Weihaiwei, Oct. 12—Out. in the hills for the first time after a month's imprisonment due to foot trouble. Anyone having a little imagination can realize what a fairyland I found: and among al! cther glories of a fair autumn I would first n the "Bluebells" which decorate our hills. I know that I am wrong in using the term Bluebell, because ours are really Harebells—dry-stalked and not always so deeply blue as the flowers of our English woods and copses: but even so I found then. fascinating and brought home a large collection to decorate my mantelpiece. There are, in fact, four varieties of "Bluebell" here—the Many-leaved, the Tall-branched and the Whorled; and last, but far from least, the Giant Bluebell which is like a great deep blue Canterbury Bell with en, I am glad that I used the capital "G" for Gentian, for did not Pliny tell us that the original plant called Gentian was introduced by Gentius, King of Illyria, in the year 167 s.c.) At least his name can claim the honour due to old age. But to return to my walk this morning, I really think I have never seen anything more beautiful than Nature's latest colour scheme: Bluebells of all kinds on every bank and hillside; pointed-leaved Gypsophila with heads of tiny flowers which you felt could be blown away by a breath: Chinese Pinks (Dianthus) so richly coloured that they made the yellow Day-lilies (still look as if they ought to blush for shame Aster, with great heads of inch-wide flo pales lilac, Who can blame me if, in spite of all the troubles which surround us, I felt glad be alive?
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.