AN EARTHQUAKE 85 



better. Counting the wild ones with the tame, I 

 have 95 varieties. There are nine kinds of 

 Adiantums, from the dwarf Victoria to the large- 

 leaved Magnifica, Lastreas, Aspleniums, Blechnum, 

 Polypodium, Pteris cretica, and the lovely silver and 

 gold ferns. Intermixed with them are four kinds 

 of Selaginella which I used to treat respectfully at 

 home. Here I sometimes have to throw away 

 bushels, when it has become too thick. They all 

 grow and flourish here out in the open, during the 

 rains and the cold weather, but look rather seedy 

 in the hot. I made this long double bank, in 

 tiers, with the blocks of old concrete roofing that 

 had to be taken down off one part of the house 

 during the repairs after the earthquake a few 

 years ago. 



That was an experience that one does not easily 

 forget. On the very first day of the rains it 

 occurred. It had rained all day, just ceasing 

 about four o'clock, and as usual I at once wanted 

 to garden ; the soft earth looking too enticing not 

 to plant something in it, when one knows at what 

 a rate things will now grow. 



"Poonia," I said, trowel in hand, "fetch me 



