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Details of this kind, recounting the struggles of one who set 
out to make the best of things, must be patiently waited for 
until they fall unconsciously, one by one, from the lips of him 
who so modestly tries to hide them 
One instance may be mentioned where an interesting fact was 
revealed to me in this manner. This happened whilst discussing 
with Mr. Jones the merits of a large Bougainvillea, when I 
noticed, hidden beneath the bush, a huge stone measuring about 
6 square feet. This, I was informed, was one of the many 
stones that were found on the ground when the Government 
bought the site, and had been preserved as a relic of those days; 
the others having been blasted out and used in the building of 
the wall that now separates the Garden from the public road, 
running from the Emsall Gate to the Curator’s Gate, a distance 
of several hundred yards. This gave me ample proof of the 
original state of the ground, over which now stretches a beautiful 
lawn and, where the depth of soil has permitted, large trees are 
in a flourishing condition. 
Contrary to what might be expected succulents do remarkably 
well in that Garden considering the heavy rainfall, even in 
this part of Dominica, which averages for the last 28 years over 
78 ins. per annum. Up in the interior the precipitation may be 
A plant of Cereus peruvianus is now 35 ft., and, strange to 
say, withstood the hurricanes of both 1915 and 1916; it gives 
some a a the success attending the cultivation of ‘succulents 
in Dominica. 
The iene of the Garden may be said to be ideal, for it 
stands on a comparatively flat piece of ground distant about 
500 yds. from the sea, and immediately under the precipitous 
Morne Bruce. 
The area of the Garden is approximately 42 acres, exclusive 
of nurseries, and a lime experiment station and other grounds, 
to be referred to later. 
The Morne Bruce cliff, which rises to a height of 300 ft., gives 
to the Garden a wonderfully picturesque setting, and with its 
two spurs projecting at each end into the Garden forms a 
charming amphitheatre of greenery. This half circle takes in 
the whole of the eastern boundary and affords protection from 
prevailing winds. 
During the flowering periods of native and exotic trees which 
have been planted up this slope, the colour effect produced by 
the mixture of these with shrubs and bushes of various shades 
of green, together with palms and bamboos waving to and fro 
in the breeze, presents a picture of rare beauty. It is difficult 
to describe the beauty of this slope. At the time of writing this 
the date-palms, with their greyish-blue* leaves and half ripe 
* Owing to the bloom, — gives to the leaves a decidedly greyish 
blue tint the writer had som culty in recognising the trees after 
having seen date-palms in Rerpt 
