We have noted that the islands were used by both Romans and Britons as a place of punishment, and we learn that in 1637 John Bastwick, M.D., after having been banished there for writing libelous books against church and government, was sentenced to pay a fine of £1,000, to stand in the pillory, to have his ears cut off, and finally to be confined in St. Mary’s castle. After such a generous assignment the story of the “ducking chair” sounds like comedy. The offender guilty of some trifling misdemeanor was tied in the chair at the head of the dock and thrown into the water. One cannot help feeling that this would be fine treatment for the American “hobo,” especially if the salt water was available and it was not necessary to haul him out too soon. The inhabitants have had a hard fight for existence and have been on the verge of starvation more than once. Farming proved a failure. So likewise did smuggling, shipbuilding, fishing, and other experiments, that for a time seemed to promise success. Now, however, they are more prosperous than they have ever been. Early potatoes, asparagus, and other vegetables are raised in large quantities for the English market. In this respect Scilly is to London what Bermuda is to New York. Besides the vegetables, flowers are cultivated for the London market, and grow in such luxuriant profusion as to guarantee a handsome return to the gardener. Anyone who has seen an acre or two of lilies abloom in Bermuda knows what a glorious sight a field of flowers is. We cannot judge from a florist’s window how splendid is a flower farm. During Christmas week wallflowers, marguerites, daisies, narcissi, roses, pinks, marigolds, fuchsias, geraniums and chrysanthemums are found in bloom. The fields are divided off into little squares of about a quarter of an acre, by high hedges. Here the flowers are protected from the winds and cuddled up to the gracious sun. Under this nurture aloes attain a height of five or six feet, and in blossoming throw up a bloom-spike as high as eighteen or twenty feet. As London is distant from the islands only about eleven hours it follows that if the inhabitants are prepared to supply the metropolis with its flowers and vegetables they may rest easy about “the wolf at the door.” The islands number about forty, and are situated some twenty-seven miles west of Land’s End. Five of them are inhabited, and the total population, which increased during the decade by one hundred and four, is some two thousand. As we steamed out of the harbor a fleet of British war ships, twenty-two in number, was lying at anchor in the bay. When one reflects that these fighting machines are similarly in evidence in almost every harbor round the world, he is convinced that Great Britain’s arm upon the sea is a significant factor to be reckoned with in questions relating to the world’s peace.