204 
At St. Lucia, with only a very brief period of daylight, we 
were able only to visit the Botanical Station, under the guidance 
of a very courteous resident of that island, Mr. Arnott, and Mr. 
R. C. Mallet, whose kind offer to escort me to the Agricultural 
School, and a large sugar estate, I was unable to accept for lack 
of time. We returned to Roseau on August 21, and the fol- 
lowing day I went, on Mr. James C. Macintyre’s invitation, to 
Batalie, an estate twelve miles north of Roseau on the leeward. 
Batalie lies adjacent to the Grand Savannah, where, on account 
of a light rainfall * and shallow soil, grassy desert conditions pre- 
vail. The vegetation, in addition to the wiry grasses, and other 
low herbs, consists of scattered small trees, including a species of 
the Mimosoideae with delicately fragrant, pink flowers which 
scent the air. Cacti are also to be found 
I was met at Batalie by Mr. T. H. Shillingford of Colihaut, 
where I was entertained at his residence. With his help I found 
suitable guides to help me in carrying out an ascent of Mt. Dia- 
blotin, for which peak I started on the following day, the 24th, 
leaving Colihaut by canoe at 5 a. m., and reaching, from Du 
Blanc, a convenient point at the foot of the mountain in the 
afternoon, Here we made “‘ajupa’’—that is, built a lean-to of 
saplings. The natives make such an affair quickly with no other 
tool than a cutlass. They bind the parts together with lianas, 
floor it with saplings laid side by side, and wall, roof and carpet 
it with palm leaves. One realizes the richness of the tropical 
forest when he sees the generosity with which palms are cut down 
and used thus; and even more so, when one sees a 60-foot cab- 
bage palm felled, and the terminal bud cut out to be sold at a 
market ten miles away, whence it must be ‘‘ headed,” + for the 
paltry sum of eight cents (fourpence, English). This circum- 
stance casts a side light as well upon economic conditions in 
Dominica. 
The following day, in a pouring rain, we started for the sum- 
* The precipitation at Batalie has varied, during the years from 1890 to 1902, 
from 80.05 inches to 35. 78 inches epee the average for 12 years being 59.51, 
the lowest for any part - Domini 
ft Carried on the hea 
