460 Field Columbian Museum — Botany, Vol. I. 



that island, it occurred to me that I might profitably combine busi- 

 ness with pleasure. After arrangements had been completed I left 

 Oberlin, Ohio, and took the steamer " Madiana" of the Quebec S. S. 

 Co.'s line at New York on October 3rd. 



Our journey was enlivened by a severe storm off Cape Hatteras, 

 but otherwise was without incident. On the gth we reached St. 

 Thomas, and the next morning arrived at West End, St. Croix, where 

 I landed, and, after a fifteen-mile drive, reached my destination. The 

 Moravian mission stations are Friedensberg at West End, Friedens- 

 feld at Midland, and Friedensthal at Bassin. At the last named sta- 

 tion my people lived and there I made my headquarters. The mis- 

 sion is situated just outside the town limits of Bassin, to the west, and 

 occupies a fine position commanding a magnificent view of the town 

 and harbor as well as the ocean, with the islands of St. Thomas and 

 St. Jan plainly visible forty miles away to the north. The mission 

 house being large, 1 had all the room necessary for my work. 



I confined my attention at first to collecting from the premises 

 and surrounding hills, but soon began excursions to the shore and 

 various points of interest, accompanying my father on his pastoral 

 visits and interesting my young brothers, Frank and Paul, who 

 became my very efficient and enthusiastic helpers and who, after I 

 left the island made a notable collection of their own. The beautiful 

 scenery; the fine roads bordered for miles with stately coconut palms 

 and century plants in full bloom; occasional unexpected glimpses of 

 blue ocean; the steady cool trade-wind; the gorgeous masses of 

 lantanas, caesalpinas, flamboyant trees, and acacias ; the broad 

 expanses of feathery, pearl-gray cane plumes ; and the exotic fra- 

 grance of various flowers made these drives most delightful. 

 Equipped with a simple dissecting microscope of my own make, a 

 copy of Grisebach's "Flora of the British West Indies, 1864," Baron 

 Eggers' "Flora of St. Croix and the Virgin Islands," and a few other 

 books, I identified my specimens, so far as I was able, as fast as col- 

 lected. My small number of driers limited the rapidity of collecting, 

 while the great humidity and saltness of the air at times made the 

 preserving of specimens a trying task. When once dry it became 

 imperative to immediately put away the specimens in tight cases, for 

 in a few hours, if left l^'ing in the sheets, they would absorb moisture 

 from the air and necessitate again drying. Many of the specimens 

 changed color in drying. Ipomoea Nil with blue flowers turned pink, 

 while the flowers of Melochia ioinentosa, L. , which were pink, turned 

 blue when dried. Specimens of BryopJiyllum grew while in press 

 and had to be baked in a hot oven before they could be successfully 

 checked and preserved. The specimens of the Hcmionitis palmata, L. , 

 when gathered, were completely dried up on the scorched rocky hill- 

 side where they grew, but after soaking in water they became quite 

 fresh and were easily pressed. 



East of Bassin the island is for the most part either abandoned 

 or given up to grazing, and many of the roads being little used, travel 

 is difficult. The same is true of the north coast beyond Salt River. 

 The massive ruins of old estate mansions and sugar factories tell an 



