XAYMACA; THE ISLAND OF MANY RIVERS 307 



wonderful beauty, the road firm and well graded, 

 sweeping around a succession of curves, giving us 

 constantly changing views of rugged mountains, 

 and deep gorges through which dashed the Wag 

 Water. Huge boulders lie in the bed of the 

 stream ; whirlpools, eddies, deep silent pools, the 

 endless variations of a mountain torrent, delight 

 our sight as our horses trot swiftly past. The 

 banks are densely hung with fantastic creepers 

 or shaded with the great plumes of the bamboo. 

 At Castleton we stopped and walked about the 

 Government Botanical Station, noted for its 

 unrivalled collection of palms. The garden is on 

 a hillside in a narrow valley ; along the winding 

 walks the plants are arranged for display of their 

 finest features, combined either in picturesque 

 groups, or, as in the case of some stately tree, 

 growing quite apart. The tropical luxuriance 

 here surpasses anything we have seen. 



As we approached Annotta Bay our road came 

 down from the hills into the flat lowlands, — long 

 stretches of meadow over which many cattle were 

 feeding. The Wag Water here spreads out into 

 a broad, shallow stream. As we neared the sea 

 we could hear the thundering of the surf, and 

 soon came in sight of the great waves rolling in 

 and breaking on the roadway. For a short dis- 

 tance we seemed below sea-level. Following 

 along the coast we passed a succession of cocoa- 



