rous works on ornamental plants; Drs. Fothergill and Pitcairn, who were the means of introducing a great number of new plants, especially from Switzerland; George Hibbert, and Thornton of Clapham, opulent merchants, the former of whom had in his garden a most extensive collection of heaths, banksias, and other Cape and Botany Bay plants; and the Duke of Marlborough, who, while Marquis of Blandford, formed a collection of exotic plants at White Knights, at that time surpassed by none in the kingdom. Other choice collections of plants were formed at the Earl of Tankerville's, at Walton, the Duke of Northumberland's, at Syon House, and at the Comte de Vandes's, at Bayswater. Several of the principal nurserymen of the day, as Lee of Ham. mersmith, Loddiges of Hackney, Colvill of Chelsea, and others, may be regarded as having greatly promoted a taste for plants and flowers by their wellstocked nurseries and publications.

A very great stimulus to the culture of ornamental plants has also been given by the publication of Curtis's "Botanical Magazine," which was begun in 1787, and is still continued in monthly numbers. In this work alone more than six thousand of the most important and beautiful plants have been figured and described, and useful hints for their culture given; and other works of a similar nature (as the "Botanical Register," Andrews's "Botanist's Repository,' Sweet's "Flower Garden"-all long since discontinued) contributed to render very general a knowledge of and taste for plants, and a desire for gardens and greenhouses, in order to possess these plants in a living state.

Another very great and important stimulus to gardening and botany was given by the establishment, in 1802, of the Horticultural Society of London, principally through the exertions of Thomas Andrew Knight, of Downton Castle, and Sir Joseph Banks; and by the publication, some years later, of the numerous laborious and very useful works of Mr. Loudon, Dr. Lindley, and others. It was by the Horticultural Society of London that the great metropolitan botanical fêtes were begun. The first fete was held in the garden of the society at Chiswick in July, 1827; and for many years three fetes were annually held there. In 1840, however, the garden of the Royal Botanic Society in the Regent's Park was formed, and as soon as the fêtes of this society were fairly established, those held at Chiswick began to decline, in consequence, partly, of the distance from London, and from the weather being frequently most unfavourable; and in a few more years the fêtes, not continuing to be remunerative, were discontinued by the society. This proved most disastrous to the Horticultural Society, and it became involved in considerable pecuniary difficulties. With a view, however, of extricating the society from its difficulties, and of placing it on a firmer basis, the new garden at South Kensington was formed about thirteen ago, a lease of the ground having been obtained, mainly through the influence of the late lamented Prince Consort, on easy terms from the Commissioners of the Great Exhibition of 1851. This was considered most fortunate for the society, as a suitable place for again holding the fêtes was thus secured in one of the best and most accessible parts of the metropolis. The exhibitions of both of these societies, as well as those held at the Crystal Palace, are deservedly popular.

years

The taste for flowers and flower gardens has of

late years greatly extended, even in the poorest quarters of London and other great cities and towns, as is attested by the "window-garden" competitions and other local displays; and it cannot be doubted that most beneficial results have in consequence been produced. But our space does not allow us to enlarge on these matters, the present design being only to note some points in the past history of horticulture in England. Δ

Varieties.

VANILLA AROMATICA. In the paragraph on Orchids in the South American vanilla aromatica. A remarkably fine the May part, reference was made to the knife-shaped pod of pod-bearing branch, probably the finest home-grown example that has as yet been seen, was exhibited by Mr. Terry, of Fulham, at the meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society at South Kensington, on the 18th March, 1874. The plant was, however, first fruited in this country at Earl Fitzwilliam's seat.-D. W.

FORTY-SECOND HIGHLANDERS.-The fresh honours gained in the Ashantee War by "the Black Watch" has drawn new attention to the history of this famous regiment. Two years ago a monument, designed by Steell, of Edinburgh, was unveiled by the Dowager Duchess of Athole in Dunkeld Cathedral, erected by the officers in memory of their comrades, officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates who had fallen in war, from the first creation of the regiment to the close of the Indian Mutiny, 1859. The ten independent companies of the Freacadan Dubh, or Black Watch (so called from their wearing dark dress instead of the king's red coats), were formed into a May, 1740, in a field between Taymouth and Aberfeldy. The regiment on October 25, 1739. The first muster took place in record on the Dunkeld memorial tablet and on the regimental colours recalls the services of the Black Watch in many a hard-fought conflict:-"Fontenoy, Flanders, Ticonderoga, Martinique, Guadaloupe, Havannah, Egypt, Corunna, Peninsula, Waterloo, Alma, Sebastopol, Lucknow." A drawing Fuentes d'Onor, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, Toulouse, of the Dunkeld monument was given in the "Illustrated London News" of April 4, 1874.

CONFESSION.-The Bishop of Manchester in a recent or dination sermon observed that he would declare emphatically that this doctrine of sacramental confession and sacerdotal absolution was absolutely unknown in the early days of the Church. It was to delude men to make them believe that there was a power in the priesthood which they did not possess. For himself, he had no fear that the practice of the confessional would make any way in the Church of England. They need not be alarmed about it, nor imagine that it was spreading with wonderful rapidity. He did not believe that there were 200 people in the diocese of Manchester, out of the 2,000,000 people it contained, who practised confession. The fact was, it was simply an element on that wave of sensationalism which seemed to be passing over the religious mind of the whole world at the present time. A correspondent of the "Church Herald," how. ever, who seeks to vindicate the practice of confession in the prevails: "My own confessor, a grey-haired priest, who has Church of England, thus writes as to the extent to which it now heard confessions for twenty years, receives yearly about a thousand penitents of all ages, ranks, and of both sexes; and it is for them as for myself that I am able to answer: and this com- . paratively small number might in London alone be multiplied by ten, perhaps by much more."

RUSSIAN TROUSSEAU.-The extent of the trousseau of the Grand Duchess Marie was such that it could never be worn out in the longest life. It seems a Russian custom to be thus profuse on Imperial weddings, for it is stated in "Memorials of a Quiet Life," in a letter dated Weimar, in the year 1804 :-"It was only on the 9th instant that the hereditary Prince brought home his bride, a Grand Duchess of Russia, since which there The Grand have been nothing but dinners and festivals. Duchess's wardrobe arrived in eighty waygons, and her profusion of jewels is such that she could change the set every day for a twelvemonth,"

The ship required all Harry's energies and attention, and he had scarcely time to look round to see what had become of the Thisbe. When he did so he could only just see her dimly far away astern. He knew, however, that, if possible, Headland would follow, and endeavour to lend him the assistance he might require. Harry now found that the prize was the Culloden, an English ship homeward bound, which had been captured by a French privateer and was on her way to the Mauritius. Her officers, with most of the English crew, had been removed on board the privateer. There was no time, however, at present to visit the passengers who had been left, as all his attention was required on deck. He had at first hoped that the threatened gale would prove of an ordinary character, but it was soon evident that it was to be a hurricane. Every moment it increased in fury, while the sea got up its white-crested billows, hissing and roaring on either side as the ship clove her way through them. He had had no time to disarm the French crew, and he could not help fearing that they would rise on him and retake the ship. As long, however, as the Thisbe was in sight, they would not make the attempt. Fortunately there were several Lascars who had before belonged to the ship, and they were more likely to side with him than with the French. The knowledge of this fact probably kept the latter in order.

The French officer was a young sub-lieutenant, evidently not much of a seaman. Harry pointed out the danger in which the ship was placed, and demanded his word not to attempt to retake her.

"If you give it I will trust you, and you shall be at liberty, but if not I must be under the necessity of placing you in confinement," he added.

The Frenchman shrugged his shoulders, and replied that he would comply with the English officer's request, though he could not be answerable for his

men.

"I will look after them," said Harry; and calling Jacob, told him to keep an eye on the French crow. He sent for the Lascar boatswain, and obtained his assurance that he and his men would remain faithful to the English. This gave him rather more confidence.

The cabin steward, who was among the English prisoners, came to announce that dinner was ready. Leaving two of his bost men at the helm, and inviting the French officer to accompany him, Harry hurried into the cuddy to snatch a few mouthfuls of food.

The passengers, who were all civilians, crowded round him, eagerly asking questions. They had kept below, afraid of the risk on deck from the spars or blocks falling from aloft. They expressed their satisfaction at the recapture of the ship, not appearing to be aware of the danger she was in. Harry, taking thom aside, told them that he must depend upon their assistance should the French crew attempt to retake the ship.

Day after day went by-the storm little abating. The masts went by the board, and the Culloden remained a helpless wreck on the stormy ocean. The sea through which she was driving was but little known; but numberless dangers, many of them as uncertain, were marked on the chart. In pite of his anxieties, however, Harry kept up his

of rest, but he could rely on Jacob, who took his place when he was below. By great exertions a jurymast was secured to the stump of the fore-mast, and a sail was set, which kept the ship before the wind and prevented her from being pooped.

It was a dark night, when all hands were at the pumps. Suddenly there came a cry from forward of "Breakers ahead!" It was followed by a territic crashing, rending sound. The next sea lifted the ship, to strike with greater force. Several of the passengers, who rushed from the cabin, and many of the terrified crew, were carried away by the following sea, which swept with resistless force over the deck. Harry and Jacob, with the rest of the Englishmen, clung to the stanchions or bulwarks, and escaped. The ship still drove on, till she became firmly fixed in the rocks. Land could dimly be discerned over the larboard quarter at no great distance, but a foaming mass of water intervened. Some of the Frenchmen and Lascars, on discovering it, began to lower a boat. Harry in vain ordered them to desist. Before she had got a dozen yards from the ship the boat and all in her were engulfed. No other boat was left. Still Harry hoped, from the way the ship remained fixed, that she would hold together should the sea go down, and that in the morning he might be able to establish a communication with the shore. Finding that nothing more could be done on deck, he made his way to the cuddy to offer such consolation as he could to the passengers. They thanked him for his exertions, aware that it was from no fault of his the ship had been wrecked. There was one passenger ill in his cabin, and him he now also sought. The occupant was sitting up dressed. "What, wrecked again!" he exclaimed, as Harry appeared. "Is the death I have so often escaped about to overtake me at last ?"

"I hope not," answered Harry; and he expressed his expectation of being able to reach the shore in the morning.

"I ought to be grateful to you, sir, and will endeavour to feel so," said the invalid. "But bereavements and numberless misfortunes have made me indifferent to life."

On his return on deck, hoping that the island might be inhabited, Harry ordered a gun to be fired and blue lights to be burned. As the latter blazed up they cast a lurid glare over the ship and the wild rocky shore, tinging the sheets of spray, which still flow over the deck, though the wind had gone down and the sea had much subsided. For a considerable time no answer was returned to these signals. At length a light was seen, and presently a fire blazed up on a spot directly opposite the ship. Still it seemed impossible to carry a rope across the seething cauldron which intervened. Jacob volunteered to make the attempt; Harry, though unwilling to let him risk his life, could not refuse his offer.

The fire threw sufficient light on the rocks to enable him to see his way. Fastening a line round his body, he lowered himself down and made for the nearest rock. Now the sea appeared to be carrying him away, now he bravely breasted it, till at length the rock was gained.

In an instant a sea washed over it, but he clung fast, and as soon as it had passed he sprang forward and reached the next rock. Sometimes he was hidden altogether from sight; then again the glare of the blue light showed him still either tightly

He

clinging to a rock or making his way onwards. at length had passed the most dangerous portion. Three men had at first only been seen near the firea fourth now appeared; it was Jacob. A loud cheer showed him that his shipmates were aware of his success. A hawser was then made fast with another smaller line, and taxing to the utmost the strength of the four men, hauled on shore. A cradle was next rapidly constructed and fitted with ropes for hauling it backwards and forwards along the hawser. The desired means for conveying all on shore was thus obtained.

This task had occupied a considerable time, and the rising wind and increased violence of the sea made all on board anxious to gain the land.

Harry's men wished him to go first.

No, my lads," he answered, firmly, "I will see all in safety before I leave the ship."

The passengers and the greater number of the crew had reached the shore in safety, when Harry recollected that the invalid passenger had not made his appearance. He hurried into the cabin. "I must beg you to come without delay," he exclaimed. "At any moment this part of the ship may break up, as the bows have already begun to do."

The gentleman, leaning on Harry's arm, proceeded with him on deck. Even in those few minutes the danger had increased. Only one man remained.

As Harry with his charge reached the side, he was surprised to hear Jacob's voice.

"I came back by the last trip to lend you a hand, sir," he said. "If you will take charge of the gentleman, I will wait on board till you are safe on shore; he cannot go by himself, that's certain."

There was no time for expostulation. Harry therefore, securing the gentleman in the cradle, placed himself by his side, and those on shore began hauling away on the line.

Scarcely had he left the wreck when a heavy sea washed over it. He still, however, could distinguish Jacob clinging to the bulwarks. The cable seemed now to taughten, now to be lowered so much that he and his charge were nearly submerged by the foaming water. Ho dreaded every moment that the wreck would part, and his faithful follower be washed away. At length the rock was reached, and his companion was lifted out of the cradle. The cradle was quickly run back to the wreck. The darkness provented them seeing whether Jacob was still there. A minute of intense anxiety elapsed. At length a tug at the rope was given-the signal to haul in. shipmates gave a loud cheer when Jacob, by the light of the fire, was seen in the cradle as they dragged it to the shore.

66

His

All right, Mr. Castleton," he exclaimed; "though I did think, as I was stepping into the basket, that I might have had to take a longer cruise than I bargained for."

"Castleton!" exclaimed the invalid gentleman. Harry, however, did not hear him speak, as at that moment the three strangers introduced themselves.

They had been long living on the island, they said, having been wrecked some years before, since when no ship had come near the spot. There was water and wood in abundance, and fish and birds could be caught. This was satisfactory news.

'Well, my friends," said Harry, "the first thing we have to do is to get up shelter, and in the morning, if the ship holds together, we must try and obtain provisions. In the meantime, if you will take

the gentleman I brought on shore, with some of the other passengers who can least stand exposure, to your hut, I shall be obliged to you."

"It is some way off, sir," answered the man who had spoken, "but we will do our best to look after the gentlemen."

Though the invalid expressed his readiness to walk, Harry, believing that he was ill able to do so, had a litter constructed with two light spars and a piece of a sail which had been washed on shore, and Jacob and three of the other men carried it. Most of the passengers accompanied them.

The daylight soon afterwards broke, and Harry set the men to work to collect whatever was washed

up by the sea. He was chiefly anxious to obtain provisions; the bales of rich silks and other manufactures of the East were of little value to men in their situation. The wind had again increased, and sea upon sea dashing with terrific violence against the wreck, she in a short time broke up, her rich cargo being scattered far and wide over the waters and cast upon the beach. A number of casks of provisions, bags of rice and other grain, and a few cases of wine, some chests of tea, and other articles, were, however, saved.

The islanders, as the men found on the island may be called, now returned, and advised that the stores should be removed from the bleak and rocky bay in which the ship had gone on shore to the more genial situation where they had formed their settlement.

A suitable spot was selected, on which the party set to work to put up huts, formed partly of pieces of the wreck and some sails which had been washed up, and partly of the branches of trees which were cut down for the purpose.

Harry had been struck by the superior intelligence and activity of one of the islanders. He showed from the first especial skill in erecting huts, and the other men soon learned to follow his directions. Harry inquired of Jacob if he had heard anything about the man.

"Not much, sir, except that he is a man-of-war's man; his mates call him Jack, and that's all I know, except that he is a right sort of fellow."

Harry had had as comfortable a hut as could be erected arranged for the invalid gentleman, who had hitherto remained in that of the islanders. He had also designed a larger hut for the other passengers, he himself having slept under such temporary covering as the canvas which had been saved afforded.

At length the first arrangements for their residence on the island were completed. A flagstaff was put up on a neighbouring height, and an English flag was hoisted as a signal to passing vessels.

Harry had now to consider the means for obtaining food for the settlement, and for giving occupation to the inhabitants.

CHAPTER LIII.-SAILOR JACK.

HARRY had gone to his hut after the labours of the day were over, and was about to lie down and rest when Jacob appeared at the entrance.

"Beg pardon, sir," he said; "may I speak a few words with you?"

"Yes," answered Harry; "what are they about?" "Why, sir, I have been having a talk with Jack. and he has been asking me questions which I can't answer, but which I've a notion you can; and if you'll let him he'd like to see you, sir."

What is it about, Jacob?" asked Harry.

"Why, sir, he was telling me how he was serving on board a man-of-war, how the boat he belonged to was cut off by the savages, and every soul on board killed except himself; and how after he had been for several years made to work like a slave, he escaped and got on board a Dutch merchantman. He was working his passage home in her when she was cast away on this island, and only he and two other Englishmen were saved. But that's not what I was coming to. When I happened to be talking of Captain Headland he seemed wonderfully interested. 'Why, Jacob,' he said, 'that's my name.' I then told him that he and you, sir, were old shipmates, and that you knew much more about him than I did, sir. Jack asked me if I would come and speak to you, for he is just like a man out of his mind, he is so eager to know who the captain is."

"Tell him I shall be glad to speak to him at once," said Harry, much interested in what he had heard; and Jacob hurried off to call Jack.

Harry then gave a brief account of Captain Headland's career from the time since his faithful friend had been parted from him.

"Thank you, sir, for telling me all this," exclaimed Jack. "I have often and often puzzled my head to call to mind the name of the craft aboard which I first saw him, and the place she sailed from. Do you see, sir, I had no learning, and was a thoughtless lad at the time, and I never asked questions about the place we had come to, and all I remember is that the name of the craft seemed pretty nigh to break the jaws of all who attempted to speak it. Still where there's a will there's a way; maybe somehow or other it will come back to me.'

"At all events I am sure you will do your best if we can manage to get away from this place; and Captain Headland will certainly not leave these seas without looking for us," answered Harry.

quarters.

"Sit down, my friend," said Harry, giving him one of a couple of stools he had manufactured; "Halliburt has been telling me that you wish to hear about Captain Headland."

Aye, that I do, sir; and if you knew how my heart is set on him-for I am sure it must be he you would not wonder that I make bold to ask you. I never had a son, but if I had I could not love him better than I did that lad, whom I watched over ever since he was a small child just able to toddle about the decks by himself. I took charge of him when there was no one else to see that he did not come to harm; and I may say, though there is nothing to boast of in it, I saved his life more than once, when he would have been drowned, or burned to death, or carried away by the savages. It was a proud day when I saw him placed on the quarterdeck, with a fair chance of becoming an admiral, as I am very sure he will; and there was nothing so much went to my heart when I was made a prisoner by the rascally Malays, as the thought that I could no longer have an eye on him, and, maybe, help him a bit with my cutlass in boarding an enemy or in such like work. And then, when I at last got away from the Malays, and was coming home to hear about him again, as I hoped, it was just the bitterest thing that could have happened to me to find myself wrecked on this desolate island, without the chance that I could see of getting off again. And then, after all, to have some of his ship's company, and his greatest friend, as Jacob tells me you are, sir, cast ashore here to tell me about him, almost surpasses my belief, and makes my heart jump into my mouth for joy."

"I will not ask if you are Jack Headland, of whom my friend has spoken, and for whose faithful care he has expressed the warmest gratitude, for I am very sure you must be," exclaimed Harry. "He has told me all the circumstances you have described, and nothing will give him greater satisfaction than to find that you are alive and well. He is more than ever anxious to discover his parents, and you are the only person alive that he knows of who is able to help him to do so."

The two warm-hearted sailors had so many qualities in common that they had been especially drawn to each other, though they probably were not aware of the cause. Utter freedom from selfishness was the chief characteristic of them both. No sooner had Jacob Halliburt discovered Harry's love for May than he was ready to sacrifice even his own life, if it were necessary, for May's sake, to preserve that of his lieutenant, without a thought about the destruction of his own vain hopes, while honest Jack's whole soul was wrapped up in the boy he had preserved from so many dangers.

CHAPTER LI.-MR. HASTINGS.

JACOB had from the first constituted himself the attendant of the invalid gentleman, and daily brought him his food from the common stock.

"By-the-by, my man," he said, looking up at Jacob, "I heard your officer spoken of as Lieutenant Castleton; do you know to what Castletons he belongs?"

"I don't know exactly what you mean, sir, but I know that his father is Sir Ralph Castleton, of Texford, because I come from Hurlston, which is hard by there; and mother lived in the family of Mr. Herbert Castleton, near Morbury, so you see, sir, I know all about the family."

"Ah! that is remarkable," observed the gentleman, as if to himself. "Has Sir Ralph Castleton been long at Texford ?" he asked.

"Let me see, it's about a matter of three or four years since he came there, when his uncle, Sir Reginald Castleton, died. There was an elder brother, I have heard mother say, Mr. Ranald Castleton, who was lost at sea, so Mr. Ralph became to be Sir Ralph, and got the estate."

"Has Sir Ralph any other children?" inquired the gentleman, who appeared much interested in Jacob's account.

"Yes, sir; besides Mr. Harry there is his eldest son, Mr. Algernon, and their sister, Miss Julia, a young lady who, I have heard mother say, is liked by every one in those parts."

The gentleman asked whether Lady Castleton was alive, and made many other inquiries about Texford and its neighbourhood.

"If you will give me your name, sir, I will let