Natural History of Hawaii. 



SECTION FOUR 



THE IXTEODUCED PLAM\S AXD AMMALS OF FOEEST, FIELD AND 



GARDEN. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



A RAIIBLE IN A HONOLULU GARDEN: PART ONE. 



To anyone coming to the islands from the more rigorous climate of the 

 mainland, the verdure to be seen in Honolulu is little short of a dream of para- 

 dise come true. In many ways the city of Honolulu appears as a great tropical 

 botanical park, conducted on a cooperative plan, the advantage being that the 

 residents, as shareholders in the enterprise, have their homes dotted about here 

 and there over the spacious well-kept lawns. The houses, covered as they are 

 with vines and surrounded with luxuriant foliage, add to the jiicturesque beauty 

 of it all, so that more than one person has been heard to exclaim, "This Pacific 

 Paradise is indeed the land of heart's desire." 



First Impressions of Honolulu. 



It is not too much to say that from the morning of the day of one's landing 

 after a weary sea journey to the very hour of their departure, be it in a day, a 

 year, or a life time, the rare tropical trees and plants to be seen on every hand, 

 but especially in Honolulu, furnish a source of never-ending pleasure and delight. 



If one has an interest in plant life, it is a rare treat to be brought face to 

 face for the first time with living example.s of such symbols of the tropics as the 

 breadfruit, the cocoanut palm, or the banana. One is made to feel that no 

 picture has ever done justice to such visions of beauty as they often present in 

 their natural setting, and the observant person is at once alive with interest, 

 anxious to know something of the multitude of interesting and curious trees 

 and plants with which these conspicuously tropical species are often grouped. 

 The visitor is alwaj'S keen for a ramble through any of the attractive gardens 

 that abound on every hand and anxious to know more of the wonderful exotic 

 flora that embowers the thrifty island capital. 



Perhaps the first general observation in this connection is one made from 

 the deck of the steamer as it rounds Diamond Head and reveals Honolulu as a 

 city, not built on a hill, but hidden beneath a canopy of waving green trees that 

 are so large and dense that only the tallest buildings and spires can be seen 



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