no CANVEY ISLAND 



winter sport which once made Canvey so attractive to 

 the wildfowler. But a visit to it in summer-time will 

 well repay the lover of Nature. The bearded tit has 

 long been driven away, and the prowling plant-stealer 

 has hunted there unchecked, but what remains of 

 flora and of bird-life is singularly characteristic and 

 interesting. The trees of the island are mostly dis- 

 posed in one small group, but this can boast a 

 -^ rookery. 



One word as to the name " Canvey." Camden 

 'Qh I talks of " the island Convennos, which is also 

 i called Kwovwoy," which, he says, Ptolemy men- 

 tions in his Geography. This name, he adds, is 

 still retained in " Canvey." Had Ptolemy seen the 

 island from a balloon, his use of the term would have 

 been more intelligible, for the general shape of the 

 island as then seen would be that of a pear ; but given 

 to a place as flat as a pancake it is an obvious 

 misnomer. Further, the Canvey Islander would not 

 have been careful to have preserved Ptolemy's word 

 had they ever even heard of it. It has been suggested 

 that Canvey, which often appears in records as 

 " Canwe," '' may possibly be a British name, since 

 * Can we' in Welsh means bright, shining, glistening," 

 and that this would fitly describe the appearance of 



