342 MEMOIR OF DR. HARVEY. 



they suit our time of life. On fine days we saunter along the 

 coast, and when it rains we have either books or writing. This 

 is a queer wild place, without a tree bigger than a bush to be 

 seen for miles, so that all the beauty and enjoyment of the 

 place lies about the shore itself. There the aspect varies so 

 much from day to day that we never tire of it. At the spring 

 tides we have the excitement of looking for a beautiful blue 

 shell called (Ianthina), which floats on the surface no doubt from 

 thousands of miles distant, coming to us with the waters of the 

 Gulf Stream. Sometimes tropical floating animals come with it, 

 such as the " Portuguese man-of-war ;" and yesterday I found 

 a crozier nautilus precisely like those I picked up on the shores 

 of Key West. No doubt it came floating all the way from the 

 West Indies. It is interesting to find so delicate a shell carried 

 safely so far and by such a rough nurse as the sea. These I 

 give you as a sample of the important incidents that amuse us 

 in our far nientehfe, and all this while the whole world is setting 

 itself by the ears. 



The question seems to be which side, North or South, will hold 

 out the longest, united and enthusiastic. I doubt not the in- 

 finitely greater resources in men and money which the North 

 possesses, nor the patriotism of the better portion of the northern 

 people, but I do doubt the honesty and patriotism of many of 

 your leading politicians and the steadiness of the popular will, 

 under a high taxation. The policy of the South will no doubt 

 be defensive. If you will allow me to use a simile, I would com- 

 pare North and South to man and wife. The lady's crinoline has 

 '•aught fire. She is all in a blaze, and will soon be ashes. Her 

 northern husband, in trying to save her from destruction, gets 

 awfully turned and does not, I fear, accomplish his affectionate 

 wish, but that is — the future. 



On his return from Miltown, Dr. Harrey was able to resume 

 his College duties, as well as to continue his " Flora Capensis," 

 a work on which he had been for several years zealously employed. 

 He also, at the request of some of his friends, revised for publica- 

 tion the MS. of " Charles and Josiah," the rough draft of which 

 had been written while on his Australian voyages. From this 

 time, owing to various causes, his private correspondence in a 

 great degree fell off, and therefore considerable intervals occur 



