188 



TRINIDAD : THKN AND NOW. 



These gardens were first laid out probably by 

 Sir Ralph Woodford, — at least during his time, and 

 placed under the control of Mr. David Lockhart in 

 the beginning of 1820, and are spoken of as being 

 very beautiful and scientifically kept. I recently 

 called upon the oldest representative of the mer- 

 cantile community amongst us, to certify an 

 incident of which I w r as in doubt, and having 

 obtained the desired information he said, " Why 

 don't you write something about the disgraceful way 

 in which our squares and the Botanic Gardens are 

 now being kept. I was in the gardens a few Sun- 

 days back, and I w r as shocked at their appearance. 

 Oh, what will I say w r hen I remember my old friend 

 Davey Lockhart. ' ' I assured him that the article on 

 which I was then engaged was one dealing with this 

 subject, which pleased him very much, and he spent 

 some time in describing their former appearance as 

 compared with now. I told him that an effort was 

 being made to improve them, and he was very much 

 pleased to hear it. That they were well looked 

 after is evidenced by the fact that down to the year 

 1882 they were a credit to the colony. 



I am told, and I believe it to be true, that there 

 are rare plants and trees to be found almost neg- 

 lected tin this, at one time, enchanting spot, described 

 by Kdngsley and others <£ as a joy for ever ; " 

 "a sight once seen never to be forgotten ; 99 " a 

 never ending source of interest and enjoyment.' ' 

 There is a rare plant, the Amherstia, which has never 

 been seen growing wild, and the original plant from 



