30 



the dates approach maturity, the weather is usually very wet, 

 which necessitates the cutting of the clusters of fruit and 

 their removal indoors in order that the ripening process may 

 be completed under dry conditions. 



Opposite the date palms is a plot of cacao which crop it 

 is intended shall eventually be removed in order that this 

 piece of ground may be devoted entirely to important exotic 

 trees of economic or ornamental value. Some of these already 

 interplanted here with the cacao include : Jaboticaba 

 Mvrciaria cauliflora ; Poutaria snavis two fruit trees noted 

 already elsewhere along this path the Rambutan, Nephelium 

 lappaceum, a large handsome spreading tree of Malaya, 

 bearing a profusion of orange-yellow fruits, the pulpy parts of 

 which have a pleasant acidulous taste ; and the Queensland 

 Nut, Macadamia term 'folia, a moderate-sized tree bearing nuts 

 of agreeable . flavour ; also Croton Tiglium a small Euphor- 

 biaceous tree, native of India, from the seed of which Croton 

 oil, a powerful purgative, is obtained ; Taraktogenos Kurzii, 

 a forest tree of Burma, Assam, etc., the source of Chaulmoogra 

 oil used medicinally as a cure for leprosy and other cutaneous 

 complaints ; the East Australian Flame tree, Brachychiton 

 acerifolium, an evergreen shade tree with magnificent trusses 

 of crimson flowers ; and Cassia Sieberiana a. handsome 

 flowering tree of Northern Nigeria. There are also growing 

 here the Otaheite Gooseberry, Cicca disticha and young plants 

 of the Mahwa tree of India, Bassia latifolia, whose fleshy 

 sweet-tasting flowers are used as an article of food, and also 

 yield by distillation an ardent spirit. The fruits are eaten 

 raw or cooked, and from the seeds an oil is obtained which is 

 used for cooking, as well as for soap-making. 



Proceeding along the row of date palms to the point 

 where the four paths meet, a number of interesting plants can 

 be seen. Here is the Litchi, Nephelium Litchi, a fruit tree of 

 Southern China ; immediately opposite, a fine specimen of the 

 Durian, a tree which has been already noted in these pages. 



Bordering the path leading up to the stone steps, on the 

 right hand side, note ; Garcinia oblongifolia ; Pernambuco 

 Jaborandi, Pilocarpus pennatifolius, which yields an alkaloid, 

 " pilocarpine," of value in medicine ; Pilocarpus racemosus, 

 native of Montserrat ; and Pilocarpus sp. from Brazil, 



