flashed across continent and ocean, and the London newspaper of the next morning contains the brief notification that far exceeds to anxious hearts all else of interest its broad pages may contain. Familiarity, though it may not necessarily breed contempt, dulls the sense of the wonder of it all, and yet how marvellous it is! We have before us the _Standard_, that came into our hands about seven o'clock this morning, and we find from it that yesterday the _Glenshiel_ had arrived at Hong Kong, that the _Arab_, from Cape Town, had just put in at Lisbon, that the _Sardinian_, from Quebec, had reached Moville, that the _Circassian_ was safely at New York, that the _Orizaba_, speeding on to Sydney, had at 2 a.m. passed the desolate shores of arid Perim, that the _Danube_, from Southampton, had at 6 a.m. entered the harbour of Rio Janeiro. Of this, and much else of the same tenor, may we read in a space of a quarter-column or so of the paper as we sit at breakfast and see pass before us a panorama of world-wide interest and extent; and to accomplish this result, the flags we have figured have been a potent factor. Though we have covered much ground, it must have been patent to all readers who have thus far companioned us that much detail was necessarily omitted, unless our book had to grow to the dimensions of an encyclopædia. It would probably, for instance, take some fifty figures or so to give all the distinctive flags of the various government departments, official ranks, etc., of a single Great Power. We trust nevertheless that while our labours have been by no means exhaustive, they have been instrumental in showing that there is much of interest in flag-lore, and that an increased knowledge and appreciation of our subject may be one result of our pleasant labours, and prove full justification for our work. * * * * * {141} INDEX.