om venomous animals,
of course by the aid of St. Patrick. The same was affirmed of Crete in
olden times, being the birthplace of Jupiter. The Isle of Man is said
also to be free from venomous creatures. The Mauritius, and I believe
one of the Balearic islands, enjoys the same immunity."

The following anecdote is as pretty as the writer conceives it to be:

"His present Majesty, when residing in Bushy Park, had a part of the
foremast of the Victory, against which Lord Nelson was standing when he
received his fatal wound, deposited in a small temple in the grounds of
Bushy House, from which it was afterwards removed, and placed at the
upper end of the dining-room, with a bust of Lord Nelson upon it. A
large shot had passed completely through this part of the mast, and
while it was in the temple a pair of robins had built their nest in the
shot-hole, and reared a brood of young ones. It was impossible to
witness this little occurrence without reflecting on the scene of blood,
and strife of war, which had occurred to produce so snug and peaceable a
retreat for a nest of harmless robins. If that delightful poet of the
lakes, Mr. Wordsworth, should ever condescend to read this little
anecdote, it might supply him with no bad subject for one of his
charming sonnets."

A few entertaining particulars of

_The Royal Parks._

"There are two elm trees, or rather the remains of two, in Hampton Court
Park, known by the name of the 'Giants,' which must have been of an
enormous size, the trunk of one of them measuring twenty-eight feet in
circumference.

"Cork trees flourish in Hampton Court Park, where there are two large
ones. There are also some ilexes, or evergreen oaks, in Bushy Park, of a
very large size, and apparently as hardy as any other tree there. The
avenues in that park are perhaps the finest in Europe. There are nine of
them altogether, the centre one, formed by two rows of horse-chestnut
trees, being the widest. The side avenues, of which there are four on
each side of the main avenue, are of lime trees, and the whole length,
including the circuit round the Diana water, is one mile and forty
yards.

"Near the Queen's house in this park is a very fine Spanish chestnut
tree, said to have been planted by Charles II., and to have been the
first which was seen in this country.

"The trees which at present form so much of the beauty of Greenwich Park
were planted by Evelyn, and if he could now see them he would cal