146 Naturalist at Large 



knows in the bottom of his heart that I am his loyal and 

 loving friend. 



Every time the postman comes to the door I wonder 

 whether, by great good fortune, he will bring me a letter 

 from David. Here is a sample, picked at random from 

 among hundreds that I treasure: — 



The Kampong 

 Coconut Grove, Florida 

 July 5, '42 



Dear Tom: 



This is the month for the Kampong. It's the month 

 for mangoes beginning to ripen, for white sapotes, for 

 guanabanas, for Poincianas in full bloom, for palms 

 in their full glory of luxuriance, for Bauhinia galpinii 

 — handsome as the "flame" Azalea — for Heliconia sp. 

 at the swimming pool, for Cereus of various sorts, for 

 Aechmeas and Bromeliads and native orchids and 

 "Natal" pineapples ripening in the pineapple patch. 



But last, not least by any means, it's the month for 

 mosquitoes. If you swell up when they bite you, it's 

 a month to avoid, just as June in the North Woods 

 is a poison month for me who swell up and go blind 

 when a black fly bomber strikes me. 



I spent a forenoon at the Fairchild Tropical Garden 

 a few days ago and find things are in pretty good 

 shape. Planting is going forward, Mathews is keeping 

 the weeds away from the young palms pretty well, 

 and an amazing growth of palm fronds is being made. 

 Slowly the Palmetum part comes up out of the little- 



