THE NORTH GALLERY 
123 
this journey, she then turned her attention to the arrangement of 
her pictures in the newly-built gallery. The considerable labour this 
involved was accomplished in time to open the gallery to the public 
on July 9th, 1882. 
There still remained important areas of the globe whose floras 
were unrepresented in the gallery, and to make good these deficiencies 
as far as lay in her power, Miss North subsequently visited South 
Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, the Seychelle Islands, and Chile. The 
South American journey, which occupied the autumn of 1884 and part 
of the following year, was her last. To furnish hanging room for her 
new works an annexe to the gallery had to be built. It was com- 
pleted, and the pictures arranged therein, during the latter part of 
1885. Miss North, who for some years had felt the effect of breaking 
health and increasing age, then retired to Alderley, in Gloucester- 
shire, where, to use her own words, she had found “ a quiet home 
in the country, with an old house and a garden to make after her 
own fashion.” But she was not destined long to enjoy her retirement. 
Soon after she finished her work at Kew she was attacked by a painful 
illness which clouded the remainder of her life, and from the effects 
of which she died on August 30th, 1890. 
The leading characteristic of Miss North’s work is her fidelity to 
nature. Her object — somewhat different from that of most flower 
M' N th’ P a ^ n ^ ;ers — was *° reproduce her subject as faithfully 
and as exactly as possible. Thus the pictures of plants 
and flowers she made are not only artistically pleasing, 
they are botanically accurate. In a scientific establishment like Kew, 
this quality renders the drawings of infinite value. The gallery is, 
indeed, an important and valuable adjunct to the botanical collections. 
Nowhere else, perhaps, can the untravelled person gain so vivid an 
idea of the scenery and characteristic vegetation of the countries 
which Miss North visited. Of each country there is a long series of 
pictures, not only of individual plants and flowers, but of the forests, 
mountains, rivers, and waterfalls as well. Often the people, their 
temples and dwellings, are portrayed, and occasionally insect and 
animal life. 
In 1882, Sir Joseph Hooker, himself a famous traveller, wrote ; — 
“ Very many of the views here brought together represent vividly 
and truthfully scenes of astonishing interest and singularity, and 
objects that are amongst the wonders of the vegetable kingdom ; 
