A Contr ersy with a Moral Frost Ouw Own Coon Hongkong. Jan. 20, One of the more interesting subjects that recently crapped up.
the local Press was the discovery. of thistles growing on the top of Taimoshan, the highest peak in the Colony. A' correspondent to one of the morning papers,—evidently Scot, expressed his great inter the find, stated that he had atten fed in the past to grow Scottish thistles here, and called for opinions and information en the subject, All_unsuspecting, several mere Sawsenachs entered the lists, and obligingly dug up books on botany see whether they could satisfy the:
wuirer as to the origin of his find. Without actually seeing the plant they were at an obvious disadvantage, but one or two gallantly: plumped for its being a native species, giving other localities in which these thistles could be found. There was not wanting the usual cheap wit on the part of a few anonymous scribes, but most of the writers took the subject seriously, ex! commendable desire to throw the light of science on this discovery of Scotin's national emblem in faraway Hongkong.
But now. jus when local buranists were about to put their intellects to the great task of identifying the plant either as a hitherto unnoticed native or else. ax an insidious in-trader, one signing himself "Old Resident," who left Scotland more than a quarter of a century ago, comes forward and admits to a feeling of home-sickness which moved him to plant the seeds of hi native thistle on Taimoshan, besides railing that another Scot many, years ago did the same on Hon: korly island. He somewhat, ungrateful; refers to the Sassenach investigators as people with "a smattering of botany"; and the correspondence is, now closed.
One of the writers, who presume! that the plant was a native form of thistle, and had observed it grew only sparsely, suggested that it should not ' be indiscriminately gathered for a St. Andrew's Day decoration for fear of exterminating, teresting example of the local flora. But after "Old Resident's" fconfessicn the gatherers might be told to go ahead and do their worst, If the controversy has done thing else, it has disclosed that there fare a number of residents of Hong. kong genuinely interested in nature! istory subjects, and again raises the question of when. if ever, some: tone is going to start an as fom lof naturalists such exists Shanghai, Singapore, Bangkok, a other important ci
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.