One answers the call of duty with serene feelings when it summons one, on a brilliant afternoon in May, to the International Horticultural Exhibition at Earl's-court, the worst part of which is the unwieldy name it bears. A convenient and generally acceptable designation has not been hit upon. All the newspaper suggestions of "floweries," "greeneries," "the horty," and so on, have been contemptuously ignored. An abbreviation of the kind is hardly to be made by conscious effort, and certainly the independent British public will not be dictated to on the point. They are sure to find out for themselves a nick-name to apply to the International Horticultural Exhibition, if they should have frequent occasion to refer to the place; and they certainly will if the present spell of glorious weather does but hold out. I paid my second visit on Thursday last, the particular object being Zæo's Crysdæ-Gon Maze which by now is open to the public. First, however, I had a look round the show generally, and would fain have lingered in the beautiful, sunny gardens listening to the excellent band that was playing a lively air. Unhappily a hurried look-round, which assured me, however, of steady and fairly rapid progress towards perfection, was all that I could spare. The sub-tropical garden, under cover of one half of the long, lofty, shed-like building, makes a delightful retreat from the heat and glare of the sun outside; and here at present are some of the most beautiful and odorous flowers, it being yet full early for a rival display outside; but that too will shortly come.
I felt in duty bound to also have another look at Buffalo Bill and his Wild West. Here again zest was added to enjoyment by scantiness of opportunity. There was a capital attendance of visitors who were roaring with laughter and fired with excitement as they watched the long struggle between man and beast which is repeated each time one of the rebellious mustangs is mounted and ridden. The brutes must either be singularly stupid or rarely full of unconquerable determination, for nothing seems to affect in the slightest their untamable disposition. The domination of man is the one thing they cannot and will not submit to without a fierce disputation of the point. So long as this indignity is spared them they are docile enough, being well content to be lodged and fed and allowed to lead a life of idleness. Immediately any move is made to use them they are a-quiver with rage and any persistence in the attempt drives the worst of them almost frantic. In the long run none of them is a match for the skill and perseverance of man, whose subjugation at last of the brute is hailed always with loud applause. Miss
Meanwhile I seemed to be forgetting the special object of my call. Unwillingly I tore myself away from the romance of the Wild West and turned my footsteps to the Crys-dæ-Gon floral maze. I neglected to ask what the meaning of Crys-dæ-Gon was, and the question has haunted me since, together with an uneasy suspicion that it possibly means nothing at all, being a mere capricious arrangement of letters. The ostensible description that accompanied the invitation was as mystifiying as the thing itself proved to be. It was conceived in these term:
A Floral Maze or Labyrinth. The myriads of Collonades, interspersed with foliage, produce a mystical illusion unparalleled in the history of Optics. Illuminated Grottoes. The Owl's Cave. The Hall of Mirrors, al producing an elaborate series of realistic pictures, while the Mysterious Guide has been pronounced more wonderful than all. A mirthful recreation. Real friends meet in amusing garden party fashion. You bring your own company with you. Alexander Selkirk or Robinson Crusoe could never have felt lonely on their desolate island had they but known of Zæo's Crys-dæ-Gon Maze.
The optical illusion—for such it is—has the marked peculiarity of suggesting ghostliness without ghastliness in a very odd way. Mr Wieland, Zæo's adopted father, has patented the invention but he modestly disclaims having thought it out. The germ of the idea was brought to fuller life in Zæo's brain through pondering on the probable effect to be gained by an extension of t[he] principle of the triple mirror, a well-known aid