26 THE PIvANT WORLD 



who was not a resident of the island prior to August 7, 1899 ; and the 

 second prohibiting on and after September 15 the importation of whisky, 

 brandy, rum, gin, aguardiente, or other intoxicating spirituous liquors, 

 except by special license issued by the government. These orders 

 became necessary by the cheapness of the liquor distilled by the natives 

 from the fermented sap of the coconut palm, of which the supply is 

 practically unlimited, and which has had a very bad effect upon a number 

 of the Y Semite' s crew visiting the shore. 



Monday, August 21. — This is the first day since our arrival without 

 afternoon showers. Shoes and books mouldy from the dampness ; vege- 

 tation in plaza growing rank and dense close to my windows. 



Went with my secretary, Jos6 de Torres, to the hill back of the city 

 of Agaiia. Walking south through the quarter known as San Ramon, we 

 took the road which leads to the inland village of Sinahafia. As we 

 were about to ascend the hill, a native past middle age came out of a 

 picturesque house of masonry, a little man with most polished manners, who 

 introduced himself as Don Jose Herrero, saying that he celebrated making 

 my acquaintance, and placed himself and his house at my disposition. I 

 found Don Jos6 to be very well informed about island history, and was 

 very much entertained by his conversation. He joined us in our walk 

 and took us to his ranch on the edge of the high land overlooking the 

 town. The slope behind the palace is covered with a fine grove of coco- 

 nuts planted by his father. Captain Jos6 Ganga-Herrero, who was gov- 

 ernor of the islands just after the independence of Mexico. 



Near Don Jose's house was a small plantation of coffee loaded with 

 fruit. On the left-hand side of the road up the hill a shrubby Bauhinia 

 with bilobed leaves and large pale yellow, ill-smelling flowers ; dense 

 thicket of lemoncito (^Triphasia aurantiola) not now in bloom, thorny 

 shrubs with glossy trifoliolate leaves, sending up shoots from the roots and 

 consequently well adapted for hedges. Found a few lemoncito berries 

 remaining on the bushes, orange-scarlet in color, filled with a somewhat 

 gummy, bitter-sweet pulp, with a flavor like Curasao liquor. Don Jose 

 said that the fruit makes an excellent dulce when boiled with sugar, but 

 that it is somewhat astringent ; climbing among the bushes, vines of 

 Abrus precatorius, with delicate, pinnate leaves, clusters of pale purple 

 flowers, and pods the ripe ones of which had burst open, showing bright 

 scarlet seeds ; wild ginger common (^Zingiber zerumbet^ ; many bushes of 

 Clerodendron and the introduced "Tintan-china," a Cestrum with dark- 

 colored berries; Urena lobata, called " Dadangsi " by the natives, a 

 shrubby malvaceous plant with palmately lobed leaves and tough stems, 

 not now in bloom. 



Path steep ; on top of hill Don Jose's ranch ; in a small thatched hut 

 a wooden cross, before which Don Jose reverently bowed and said a 



