on elephants, though not new to my children, was not omitted.
To the "City" too we sometimes directed our steps, either along Oxford Street and Holborn, or by Regent's Street and Strand and Fleet Street. These two routes meet at Cheapside, near St. Paul's Church, and the finest shops of London,—some of world-wide celebrity,— are along these two routes. Mappin and Webb the great men for electroplate things, Parkins and Gotto the great stationers, Henry Heath the hatter, and a host of large and well known establishments are in Oxford Street. Regent's Street blazes with ladies' costumes of every conceivable fashion and fabulous prices! Liberty displays there his Rampur Chuddar and Tussar silks and oriental fabrics, Peter Thompson shews his mantles and costumes of the latest fashion, Jay displays his mourning costumes and the fur shops are full of valuable furs. Further down, from the Trafalgar Square, is the Strand, the fashionable West End of London of the 17th century, and now known for its beautiful shops. The Strand leads to the new Law Courts and the Middle Temple and then on to Fleet Street where Johnson and his library friends used to assemble in the 18th century and where the principal London Newspapers have their offices now.
From St. Paul's Church, where the two routes meet, we went down the Cheapside into the heart of the City. Of all the sights of London I know of none so striking, so really wonderful, as the miles of rich and magnificent shops one sees along the streets,—as the sea of busy
