IX 



valuable information on many subjects. So fresh and lively are his 

 descriptions, that a short quotation from one of his letters will, no 

 doubt, interest the readers of the ' Phytologist.' Writing from Ja- 

 maica, after leaving Trinidad, his favourite island, he observes : — 

 " The suburbs of the Port of Spain are one continued garden of tro- 

 pical fruits and flowering trees without end. The very streets abound 

 with curious, inconspicuous weeds, of which one longs to know the 

 name and uses. A beautiful mall lies parallel to the harbour, planted 

 with a double row of native and foreign beauties ; and Brunswick 

 Square, higher up iif the town, is a sweet, shaded place, where I used 

 to delight to stroll, after sun-set, in the bright moonhght, watching 

 the fire-flies as they gleamed momentarily amidst the deep gloom of 

 the Bauhinias, Bignonias, and other trees that form the ornament of 

 the place. A walk of three quarters of an hour from the water side 

 will lead you up through any one of the long, regular, and straight 

 streets of the town, across the grand savannah, to the mountain, and 

 into woods filled with a thousand curious things, some of them old 

 acquaintances in our stoves at home, but, oh ! how much more de- 

 veloped in their free and genial native air ! The mind experiences 

 a kind of confusion, almost baneful, at the sight of so many objects 

 crowding upon it at once. All having an equal claim to attention, it 

 knows not on which to fix first, and has no time to examine anything 

 minutely, so impatient is it to examine everything at once." 



In the same letter. Dr. Bromfield writes : — " I have found the 

 inconvenience arising from the want of ready and speedy mode of 

 conveyance a most serious hindrance to the collecting of plants. 

 Unless you sacrifice all other considerations and sight-seeing to that 

 alone, there is no means of making even a tolerable harvest without 

 remaining for some months in each place." Although, however, Dr. 

 Bromfield's collections on this occasion fell short of his wishes, he 

 brought home a considerable number of interesting specimens, as well 

 as seeds, the proceeds of which are still growing in the garden at St. 

 John's near Ryde. 



After his return from the West Indies, he diligently applied himself 

 to the local flora, for the next two years, when he determined to pay 



b 



