COFFEE AND ORANGES 51 



stopped by a tree which had fallen across the creek, just above 

 the surface of the water. With some trouble and difficulty the 

 canoes were each hoisted over the obstruction, the luggage 

 being shifted from one to another. Some friends who came up 

 about five months afterwards told me that the tree was still 

 there. Probably it had caused a stoppage hundreds of times, 

 yet no one dreamed of taking the little extra trouble necessary 

 to remove it altogether from the passage. It was just the same 

 in the forest : when a tree fell across the path, there it lay for 

 months until it rotted away. Palanquins had to be hoisted 

 over it, or with difficulty pushed beneath it, but it was never 

 removed until nature helped in the work. It was no one's 

 business to cut it up, or to take it out of the way ; there were 

 no " turnpike trusts," and the native government never gave 

 themselves any concern about the matter. 



We were glad to land at Maromby at ten o'clock, for rain 

 came on, and before we were well housed it poured down heavily 

 for some time. Here we got as dessert, after breakfast, a 

 quantity of wild raspberries, which, while not equal in flavour 

 to the English kind, are very sweet and refreshing. Close to 

 the house where we stayed for our meal was a coffee plantation ; 

 the shrubs grow to a height of seven or eight feet, and have dark 

 glossy leaves, with a handsome white flower. The small 

 scarlet fruit, in which the seed what we term the " berry " is 

 enclosed, contains a sweetish juice. The coffee plant thrives 

 in most parts of the island, and its produce probably will 

 become an important part of its exports. 



Near the house were also a number of orange-trees, and here 

 I had the gratification of seeing an orange grove with the trees 

 laden with thousands of the golden-hued fruit. We were 

 allowed to take as many as we liked, and as the day was hot and 

 sultry we were not slow to avail ourselves of the permission. 

 Perhaps there are few more beautiful sights than an orange 

 grove when the fruit is ripe on the trees. The " golden apples " 

 of the Hesperides must surely have been the produce of an 

 orange plantation. 



The rain ceased after a time, but we did not get off until past 

 two o'clock, for our men became rather obstinate, and evidently 

 wanted to stay at Maromby for the rest of the day. This we 

 were not at all disposed to allow. At last we started, and in a 



