THE SCILLY ISLES _Armorel of Lyoness_--A refuge for the Celtic saints-- Lighthouses--The name of Scilly--Olaf Trygvason at Scilly-- Mr. Augustus Smith--The flower trade--Flowers not allowed to blossom in the fields--Traces of tin-streaming--Contrast between the east coast and the west of England--Variety in Scilly--Sir Cloudesley Shovel. For a guide to what is to be seen in this cluster there is no better book than Sir W. Besant’s _Armorel of Lyoness_, to my mind one of the most delightful works of fiction I have ever read; I refer, of course, to the first part, that concerns Scilly. Let a visitor take that book, and go over the ground and be happy. Nothing can be added, but one word in caution. The whole is a _little_ over-coloured. Scilly presents scenes of great interest, but the cliffs are by no means so fine as those of Land’s End, and far inferior to those of the Lizard. Nevertheless, island clusters have a charm of their own distinct from the scenery of the fringe of the mainland, and a cluster Scilly is, intricate, and presenting great variety. There are one hundred and forty-five islets, large and small, forty miles due west from Lizard Point, and twenty-eight west-by-south from Land’s End. The views of the islands change remarkably, according to the state of the tide. At high-water the islands are separated by wide stretches of sea, while at the ebb extensive flats are uncovered, and some of the islands are apparently joined. The Crow Channel between S. Mary’s and S. Martin’s Isles has been forded on horseback, and a man is reported to have ridden from S. Mary’s to Tresco, fording the arms of the sea at low spring-tide. S. Martin’s Island is difficult of approach at low tide from S. Mary’s by boat on account of the distance to which the sands run out. Such an archipelago was exactly suited to the requirements of the Celtic saints, who, if they spent most of their time in superintendence of their monasteries, retired for Lent to solitary places, and as they grew old resigned their pastoral staves to their coarbs (successors), and retreated to islets, there to prepare for the great change. The west coast of Ireland is studded with islets that still retain the cells of these solitaries. Wales had its Bardsey and Anglesea, and Caldey and Ramsey. And what these were to Irish and Welsh the Scilly group was to the saints of Cornwall. Thus we find there S. Elid, the Welsh S. Illog, S. Teon, who is the Euny of Lelant, S. Samson, and S. Warna. I do not know that any of the remains of their venerable oratories have been found, but then they have not been looked for. There are now churches on four of the isles. There are three lighthouses--that of S. Agnes, a revolving light; that on an outlying rock, the Bishop, fixed; and that on Round Island, with a red light.