In the sheet of the 6d. value the plates seem to have been slightly defective, and there is a gentle slope down from the centre to the outside stamp on each side (Nos. 1 and 5), the slope being more pronounced on No. 5, where the upper label containing the word Gambia is recognised as the variety with slanting label. The left side of stamp 5 is 22 1/2mm. high, and the right side 22mm. That the peculiarity occurs reversed on stamp No. 1, though it is less pronounced, there can be no doubt. In later issues both stamps 1 and 5 shew the defect more prominently, as will be readily seen from an examination of plates I., X., and XI. Curiously enough, the fault is not confined to the two outside stamps, as is generally supposed. The trouble is in the entire top row being 1/2mm. taller than the normal stamps of rows 2 and 3, except the left and right sides [page 19] respectively of the end stamps (Nos. 1 and 5). The middle stamp of the top row shews a further peculiarity in the shape of the base of the neck. (Compare plates I., X., XI., with XIV.) Copies of both values exist overprinted SPECIMEN, and we have seen similar copies of all the regular issues of this Colony. [Illustration] [page 20] CHAPTER III. Issue of 1874. The introduction of watermarked paper for these stamps occurred in 1874, the paper being that familiar to collectors of British Colonial stamps as watermarked "Crown C.C." The paper was not readily adaptable for the small sheets of the Gambia stamps, and the method of cutting it to suitable sizes for these sheets has produced some varieties for the specialist. Major Evans, writing in the _Philatelic Record_ for January, 1883, says:-- "Most collectors are probably aware that the stamps of the British Colonies printed in England are, as a rule, in sheets of 240, divided into four panes of 60, each pane consisting of ten horizontal rows of six stamps. The Crown and C.C. watermarks are arranged in the same manner upon the sheet of paper; each pane is enclosed in a single-lined frame. Down the centre of the sheet is a blank space of about half an inch wide; across the centre is a wider space, watermarked with the words CROWN COLONIES, which are also repeated twice along each side of the sheet.