THE KING COBRA. 
33 
On every hand you may see signs of its re-vivifying 
energy. 
Trees which have long stood bare are dressing them- 
selves in the brightest of green, while others are trimming 
the dark robes of last season with the pink and red of 
a new growth. The colour of the hills is changing and 
growing more beautiful every week. Orchids are bloom- 
ing, and the wild jasmine is covering whole trees with 
the pure glory of its white blossoms. Every morning 
they bloom and fill the air with their fragrance, in the 
evening they fall and whiten the ground. Not so effective 
as the jasmine, but very like it and almost as sweet, is 
the Corrinda blossom, and I know no more dainty bouquet 
than mixed clusters of white Corrinda and scarlet Ixora. 
But the flower of the Corrinda is only a promise, and the 
fulfilment is better. When a bush in full fruit and I 
chance to meet, we seldom part without a long and 
pleasant interview ; for the love of fruit is a thing which 
I have always tried conscientiously to foster in myself. 
I regard it as a vestige of Eden and a token of a palate 
still undepraved by the artificial consolations to which 
Adam turns from the thorns and thistles and the sweat 
of his face. But to be rightly enjoyed, fruit must be 
D 
