46 ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW 
The Lake 
Formed. 
The Great 
Flagstaff. 
made the first proposals in regard to it in 1856. He pointed 
out that a great deal of gravel having been taken from the site 
for path-making, the excavation might easily be trans- 
formed into a sheet of ornamental water that could 
be replenished from the Thames. When, two or three 
years later, the building of the Temperate House was sanctioned 
by Parliament, the terrace on which it stands was made of material 
removed from the site of the proposed lake. By these and other 
means a piece of ground over four acres in extent was hollowed out. 
To supply this with water a tunnel was made, connecting it with the 
Thames. The whole was in working order by 1861. The river is 
still the only source of supply, but the original tunnel has been 
reinforced by an additional culvert, and an electric pump is also 
available when the tides are too low to serve. 
A conspicuous feature in the grounds at Kew is the flagstaff. It 
is erected on a mound near the Kew Road, upon which there stood, 
in the latter part of the eighteenth century, the Temple 
of Victory. This fine piece of timber, which is Douglas 
fir, was obtained from the forests of British Columbia 
in 1861. It is 159 feet high and 20 inches in diameter at the base, 
and although the tree from which it was cut was a mere baby, both 
in bulk and in age, compared with the giants of the Western North 
American forests, it is interesting to note how this slender pole over- 
tops by half its height some goodly-sized English trees close by. It 
is the second of two flagstaffs presented to Kew for erection on this 
spot, and its presence here is really the result of an accident. The 
previous one was offered to the Gardens in 1856 by Mr. Edward 
Stamp, and was about 118 feet high and 16 inches in diameter at 
the base. It was, however, fated to ill-fortune. Whilst it was being 
towed up the Thames from the London Docks it was cut in two by 
a boat. After being spliced and again made fit for erection, it was 
once more despatched to Kew. This time it arrived safely and was 
also safely conveyed across the gardens to the mound. As it was 
being hoisted into a vertical position, however, both it and the hoist- 
ing apparatus were blown over and came with a crash to the ground. 
The flagstaff was broken in three pieces. Kew did not lose any- 
thing by this contretemps, irritating as it must have been. Mr. Stamp, 
as soon as he heard of the disaster, immediately offered to present 
another and an even bigger pole. He was at this time engaged in 
