222 



RECREATION. 



public pleasure garden of Kingston, 

 and is kept up with shade and orna- 

 mental trees, flowering plants, tanks 

 and fountains. 



Botanic Garden at Bath is the old 

 botanic garden of the colony, estab- 

 lished in 1774 ; still maintained for 

 the sake of its valuable trees and 

 palms, though much reduced in size. 



King's House gardens and grounds 

 contain about 177 acres, of which 

 about 20 acres are kept up as an 

 ornamental garden attached to the 

 official residence of the Governor. 



Many valuable economic plants and 

 fruit trees are also under cultivation, 

 as well as the rarer tropical palms. 



The Palisadoes Plantation occupies 

 the long narrow strip of land inclos- 

 ing Kingston Harbor, about 5 

 miles long, planted with about 

 23,000 cocoanut palms. This planta 

 tion is now leased. 



After a most enjoyable season of 

 rest and recreation in this delight- 

 ful island, we sailed on one of 

 the Plant line steamers for Tampa, 

 thence by rail home. 



CROSSING THE PLAINS THIRTY YEARS AGO. 



Gen. John Gibbon, U. S. A. 



GIBBON'S CAMP ON THE LITTLE BLUE. 



Gibbon's Camp on the Blue. 



" June 19, i860. 



* A I a he above sketch was made 

 on the spot by our special 

 artist. It represents with 

 great accuracy the position of our 

 tents, ambulances, etc., with a 

 correct likeness of Mrs. G. in 

 the foreground, reposing after the 

 labors of the day in the shade of 

 Mrs. M.'s tent. At first sight she 

 appears to be seated on a chair, the 

 greater part of which is seen behind 

 her, but this is an optical delusion 

 resulting from her hoops (now far 

 below par) concealing the chair on 

 which she is in fact seated, the one 

 seen in the picture being to the right 

 and rear. 



"Yesterday and to-day we made 

 marches of about 18 miles each, 

 passing through the first real 

 prairie we have seen. It was a dead 



level for several miles, and as far as 

 the eye could reach on every side, 

 nothing was to be seen but a green 

 plain in the midst of which marched 

 our train. At the end of the march 

 we again came in sight of the timber 

 of the Little Blue, on the bank of 

 which we pitched our camp, with 

 plenty of wood, water and grass. 

 We hear that four or five miles from 

 our road plenty of buffalo are to be 

 found, but as yet we have seen none 

 and do not expect to see any this 

 side of Kearney. The emigration 

 along this route is so large that all 

 game is scared out of the country. 

 A large ox-train belonging to the 

 contractor is now traveling along 

 the road. Ten or twelve, in some 

 cases fourteen oxen are yoked to 

 each wagon, and we pass them every 

 day on the road. They usually start 

 before us in the morning and camp 

 bevond us in the evening, but their 



