as such, however potent he might be, might have a forest, inasmuch as sovereign prerogatives were incident to it. A subject might own a chase, which possessed no particular laws and where the common law was in force, where there were no verderers, regarders, or agisters, no Court of Attachments, no Swainmote, no Justice Seat. If the king granted a forest to a subject, it fell to the rank of a chase. Precise and important distinctions were drawn between the two. The beasts of the forest were the hart, the hind, the hare, the boar, and the wolf--that is, 'beasts that do haunt the woods more than the plains.' The beasts of the chase were five also-the buck, the doe, the fox, the marten, ard the roe. Each forest included also a warren, and the beasts and fowls of warren were the hare, the cony, the pheasant, and the partridge. Venery was then a science with a precise nomenclature, and hunters were as much pedants as feudal lawyers. The hart in its second year must be called a broker, and a boar of the fourth year a sanglier. Good woodmen spoke of a bevy of roes and a rout of wolves, and they referred to the footmarks of the hart as the slot, and to traces of the fallow deer as its 'view.' One cannot study the old forest laws without seeing that our forefathers loved the forests as much as their sons do. Every twig and every cony were sacred in their eyes. It was the duty of the good woodman to preserve with care venison and vert-that is, the beasts of the chase, and the trees and cover which sheltered them. No man might without licence cut down the trees within the forest, even if they grew in his own freehold. Still more einous was the offence of ploughing up the thickets and covers, or erecting houses, or making inclosures. In every forest a fence month was strictly observed, and for fifteen days before Midsummer, and for as many after, no one was permitted to wander about or drive his flocks in the forest, so that it might be, in the words of one old writer, 'a sanctuary of peace for the wild beasts.' Hawking and hunting within the forest domains, being pastimes for kings and princes, could not, of course, be enjoyed by common people; and to slay a deer, so long as the forest laws were in force, was a crime blacker than murder or arson. The most striking peculiarity of these wastes was the fact that the common law did not extend to them. There, in theory at least, only the judgments and determinations of the king were binding. The word of his vicar, the Lord Chief Justice of the Forest, was supreme. In the Court of Attachments or Woodmote, which sat every forty days, in the Swainmote, which sat thrice a year, and in the Justice Seat, which was

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held at intervals of three years, were administered laws wholly repugnant in spirit to those which were put in operation at Westminster. All the ordinary rights of property, all the common ideas of law, were set at nought; and history is full of complaints and murmurs respecting the hardships caused by the servile system administered in these 'oases of despotism.'

"Almost all traces of this state of things have long passed away from Epping. The rights of the Crown were in some cases sold, and even before they were extinguished the sharp distinctions of the forest laws had fallen into disuse. The commoners turned their cattle into the forest to feed, subject to the supervision of the reeves and forest courts. From time to time a lord of the manor enclosed a tempting piece of land to round off his property, or a cottager stole a morsel to make a garden. For a long time the forest was almost ungoverned, or was subject only to imperfect usages, indifferently observed and little understood. Thanks to the labours of the Corporation, this is altered. Rights are defined, and a code of management as precise as the old forest laws themselves has been established. One thing we may learn from those old laws the memory of which is disappearing they were framed by men who prized the greenwood, who regarded every tree as precious, who would not have a bird or a hare disturbed, who viewed with suspicion improvements which affected the forest domains. It was this jealous spirit which preserved them in the past, and its continuance will be the best preservation in the future. Another thing, also, may be gathered from the same sources. The avowed justification of these exceptional domains in the past was that the king's labour 'doth maintain and defend every man's rest and peace;' that 'his diligence doth preserve and defend every man's private pleasure and delight;' and that it was for the advantage of the realm that he should have his fit place of recreation and pastime. All that is the sentiment of a past age, and modern sovereigns need no such means of entertainment. But we shall be keeping up this spirit of zeal for the welfare of the realm by permitting the common people to take their pleasure where sovereigns once found theirs."

Lysons, in his "Magna Britannia," describes the forest as "of large extent, full of game, and well stocked with deer, the fattest and largest in the kingdom." Notwithstanding that the Crown had long ago parted with the ownership of the soil, it still retained the right of "vert" and "venison," that is, the right to keep an unlimited.

Epping Forest.]

years associated with the forest, we shall speak more fully in dealing with Buckhurst Hill; and of Queen Elizabeth's fondness of frequenting its sylvan glades for the purposes of the chase, on reaching Chingford.

Fisher, in his "Companion to the History of England," states that "Henry VIII. went out with his hounds, and breakfasted under a great tree in Epping Forest the very day that his once-lov'd wife (Anne Boleyn) was to perish in the Tower."

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still a text-book for botanists. Indeed, nearly every part of the forest is profuse in mosses, wild flowers, grasses, and fresh-water alga.

In the less frequented parts, and especially in the damp and boggy places, many interesting, and, indeed, uncommon plants occur. Let us hope that the wholesale drainage will not be continued so as to utterly destroy the plants peculiar to naturally damp situations. One of the smallest and most lovely of these Epping Forest plants is the blue Ivy-leaved Bell-flower (Campanula hederacea) seen at the bottom of our illustration; another, the rosecoloured Bog Pimpernel (Anagallis tenella) seen on the right, and below it the Round-leaved Sun-dew (Drosera rotundifolia), an insectivorous plant studied and described by Charles Darwin. Another bog

But the site of this tree is not known, and the story may not be true.

Of the geology of this district there is little at present to be said; and for the best of all reasons: because the Essex Field Club has only just taken the subject seriously in hand. It may be said, however, generally, that the surface of the district is mainly composed of London clay, which overlies the primitive stratum of chalk, and which here and there is capped with patches of gravel and Bagshot sand.

Epping Forest is intersected by railways, with stations at short intervals, so as to furnish points of approach in all directions. It has all the charms of hill and dale, open plain and pleasant avenue, with deep umbrageous recesses here and there, comprising altogether every variety of forest scenery, fringed with far-spreading landscapes, reaching into half-a-dozen counties. As a rule, the oaks and other trees are of somewhat stunted growth, but there are, of course, exceptions. Of the famous Fairlop Oak we shall speak in dealing with Hainault Forest. The neighbourhood of Woodford is particularly rich in its flora, and the "Plantæ Woodfordiensis" of Richard Warner is

FLOWERS FROM EPPING FOREST.

plant is illustrated on the top right of our illustration in the lovely drooping Marsh Thistle (Carduus palustris). A decidedly uncommon orchid is common not far from High Beech, viz.: the Smaller Butterfly Orchis (Habenaria bifolia), illustrated at the top left; many other orchids may be found, notably the Helleborine and Marsh Helleborine Epipactis latifolia and E. palustris). The Grass of Parnassus (Parnassia palustris), also grows in wet places, a most beautiful, interesting, and curious plant. The Butcher's Broom (Ruscus aculeatus) may also be found in many damp spots, together with its near ally the Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis). The Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella)probably the true Shamrock-is very frequent; so are many diverse species of St. John's Wort

(Hypericum), together with both the British species of Golden Saxifrage (Chrysosplenium). This brief list does not give one-hundredth part of the many beautiful plants of the forest either prized for their beauty, rarity, or, may-be, their botanical interest.

Amongst the ferns of the forest one of the most interesting is the Adder's-tongue (Ophioglossum vulgatum), illustrated at the top right, the Hart'stongue (Scolopendrium vulgare), the Scaly Spleenwort (Ceterach officinarum), the Toothed Bladder Fern (Cystopteris dentata), the Prickly Shield Fern (Polystichum aculeatum), the Male Fern (Lastrea filix-mas), Common Polypody (Polypodium vulgare), very frequent about old stumps, and illustrated at the foot of our engraving, Wall Rue (Asplenium ruta-muraria), upon crumbly old walls, and the Common Brake (Pteris aquilina) grows profusely all over the forest.

Many edible species of fungi may be found in the forest, and most of these have been painted by Mr. Worthington G. Smith, the originals being at all times accessible to the public in the New Natural History Museum at South Kensington. The true Mushroom (Agaricus campestris) grows in open grassy places, together with the Fairy Ring Champignon (Marasmus oreades). The Parasol Mushroom (Agaricus procerus) is frequent in partially open places, the Red-fleshed Mushroom (Agaricus rubescens) is very common in the woody parts, together with the delicious Edible Boletus (Boletus edulis) and the Edible Chantarelle (Cantharellus cibarius). The Vegetable Beef-steak-so named by Dr. Bull-is very frequent on the old oaks, and sometimes on old beeches and other trees. The Giant Puff-ball (Lycoperdon giganteum) is common in the open grassy places; various truffles have also been found, and many poisonous species, and species of great botanical interest. Many other edible species occur besides the above mentioned, and numerous highly-poisonous plants, as the Scarlet Fly Mushroom (Agaricus muscarius) under the birches. Before venturing to eat edible fungi, all beginners should carefully examine Mr. Smith's paintings at the British Museum.

The forest has, however, its insect plagues. A correspondent of the Times has remarked that the greatest delinquent among the insects that spoil the foliage of our oak-trees is the larvæ of Tortrix viridana, which may be found in abundance during May, rolled in a leaf or between two adjacent leaves connected by a slight silken web. The moth itself appears at the end of June, and is frequently a perfect pest on account of its numbers. "In walking through Epping Forest," he adds, "I noticed that every tap on an oak branch caused a

cloud of these insects to fly out. The moth when expanded is something under one inch across the wings, the upper pair of which are of a pure green colour."

Epping Forest is a rare hunting-ground, not only for the botanist and the entomologist, but also for the ornithologist, song-birds of almost all the known species are, at one time or another during each succeeding year, to be met with here. In Mr. Jefferies' book, "Nature near London," many interesting details respecting the feathered visitants of our suburban forests may be found.

The inns and hostelries of the neighbourhood are all reminders of the rural character of the place. Besides the "Royal Forest Hotel," we have the "Foresters," the "Roebuck," the "Warren House," the "Bald-faced Stag," the "Horse and Well," the "Robin Hood," the " King's Oak," and the "Owl.” Most of these are still frequented during the summer months by ruralising parties from London, who make the shady bowers and sylvan retreats of the forest in their vicinity resound with their noisy mirth.

The hearthstones of many of the forest cottages were, and some are still, removable; and as they served in Romney Marsh, and in many sea-coast towns, as places for storing kegs of illicit brandy, so about Epping and Loughton and Chingford they supplied the parents and grandparents of many of the present race of cottagers with storehouses for haunches of venison which were not altogether honestly obtained.

The story of the preservation of the forest has been told in pamphlet form by Mr. J. T. Bedford, who, from his position of Chairman of the Epping Forest Committee, was in a position to observe and to recount the various steps which led to the final event-its dedication to the use and enjoyment of the people "for ever." From this pamphlet it appears that the forest now consists of about 6,000 acres, rather more than 5,500 of which have been purchased by the Corporation, and in acquiring which about 1,200 claims had to be considered. The costs incurred in the prolonged struggle to secure this vast tract of land from further encroachment were, no doubt, heavy: the aggregate of the purchase money, compensation for rights of lopping, the price of Wanstead Park, and legal expenses, amounting to some £256,275. But in exchange for this outlay a domain of rare beauty has been secured to ever-growing London, and generations yet unborn are likely to be grateful for the boon that has been conferred upon them; so that the almost romantic story of its rescue ought not readily to be forgotten by those who enjoy its cool shades and sylvan recesses.