14 BRITISH HONDURAS. 



All these are under excellent management and control, and 

 reflect great credit on the officers in charge. The military 

 quarters and buildings are to the north of the town, where 

 they have the full benefit of the cool sea-breezes. There is a 

 good hotel in the town, with extensive - accommodation of a 

 superior character. 



The houses are mostly surrounded by patches of garden, with 

 some fruit and shade-trees. Owing to the sandy nature of the 

 soil, which is impregnated with salt, and the proximity of water 

 to the surface, gardening in Belize is pursued under very 

 disadvantageous circumstances. Crabs dig up and destroy many 

 plants ; while -rats, attracted by the presence of coco-nuts, are 

 very destructive to bulbs and roots. The Oleander thrives 

 luxuriantly everywhere. The mignonette-tree, or henna-plant 

 (Lawsonia inermis), gives the air a delicious fragrance at night ; 

 while the flamboyante, with its mass.es of scarlet flowers, the 

 allamanda, the temple-flower (Plumeria alba), and numerous 

 ixoras brighten up and cheer what would otherwise be a mere 

 waste of sand and bahama-grass. Many fine specimens of the 

 royal palm of Cuba (Oreodoxa regia) grow in the town gardens, 

 as also Livistonas and thatch-palm (Thrinax). The chief 

 feature, however, in the landscape is the coco-nut palm, which, 

 with its widespreading fronds rattling in the sea-breeze, grows 

 luxuriantly everywhere. 



From its position and surroundings, Belize might naturally be 

 looked upon as a very unhealthy town. Surrounded for the 

 most part by mangrove swamps, with perfectly level country 

 extending for many miles to the interior, and without any 

 system of drainage, except what the sandy soil and the. harbour 

 afford, it would appear to possess all the elements of unhealthi- 

 ness. From actual experience and very careful returns, however, 

 the health of Belize is proved to be exceptionally good; the 



