dure; and
tufts of thyme, wild mastic, or mint, though they sound well, are not
nearly so pretty as grass. Many little churches, glittering white, dot
the islands; most of them, I believe, abandoned during the whole year
with the exception of one day sacred to their patron saint. The villages
are mean; but the inhabitants do not look wretched, and the men are
capital sailors. There is something in this Greek race yet; they will
become a powerful Levantine nation in the course of time.'

In 1861 Jenkin left the service of Newall & Co., and entered into
partnership with Mr. H. C. Forde, who had acted as engineer under
the British Government for the Malta-Alexandria cable, and was now
practising as a civil engineer. For several years after this business
was bad, and with a young family coming, it was an anxious time for him;
but he seems to have borne his troubles lightly. Mr. Stevenson says
it was his principle 'to enjoy each day's happiness as it arises, like
birds and children.'

In 1863 his first son was born, and the family removed to a cottage at
Claygate, near Esher. Though ill and poor at this period, he kept up
his self-confidence. 'The country,' he wrote to his wife, 'will give us,
please God, health and strength. I will love and cherish you more than
ever. You shall go where you wish, you shall receive whom you wish, and
as for money, you shall have that too. I cannot be mistaken. I have now
measured myself with many men. I do not feel weak. I do not feel that I
shall fail. In many things I have succeeded, and I will in this.... And
meanwhile, the time of waiting, which, please Heaven, shall not be so
long, shall also not be so bitter. Well, well, I promise much, and do
not know at this moment how you and the dear child are. If he is but
better, courage, my girl, for I see light.'

He took to gardening, without a natural liking for it, and soon became
an ardent expert. He wrote reviews, and lectured, or amused himself in
playing charades, and reading poetry. Clerk Maxwell, and Mr. Ricketts,
who was lost in the La Plata, were among his visitors. During October,
1860, he superintended the repairs of the Bona-Spartivento cable,
revisiting Chia and Cagliari, then full of Garibaldi's troops. The
cable, which had been broken by the anchors of coral fishers, was
grapnelled with difficulty. 'What rocks we did hook!' writes Jenkin. 'No
sooner was the grapnel down than the ship was anchored; and then came
such a busine