1894
March 1
(No 2)
Martinique
pitching down in a short fall of about 60 ft.
Under or behind this fall but here above are the rocks bare.
Everywhere else although the sides of the diverging mountain
sides which wall in the valley are nearly or quite
vertical they are so densely and uniformly covered
with luxuriant tropical vegetation that they are
simply hanging curtains of swaying, drooping
interwoven vines, plants & palms among which glow
single or clustering flowers of incredible size and
brilliancy. All this cliff growth is, or course, perfectly
wild and spontaneous for the gardeners have quite
enough to do in caring for the innumerable exotics
which line the paths and cover the more level
areas of the garden. There is a pretty little pond
with bamboos, huge liliacious plants and a profusion
of semi-aquatic vegetation which was mostly all new
to me. I saw to-day, for the first time, the
bois immortelle, the wild plantain and a leafless
tree of large size simply aflame with large flowers
of glowing scarlet. A vine which climbed over the
trees to their very tops bore masses yards in length
& width of magenta flowers.
  Every moment almost my eye would be arrested
by some flower or leaf of new and brilliant
coloring or extraordinary shape. Yet I no doubt passed
without noticing hundreds of leaves and flowers quite
as interesting & strange. It was such a feast of
beauty of color, of grace of form, of wild untrammelled
tropical luxuriance mingled with carefully [delete] cultiv [/delete] selected
& grouped exotic forms that my eyes swam and my
brain reeled. I gazed at times in a state bordering on