98 
The ground of the waterfall valley had been a quarry and was 
covered with lalang and huge blocks of stone giving it a most hope- 
less appearance and an immense amount of labour was required to 
get it into the semblance of a garden. But Mr. Curtis was a man 
full of energy and skill as a landscape gardener and was not to be 
daunted by difficulties. In a surprisingly short time, the lalang was 
exterminated, the stones removed, the stream bridged in several 
places, plant houses and ponds made, and an extensive collection of 
rare and beautiful plants made. 
Meanwhile, during his excursions in the forests of Penang, the 
Bindings, Perak and Lankawi, he collected specimens for the herba- 
rium, and for the Garden, and the great number of plants associated 
with his name attest to his success in this direction. He possessed 
indeed the greatest skill not only in discovering but in importing 
alive and cultivating plants worthy of the admiration of all lovers 
of nature. A garden for trees was also formed by him at Kubang 
Ulu in Province Wellesley, chiefly for roadside and forest trees for 
planting out in the province, in 1887, and proved very useful for some 
time, but was at length abandoned. 
The experimental nursery towards the top of the Government 
Hill was intended for attempting to acclimatise European fruits, 
olives, apples and peaches ; lemons and many other trees were planted 
there, and the last two mentioned produced good fruit. The olives 
formed large bushy trees but did not fruit. It was found, however, 
that Ithis altitude, rather over 2000 feet, was not high enough for 
European fruits and this little garden was not kept up beyond 1898. 
At the top of the Hill was a small garden where flowers and vegeta- 
bles were cultivated for the use of people occupying the Governor’s 
bungalow. Peas, leeks, kohlrabi, new potatoes, carrots, etc., were 
grown here with great success, although the available space was 
small and all manure had to be carried up by hand. Roses, carna- 
tions and other European flowers were also cultivated here, and 
numbers of Burmese orchids were planted on the trees. 
The waterfall gardens soon became the admiration of all visitors 
to Penang, and Mr. J. H. Veitch, of Messrs. Veitch and Sons, in his 
“ Traveller's Notes," written in 1896, gives an excellent account of 
what he saw in his visit there, a description too long to reprint. Axel 
Preyer, in his Indo-Malayishe Streifzuge, published in 1903, says “Der 
Garten ist zwar nur klein aber gut gehalten und zeigt in seinem Orchi- 
deen und Palmen charakterische formen der Malayischen Flora, Audi 
die Gauze Anlage un Englischen Parkstil gehalten bietet reisvolle 
Bilder” 
The soil of the gardens was poor and sandy, but in spite of such 
difficulties many fine and rare trees and shrubs were successfully 
grown, while the plant houses beautifully kept and stocked with 
indigenous and exotic plants were highly admired. In one spot 
grew probably the biggest Gramm at ophyttum speciosum in cultivation 
