﻿Aruba, Curasao, and Bonaire. 291 



different kinds abound, many of them introduced. The date- 

 palm and the tamarind have been introduced and grow splen- 

 didly ; the cocoanut-palm grows wherever it is planted. The 

 bitter orange is grown in several large gardens to supply 

 the valuable peel with which the famous Curacao-liqueur is 

 made. A great part of the islands is planted with the 

 dividivi-tree {Libidibi coriacea), the husks of which are 

 largely exported. The most characteristic features of the 

 landscape, however, are the gigantic species of Cereus, Opuntia, 

 and Melocactus, and the large fields of Aloe. The largest 

 tree I saw on the islands was an old and fine Eriodendron, 

 at the foot of Mt. Christoffel, not far from Savonet. On 

 all the islands the RMzophora grows here and there on the 

 coast, and in many places over a great extent. 



As I have stated above, the accounts of the extraordinary 

 dryness of these islands are exaggerated. The year 1892 

 was, it is true, an unusually wet one, and 1885, the year in 

 which Professor Martin visited the islands, was perhaps one 

 of the driest of the century. Having read the description 

 of Martin and that of Herr Peters (J. f. O. 1892, p. 105) 

 in manuscript, I did not expect to find much vegetation. 

 Great, therefore, were my joy and astonishment when on 

 the 3rd of June, at daybreak, I saw the picturesque rocks of 

 Curacao before me, sparsely but thoroughly covered with the 

 freshest green. 



That day I could not leave the steamer for hours, and the 

 shops of Willemstad were not opened before 11 o'clock, on 

 account of the pouring rain — and rain troubled me more 

 than once after this on these "rainless " islands. The vesre- 

 tation, therefore, was rather rich during my stay, and many 

 lovely flowers were seen, especially on the slopes of the 

 Christoffel, where I found three species of orchids. These 

 plants, of course, must be indigenous, and trees of several 

 metres in girth and of considerable height cannot grow up 

 and disappear at short intervals. 



Fresh water is very scarce and valuable at times, and 

 there are only one or two places on each island with natural 

 springs ; but there are beds of rivulets on the slopes of the 



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