588 GENERAL CONSIDEEATIONS 



of picturesque homes and pretty gardens (Plate LXXXIII, Fig. 3). Every 

 house has its flower garden where the pawpaw, datura, palm, oleander, banana, 

 poinciana and bougainvillea grow and bloom together in careless beauty. As 

 one strolls along the clean white streets, a surprise is in store at every turn; 

 now it is the graceful drooping bells of the datura, a little later the delicate 

 perfume from a hedge of oleanders, in the distance the brilliant crown of a 

 poinciana, and in almost every garden the bougainvillea can be seen in all its 

 glory (Plate I). 



There is probably no cleaner or more wholesome town in the West Indies 

 than Nassau. Its streets, built out of coral rock, are kept scrupulously clean 

 (Plate L'XXXVI, Fig. 1). They are smooth as asphalt, and being white do 

 not absorb heat, a quality which well adapts them to a tropical country. 



For the entertainment of tourists, two large and well-conducted hotels 

 have been erected. One of these, the Eoyal Victoria, an old landmark of 

 Nassau, was purchased by Mr. H. M. Flagler in 1898 and completely reno- 

 vated. In addition to this he built on the water front another hotel, the 

 Colonial (Plate XCI), large enough to accommodate six hundred guests. It is 

 provided with every modern convenience, and forms a part of the vast hotel 

 system which Mr. Flagler has built up along the eastern coast of Florida. There 

 is also another hotel, the Clifton House, neat and well managed, but not so 

 pretentious and less expensive than those just mentioned. 



The former Governor of the Bahamas, Sir Gilbert T. Carter (Plate 

 LXXXI), was an enthusiastic botanist, and devoted much time and atten- 

 tion to the gardens about Government House. Here may be seen brought 

 together in one place, and artistically arranged, many of the most interesting 

 of the native plants and some of the most beautiful exotics (Plate LXXXII). 

 Nassau has none of the attractions which are frequently associated with 

 many winter resorts, such as piers, stores of bric-a-brac, casinos, etc., but it 

 has many attractions in which other resorts are lacking. One of the objects 

 not to be overlooked is the huge silk-cotton tree, Ceiba pentandra (Plate 

 LXXXVIII), which stands immediately behind the PostofiRce. Aside from the 

 striking appearance of this tree, it has an additional interest in that a sketch of 

 it, which now hangs in the Public Library at Nassau, was made over a hundred 

 years ago, in 1802. This drawing shows that the tree at that time had the same 

 figure as to-day, and approximately the same proportions. It is difficult to 



