90 Proceedings. 



the view, for as we descend it is the detail which becomes 

 " enchanting." Every step is a marvel of delight to the 

 lover of flowers, and especially of flowering shrubs. There 

 are so many new friends, and many old ones dressed up so 

 brightly we hardly know them ! Amongst the former are 

 the Scarlet Hibiscus, with its brilliant blossoms, the glorious 

 Bougainvillea, with its different shades of mauve and crim- 

 son, the purple Wigandia, which was entirely new to me ; 

 yellow Mimosa, or Acacia ; here and there an Orange tree 

 laden with fruit, here and there a tall Palm ; then there are 

 Oleander, Red Geraniums, and Poinsettias, apparently wild 

 along the roadsides, Roses in clusters, and Honeysuckle 

 hanging from the trees, and Plumbago fi-om the house-roofs; 

 Heliotrope, Abratalon, in masses in the gardens ; fields of 

 pale green Bananas, brighter green Maize, Tobacco, and 

 Sugar-cane. I do not know whether anybody here has ever 

 visited Oratava ; if they have, they will be able to recall the 

 beauty of it all ; if not, well, perhaps they will be wishing 

 themselves there ! 



The little town of Oratava lies close to the sea, and behind 

 it the ground rises gradually for five or six miles till it 

 reaches the mighty barrier of rock 7000 to 9000 feet high— a 

 few Pines in the ravines, but mostly bare and seamed and scar- 

 red — which shuts it out on that side, like a circling arm, from 

 all the world beside. From behind this rises up the peak, — a 

 snow-covered cone in the coldest part of the year, but parting 

 with its mantle in the full summer ; the limit of perpetual snow 

 in this latitude being 12,500 feet. But it is by no means a con- 

 stant sight ; not Snowdon itself is more frequently enveloped 

 in cloud. They who would see it at its best must be on the 

 alert at four, five, or six o'clock according to the season. 

 From the housetop of our hotel, which was my almost daily 

 resort from 4.30 to 5, with the soft balmy air, the vivid 

 colouring of earth and sea, the green valley in shadow, and 

 then the rising sun catching first the peak and then point 

 after point of the other mountains ; from that housetop I 

 have carried away some of the sweetest impressions of my 

 life. The sun at setting too is striking to the northern eyes; 



