THE PLANT WOELD 195 



direction across the plaza toward the old church, with the Palace on my 

 right and the Tribunal, or jail, on my left ; in another direction I look 

 down on my garden, a tangled mass of tropical growth. On the walls 

 I find records of children's games : " Dolores, 1111 ; Mercedes,. Ill ; 

 Carmen, 11111 ; Concepcion, 11 ; Vicente, 11111 ; Juan, 111." Behind 

 the shutters and the doors are swarms of Tipulfe, like great slender- 

 legged mosquitos, which set up so vigorous a vibration as to look like 

 vague clouds. Under the eaves I find securely glued a number of tiny 

 lizards' eggs. The lizards, or more strictly speaking, geckos, run about 

 the roof, upside-down, without apparent effort, holding to the rafters and 

 tiles by their padded toes, catching flies and moths, and every once in 

 a while chattering like a bird. 



A shower comes up and Miyomoto fills my tub on my rear balcony 

 with water from the eaves by means of a bamboo trough left by my 

 predecessor. The tiles leak in several places, forming pools on the pol- 

 ished ijil floor ; so that the bed, books, etc., must be moved to places of 

 safety. Everything outside dripping with moisture ; temperature de- 

 lightful ; on roofs creeping ferns with leathery lobed fronds like huge 

 oak leaves {Polypodium phymatodes) ; have seen the same species climb- 

 ing trees in Samoa. 



Cart arrives from the port bringing a lot of plants given me by Mr. 

 David Haughs, of the Honolulu Botanical Gardens. All of them in fine 

 shape, having been cared for by me personally during our passage. 

 Among them are the following : 



Seaforthia elegans, a graceful, pinnate-leaved palm; Livistonia CM- 

 nensis, (or "Latania horhonica'') a handsome fan-leaved palm; Oreodoxa 

 regia, the handsome "royal palm" of Cuba and Brazil; Cocos plumosa, 

 a fine featherj^-leaved species ; Livistonia rotundifolia, an East Indian 

 fan-palm ; Thrinax argentea, the silver thatch-palm of the West Indies ; 

 Sabal BlacMmrneana, the Bermuda palmetto; Pithecolohmm Saman, 

 known as "monkey-pod" in Honolulu, where it is a favorite shade-tree; 

 Cassia fistula, in Honolulu called the "golden shower;" Cassia fiorida, 

 the " iron-wood " of the Dutch East Indies ; Maiigifera Indira, grown 

 from Jamaica seeds ; Ceratonia siliqua, the Carob tree, or " St. John's 

 bread ; " Poinciana regia, the flamboyant tree, a liandsome leguminous 

 shade tree having orange-red flowers, common in Honolulu and Porto 

 Rico (a long avenue of it between Ponce and the sea on the latter 

 island) ; Haematoxylon campechianum, log- wood ; Terminalia catappa, 

 called " Kamani " in Hawaii, and " Talie " in Samoa, bears almond-like 

 nuts, and hence called "Almendro" in Cuba; Theobroma cacao, the 

 cacao or chocolate plant; Cordia siihcordata, called "Kou" in Hawaii; 

 Cola acuminata, the "Cola" or "Goora-nut tree" of Africa; Laurus 

 ( Cinnamomum) campliora, camphor tree ; Casuarina equisetifolia, Aus- 



