232 NATURAL HISTORY OF HAWAII. 



above the tree tops to serve as a giuirantee that beneath the wealth ot* green 

 lies one of tlie most eosmopolitan and beautifnl cities in the world. 



As one walks or rides abont the streets he observes that so far as the 

 tiora is concerned Honolulu may ])e said to be simply a very good reproduction 

 of the Kew gardens of London, the diiference being that in tropical Hono- 

 lulu the gardens are done on a very large and elaborate scale. In most 

 instances, in l)otli places the plants that one sees are not native to the country 

 but are those that have been brought hither from the very ends of the earth and 

 set growing for the interest, the benefit or the pleasure of those who know how 

 to en.joy them. 



The streets of Honolulu are often narrow and winding, but most of them, 

 even the very broadest, are shaded by various species of trees that reach out 

 from the yards on either hand. Often great trees will be left in the center of the 

 sidewalk and occasionally the street itself is divided by some fine specimen that 

 has been allowed to stand, by an appreciative and public-spirited road overseer. 



Palms. 



Palms are to be seen in great variety and abundance. Of the more than 

 seventy species occurring everywhere about the city all but two or three are 

 foreign to the islands. The most conspicuous and stately among the introduced 

 species is the royal palm.^ It was brought to the islands long ago from its home 

 in the West Indies. Planted singly, in straight avenues or in irregular groves, 

 it is an attractive tree that cannot fail to arrest the eye, since it everywhere 

 gladdens and enriches the landscape. Their lofty, clean, grey trunks are abso- 

 lutely vertical and as symmetrical as though turned in a lathe. No scar of 

 growth or blight of disease mars their marvelous straight Ionic shafts up to the 

 crowning tuft of long, beautiful balanced, pinnate leaves of deep shining 

 green that form fitting capitals for such splendid stately pillars. The slightest 

 stir of breeze sets every leaf waving and singing, and night and day one knows 

 "when the wind is in the palm trees" by the gentle rustle that they make. 



The blossoms are small, sweet-scented, cream-colored flowers that hang in a 

 great pendant cluster from the base of the lowest leaves. Their faint odor is a 

 pleasant one in the soft balmj^ evening, and by day a source of great concern to 

 swarms of busy bees that reap a rich harvest of honey during the few days that 

 the blossoms last. At length the blossoms are followed by the fleshy fruits that 

 are eaten by the mynah birds, and by them the seeds are carried from place to 

 place. 



A Falling Leap. 



I well remember witli what surprise and alarm I first heard a palm leaf 

 fall. It was in the still of the night soon after my arrival in the islands. 

 Scarcely a breath of air was stirring when suddenly I was aroused with a start at 

 hearing, somewhere in the garden, a mighty ripping noise that ended abruptly 



^ Oreodoxa regia. 



