CHAP. III. RARE AND BEAUTIFUL TREES. 57 



the flexible joints of the Coolies, so different from the stiff 

 muscular limbs of the Creoles. 



The habitations of the more respectable or wealthy classes 

 in Port Louis, and almost all except those in the central and 

 crowded parts of the tovm, are of stone, coloured white or 

 yellow, and protected from the sun by verandahs or lattice- 

 work. They stand within enclosures, opening by wide and 

 ornamental gateways into the principal streets. These courts 

 are planted with flowers, and shaded by the most rare and 

 beautiful of tropical trees. Amongst these, the most um- 

 brageous are the bread-fruit, the badamia, and the tamarind, 

 with its lofty light-green foliage ; while the most elegant are 

 the bamboo, the cocoa-nut, the date, and other species of 

 palms. Mingled with these and other tall-growing species, are 

 numbers of choice flowering shrubs and trees, including ixoras 

 and the hibiscus, with blossoms of every hue ; the Poinsettia 

 jpulcherrima, with its large, rich, deep crimson bracts, the sang- 

 dragon or Pterocai'piis draco, at times a large tree, presenting 

 one mass of bright yellow bloom. In other parts are seen the 

 Eugenia or jambosa, with its pink myrtle-like blossom ; the 

 Kiglia pinnata, chandelier tree, with its purple bell-shaped 

 flowers, resembling those of the Cobcea scandens ; as well as the 

 Bauhinia, and more than one species of erythrina. But con- 

 spicuous beyond all the rest is the stately and gorgeous 

 Poinciana regia, compact-growing and regular in form, but 

 retaining something of the acacia habit, rising sometimes to 

 the height of forty or fifty feet, and, between the months of 

 December and April, presenting, amidst its delicate pea-green 

 pinnated leaves, one vast pyramid of bunches of bright 

 dazzling scarlet flowers. Seen sometimes over the tops of the 

 houses, and at others in an open space, standing forth in truly 

 regal splendour, this is certainly one of the most magnificent 

 of trees. Its common name is mille fleurs, or flamboyant. 

 The Poinciana and the large beautifully yellow-flowering 



