34 LINKS WITH THE PAST [ch. ii 



of this new flora have been carried by ocean-currents, 

 by wind, and by the agency of birds from other 

 islands in the ^lalay Archipelago. The nearest 

 islands, except the small island of Sebesi, about 

 12 miles distant, are Java and Sumatra, separated 

 from Krakatau by a stretch of water about 25 miles 

 in breadth. It is reasonable to wonder whether, had 

 Forbes known of this and similar modern instances 

 of the capabilities of plants as travellers, he would 

 have adopted the view he did. In this connexion it 

 may be added that in recent years the glaciation of 

 Ireland has been shown to be more extensive than it 

 was believed to be when Forbes wrote his essay. 



There would seem to be no insuperable objection 

 to the conclusion that the Mediterranean plants in 

 Ireland and in the south of England reached their 

 present home after the retreat of the ice at the 

 end of the Glacial period, and after Ireland became 

 an island. A full consideration of the problem is 

 beyond the scope of this book, but I have briefly 

 stated the case, not with the authority of an expert 

 but in order to draw attention to a particularly 

 fascinating study in plant-migration. 



In a volume by W. Canton entitled A ChikVs 

 book of Saints a story is told in which the presence 

 in Ireland of Mediterranean species receives a more 

 picturesque explanation. The Monk Bresal was sent 

 to teacli the brethren in a Spanish monastery the 



