138 
district, were all clothed with forests down to the sea. Mr. Jules Du Boulay 
kindly assisted me to hire a horse and accompanied me to the Soufriere. 
Afterwards we visited some cacao cultivation. Mr. Dix, the Resident 
Magistrate, was at Castries, and I therefore lost the opportunity of 
meeting him. A good deal of cacao, fruit, spices, and ground provisions 
is being grown here by peasant proprietors. The soil in some localities is 
very rich and yields large crops. г. Dix is himself a very intelligent 
and successful planter, and his example is very beneficial in regard to 
М. development of small Pg ms n in the district. After parting with 
Du Boulay I rode the direction of Choiseul through small 
elits in the hilly paid of the island. The majestic peaks of the 
Pitons he almost everywhere in view, forming well defined landmarks 
tothe westward. One of my objeets in traversing this district was to 
meet Mr. * ene Meynier, whose had been mentioned to me as 
one of the most nueces cultivators in this part of the island. Mr. 
Meynier was at hom he received me very kindly. He was the first 
to export vegetable а seeds ( Hibiscus Abelmoschus) from St. Lucia. 
He received about 107. per bag for it, but the value now is considerably 
Meynier was able to show some excellent black pepper plants in fruit, 
pine-apples, very heavy bearing orange trees (St. Michael and Tangerine), 
tae and Ня vegetables. few score industrious and intelli- 
nt men like eynier would be a great boon to St. Lucia, where 
Вані! НОВ» in regard to the cultivation of plants are cr 
unknown. Mr. Meynier some time ago was very successful in grow 
and curing tobacco. At the suggestion of Sir William rasis thes 
Governor of the Windward Islands, smali grants in aid were offered, 
and the industry made progress in various parts of the island. The 
ants were, however, withdrawn өүү x esL was established, 
and since 1884 nothing has been done in If a Cuban tobaeco-grower 
could be induced to settle at St. Lucia kal teach the people how to cure 
their tobacco, there is every hope that the industry would become perma- 
wis There are excellent soils in St. Lucia, and the climate, especially 
in the southern M would appear to be well suited to produce 
tobaeco of good q: 
I regained tHe oti road near Mr. rg ha age estate. After 
slight rest here I started for the village of Laborie, and ultimately 
reached Vieux Fort about 6 o'clock. The sloop “ Langeliere” arrived 
about 11 o’clock, and at midnight I embarked for St. Vince 
A copy of the following report on the St. Lucia Botanical Station, 
dated 22nd December 1890, was presented to the Administrator :— 
The Botanical station at St. Lucia ers been established on land 
reclaimed to the north-east of the town of Castries. It will consist 
eventually of five and a half acres, but d present only about pen Acres 
are in a sufficiently complete state for being planted out. It is distant 
about half a mile from the landing place at Castries, and easily accessible 
to the inhabitants. 
As the site of the station consisted of a swamp, considerable time has 
been occupied in filling it up and laying out the land. Apart from the 
advantages likely to be derived from the Garden itself, HT praras 
of a dangerous swamp in close proximity to the town of Cas 
public benefit. There is a further small portion of sw imp о a tha 
