INTRODUCTORY. 5 



dantly ; on a few exposed parts it is comparatively 

 dwarf and stunted, but it generally is exceedingly 

 luxuriant, and so dense that many a band of men like 

 the highlanders of Roderick Dhu might hide in its cover 

 without suspicion. Some stalks of this fern I have 

 gathered which measured eleven feet from the ground 

 to the topmost frond. 



The peculiar arrangement of the ligneous fibres of 

 the bracken is worth noticing. These fibres are so dis- 

 posed, that on making a section of the root an exact 

 representation is obtained of an oak tree, and their 

 colour being blackish brown, they stand out with great 

 distinctness amidst the pale cellular tissue. Often as a 

 boy have I delighted to pull the larger stalks that I 

 might have a better representation of " King Charles in 

 the Oak," as children love to call it, and as by varying 

 the angle at which the stalk was cut, I could at pleasure 

 make the tree dwarf or tall, it was always a source of 

 amusement. 



The old woods and the various parks I have men- 

 tioned which cluster around, are now the only vestiges 

 of the ancient forest, and glorious remnants they are. 

 The venerable oaks possess a beauty that is heightened 

 instead of being defaced by decay, and carry back our 

 thoughts to the scenes they have witnessed in the 

 bygone history of our country. Undoubtedly many of 

 these trees are of great antiquity, some of them, the 

 giant patriarchs of the forest, are a thousand years old 

 at the least. A discovery of a singular link between 

 the past and the present was made in 1786, in cutting up 

 some trees for the royal dockyards. In one, at a depth of 

 twelve inches from the outside, the letter I was found, 

 surmounted by a crown, with blunt radiated points, such 



