1894
Feb. 25
(No 2)
St Christopher (or St. "Kitts")
  By Hubbard's help I learned to distinguish
the Royal (Palmiste), Date, Cocoanut & Fan Palms,
the Rubber Tree (Ficus [blank space]) the same as our
house plant but here 2 ft through at the base
and with a wide -spreading top 50 or 60 ft. high. 
A tree holy hock 30 to 40 ft high, a feathery,
graceful tree allied to the Equisetums but 30 ft
high, a tree lily 20 ft high with a trunk
like a young ash, the sand-box tree whose
bursting seeds are nearly as dangerous as bombs,
the bread fruit, a beautiful tree of large size
thickly hung with fruit and a host of other
vegetable growths that I cannot now recall.
About the fountain were roses, a superb [?]
feather, balsalms (like outs), a beautiful convolvulus
and many other flowering plants, while gardens
bordering the opposite sides of the square were
glowing with color, lantanas, hibiscus, roses and
hosts of brilliant flowers most of which Hubbard
recognized at once but whose names quickly
escaped my memory.
  Late in the afternoon we entered two of the
largest gardens and after having asked permission 
to do so wandered about the neatly kept &
often tiled or paved walks and reveled in
the feast of brilliant coloring and superlatively
graceful ferns. No wonder those who have
been in the tropics long to return. No wonder
the descriptions of the best winters among them
fail to give even the faintest idea of what this
vegetable wonder world is like. It must be sun.
