viii INTRODUCTORY. 



Their charm lay rather in their complete privacy and 

 inaccessibility ; in the sense of " exploration " that one 

 experienced while on them ; in the feeling that they 

 belonged to no one but the birds and animals upon 

 them ; that as far as anyone else was concerned, one 

 could go on them where one liked, when one liked, and 

 how one liked. One felt constantly inclined to thank 

 God that they were so commercially insignificant and 

 generally worthless that man had not swooped down to 



improve " them out of all recognition. 



One of them at least, is a little playground where 

 grown-up people could go " bird-nesting " and feel young 

 again ; where one could play at " desert islands " among 

 the coral reefs, lagoons and shady groves of cocoa-nut, 

 thatch palms, and safcin-wood trees ; where one could 

 fish or bathe the whole day long ; where one could forget 

 the hurly-burly, the worries and petty jealousies of the 

 world, and be thankful that there was still left at least 

 one little Eden where one could be happy with simple 

 things. 



P. R. L. 



Stamford, 



Sejpteinber, 1911. 



