2o THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



ten days. From Paramaribo it is two or three days to Trinidad, where 

 one can catch the Eoyal Mail for England. 



The route from New York to the Guianas lies to the eastward of 

 the larger West Indian Islands — the Greater Antilles — and passes close 

 to the line of smaller islands, the Lesser Antilles. These are for the 

 most part extremely mountainous, and the larger ones, like Dominica 

 and Martinique, are exceedingly beautiful, and are also said to be most 

 interesting botanically. Dominica, especially, with mountains rising 

 some 5,000 feet above the sea, and evidently presenting great variety 

 of conditions, made one wish that the ship would stop long enough to 

 enable one to explore the luxuriant forest clothing the steep mountains 

 to their summits. 



Passing close to Martinique the sinister bulk of Mt. Pelee domi- 

 nated the view, and the ruins of St. Pierre could be plainly seen — now 

 after ten years largely overgrown by the rank tropical vegetation which 

 is rapidly covering up the evidences of the great catastrophe. 



No stop was made until Barbados was reached. This densely 

 populated island is mainly devoted to the cultivation of sugar, and 

 there is very little forest left. Moreover, unlike most of the West 

 Indian islands, the elevations are comparatively slight, and the condi- 

 tions much more uniform than in the other islands. To a newcomer 

 in the tropics, however, no doubt the many striking cultivated plants 

 will be a novelty. Some of the showiest flowering trees and shrubs, 

 like the gorgeous flamboyant Poinciana regia and the beautiful frangi- 

 pani (Plumiera), come to special perfection in the gardens of Barbados. 

 Here one sees also the very striking mixture of races found in the West 

 Indies — negroes form a large majority of the population, but there are 

 many East Indian coolies ; and a considerable number of Chinese. The 

 white population is insignificant compared with the various colored 

 races. 



The next stop was made at Georgetown, the capital of British 

 Guiana, or Demerara. The ship remained all day in port, and there 

 was an opportunity to go on shore and visit the pretty botanical gar- 

 dens. The town itself is attractively laid out, and the gardens full of 

 luxuriant tropical growths testify to the thoroughly tropical climate. 

 Fine avenues of tall palms are a striking feature of the town. These 

 were apparently mostly the royal palm (Oreodoxa regia), but it is not 

 always easy to distinguish this from the even finer cabbage palm 

 (0. oleracea). 



The botanical garden is really an attractive park rather than a 

 scientifically laid out botanical garden. It contains, however, many 

 fine specimens of palms and other tropical plants which will interest 

 the botanist. Perhaps the finest features of the garden are the extensive 



