mpression that there is something
unusual about the place. The long low stable buildings, the tall white
masts and bright yellow flags, numberless white-painted cages, aviaries,
outhouses, and the spotless white of the fencings and gateways, all lend
it a pleasing individuality.

On turning into the big White Farm gate one encounters the spectacle of
a teeming population of bird and animal life. All are pure white,
spotlessly clean, and you couldn't find a dark hair or feather if you
tried to do so.

[Illustration: "ALL ARE PURE WHITE, SPOTLESSLY CLEAN."]

The only thing that seems to be missing at a first glance is a white
elephant; but the farm is that itself in a sense, as one may readily
imagine, when the difficulty of keeping it stocked is considered.

Although one could hardly conceive a more complete collection of white
birds and beasts, it is by no means so large or varied as in the past.
The mortality among what may be termed the "hot-house" species--the
birds and animals from tropical countries--was very great, and the
difficulty and expense of constantly replacing them was so considerable
that Lord Alington decided to dispense with them altogether.

[Illustration: "FANNY," THE WHITE DEER.]

The most striking creatures on the estate--and well they know it--are
the white peafowl. The many-coloured peacock with which we are familiar
is a beautiful bird, but I never saw anything in my life as perfect as
the white specimen at Crichel.

We were fortunate enough, by the exercise of the patience of Job, to
stalk one of these birds, and snap him in full war paint.

[Illustration: THE WHITE PEACOCK--THE KING OF THE WHITE FARM.]

The photograph will give some idea of the beauty of the bird, but it
cannot convey any adequate notion of the rich silken texture of the
plumage, or the aristocratic stateliness of this beauty among beauties.
Built into the hedge close to the place where our snapshot of the white
peacock was taken, are several white cages devoted to some of the rarer
breeds of white pigeons and guinea pigs. At the extreme end are the
white rats and mice.

[Illustration: A PICTURESQUE CORNER OF THE FARM.]

One of the rarest and most interesting members of the white family is
the mule--which is really much more like a pony in appearance--shown in
another illustration.

The poor brute has experienced many social vicissitudes; originally he
was the property of the "Shadow of God upon Earth," as the Su