ST. HELENA 165 



in wild profusion. On high ground to the right of Oakbank 

 is Lufkins Towers, lately rebuilt by Government, the resi- 

 dence now of Surgeon-Colonel Mosse, while more in the fore- 

 ground is St. Paul's Villa, a compact little house owned by 

 Mrs. Lloyd Roe. 



During the residence of the prisoners of war there were 

 amongst them, as I have before stated, many excellent 

 workmen. One, a builder (Mr. Otto Schemer), undertook to 

 erect for me a nine-roomed bungalow. With a staff of com- 

 petent workmen he had completed this work when the news 

 for their relief from captivity arrived. This bungalow, 

 " Kingshurst," is, I think, with the exception of one built for 

 Mr. Deason at Longwood, the only house erected during the 

 time of their imprisonment, although nearly all the country 

 houses have been repaired or enlarged by the addition of 

 verandahs. On the summit stands St. Paul's Church 

 (the Cathedral) of the island, surrounded by a spacious 

 cemetery, and close by, on the finest property in the island, 

 stands Government or Plantation House, the residence 

 of the Governor of St. Helena. It is well built and com- 

 modious, containing about forty rooms, but it would 

 be wonderfully improved by the addition of balcony and 

 verandah. 



It was erected in 1791, and stands in about 176 acres of 

 picturesque and fertile park land studded with oaks, 

 Norfolk and Chilian pines, Scotch firs, cedars, etc. ; in fact, 

 trees from cold, from temperate, and from tropical climes 

 abound, and it is situated about three and a half miles from 

 Jamestown at an elevation above the sea of 1,791 feet. 

 The grounds contain a fund of amusement and recreation 

 for the botanist. Here, in one of the valleys near some 

 large clumps of Indian bamboos, the Chinese had their 

 settlement and Joss-house, from which were taken the in- 

 teresting tiles, etc., now in the museum, and the old laundry 

 used by them has only lately been demolished. The view 

 from the plantation is very extensive and beautiful ; and 

 the walks are delightfully cool and shady even during 

 the tropical summer. 



Following the main road from Plantation we get into the 

 centre of the island near the heights of " Diana," " Cuckold," 

 and " Acteon." But a road skirts Plantation House and 



