ng
excellently. You may imagine how happy I must have felt after my fears.
You may imagine, also, what a hero Charlie was among the natives after
his exploit. Of course my friend the shikari, in telling them the story,
made out that the chief honours were his, but he was good enough to
admit that the Sahib behaved also like a brave man, and probably his
hearers, knowing each other's little ways, distributed the honours
pretty fairly.'

ABOUT TOPIARIES.

What is a topiary? If you have never been in one, you may have seen one
represented by some artist who draws scenes that show us gardens or
shrubberies of bygone days. Perhaps you may at least have been in some
old-fashioned garden, which had one or more trees of odd shapes, into
which they had been cut and trained years ago. When a number of such
trees are growing together, the place is called a topiary, and lately
people who can afford the money have been contriving topiaries in some
parts of their grounds. Gardeners who understand how to make trees
resemble the human figure, or different animals, or other objects, can
usually get plenty of employment.

We read about sculptured hedges as far back as the times of the Tudors;
it was chiefly the yew hedge that people cut and shaped into odd
figures. But it was not till the Dutch gardeners came over in the reign
of William III., that it became the practice to give curious shapes to
trees and shrubs scattered over gardens, or brought together into a
topiary. Various trees were used, but chiefly yew and box.

The Dutch were fond of making figures out of trees, and so were the
Italians. At Savona, a traveller tells us that he saw a group
representing the flight of Joseph into Egypt, formed of variegated
holly, box, myrtle, laurel, and cypress. The poet Pope alluded to the
Duke who owned the splendid estate of Canons, as a nobleman who had

'Trees cut to statues, statues thick as trees,'

and he remarks that he was shown, in greenery, Adam, Eve, and the
serpent, but the figures were damaged somewhat. All such figures need
attention to keep them in order. There are many about England that are
of good age, and may last some years yet; though, of course, these trees
may be injured by wind or heavy rain. Shrubs and trees are formed into
curious shapes by the help of wires, and much trimming or twisting of
the shoots is needed at first. A young tree, therefore, representing a
peacock, or some other bird, will cost