M/SS NORTH’S RECOLLECTIONS. 
149 
Mr. North was a good example of the talkative, peppery, jolly English squire, 
with a liking for well informed people, a taste for science and art, and, with the 
exception of German, a reckless disregard for foreign languages : — “ Signor 
Direttore, j’ai voyage con mia figlia in tutta la terra, and hang it all, tell him I 
never was so shamefully treated,” cried this irascible M.P. to the agent of the 
Austrian Lloyd’s Company at Corfu. lie was, however, an excellent fellow- 
traveller, able to rough it if necessary, eager to fraternise with everybody, read)' 
for anything, from a bath with the crocodiles, a quiet day’s trout-hshing or a tent 
“ at home ” to the Governor of Safed. 
Although Miss North began her flower painting in her youth (we have her two 
first finished pictures in our drawing room at Torquay), she was no doubt greatly 
influenced by Edward Lear, and was most anxious to paint landscapes and objects 
of architectural and archreological interest during these tours ; she did not devote 
herself to botanical painting until two years after her father’s death. 
After this event, which really saddened her throughout life, she went to Men- 
tone and there lingered, sketching until she felt able to proceed with her faith- 
ful Elizabeth to Sicily. The description of the daily life amidst the Moorish 
palaces, the valleys of almonds and vines, the temples at Girgenti and Syracusa, 
forms one of the most interesting parts of the book. 
( 
Alderi.ey, 
Miss North’s home in Gloucestershire. 
Miss North sets a fine example to men of many words, for whilst doing a mass 
of useful work she affected no knowledge of science or art, but rejoiced modestly 
in her gifts, bestowing them only to give pleasure to others. We venture to say, 
as her name has been mentioned lately in the Geographical Society, that this useful 
work of hers as an artist and an observant traveller is far more meritorious than 
the special pleading of the misogynist Fellows, who, in common with most men, 
obtain such intelligence as they possess from their mothers. Miss North would 
have undoubtedly been one of the Fellows of the Royal Geographical .Society, and 
have derived intense amusement from the “ fuss ” made by one of the younger 
Fellows and his friends over the danger to the status of the Society through the 
admission of “ women — ladies, if you like it better.” 
In conclusion, we advise our young Selbornian readers to follow the example 
of her, who was, as the women of Mount Hermon exclaimed (p. 193), “ born in a 
garden,” and ever to be ready to note the unwise destruction of trees and plants. 
