. 

 Transported to Polynesia, such a jest would lie as dead as a cocoanut planted in a Stirlingshire 

 garden. Punch's delightful bit of humour Tyro at shooting party to keeper at termination 

 of drive : " Are all the beaters out ? " " Yes, sir." " Are you sure ? " " Yes, sir." " Have 

 you counted them 1 " " Yes, sir." " Then I've shot a roedeer " spread in Scotland after its 

 perpetration over forest, moor, and covert as I have noticed in Tutira the spread of a new 

 plant perfectly suited to its environment. In the minds of guns, keepers, and beaters it had 

 found a congenial nidus, yet such a jest broached, say, at a conference of Seventh-day 

 Adventists could never have reproduced itself ; it would have perished in an unresponsive soil. 



