FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
IOI 
oranges served to us that were green, < nd 
yet sweet and ripe. 
They raise very few oranges other than 
the loose-skinned kind. After leaving 
Java, until we got away up into India, 
we saw no round oranges. 
Their world-famous botanical garden is 
at a place called Buitenzorg, which is 
some forty or fifty miles in the interior, 
and here is also the governor’s residence. 
It is worth a trip to Java just to see that 
botanical garden at Buitenzorg. In palms, 
ferns, exotics and ornamentals it is per¬ 
haps the richest of any garden in the 
world. 
From Java our next run was to Singa¬ 
pore. Singapore is another one of those 
British possessions that has grown up in 
the Orient, and it also has one of the 
finest botanical gardens—especially fine in 
landscape effects. Singapore is at the 
southern end of the Malay peninsula and 
is north of the equator about a hun¬ 
dred miles. Vegetable life of all kinds 
is abundant and tropical, as is also animal 
life. It was nothing unusual to see whole 
colonies of wild monkeys leaping around 
in the parks and forests. Gambir, ginger, 
pepper and tapioca are grown in abund¬ 
ance. The climate is hot and unchange¬ 
able, but not oppressive. 
The climate of the oriental tropics, 
speaking generally, is not at all uncom¬ 
fortable. During the months of May and 
June we cruised all around in the South 
China Sea, the Java Sea, the Malay 
Straits, the Bay of Bengal, and the In¬ 
dian Ocean, crossing the Equator twice, 
and in all that time the thermometer in 
mv stateroom never was above 86 or 
below 80 degrees. On shore, particular¬ 
ly in Central India, it was hot, going up 
to 106 and 107 in the shade, but at sea 
the trade winds, called monsoons, are re¬ 
freshing and make it always pleasant. 
From Singapore we visited Jahore 
and saw some wonderful specimens of 
palms; also King oranges. From there 
our next run was to Rangoon, in Burma, 
up a branch of the Irrawaddy river, “on 
the road to Mandelay.” We spent quite 
a time there enjoying the beauties of 
the Shwedagon Temple which, with 
other things in the way of buildings and 
art, occupied our time. Cotton, indigo and 
the mango flourish here. 
Our next run was across the Bay of 
Bengal to Calcutta, India. Oh, India! 
India! Who can describe it? It is a 
dream and a nightmare; a delight and 
a horror! It is indescribable. It would 
require the language of the most eloquent 
man that ever lived to tell its glories and 
its terrors. 
We had an opportunity of visiting the 
large botanical garden here and seeing 
the large banyan tree, which is said to be 
one thousand feet in circumference and 
the largest in the world. It must cover 
three or four acres. We also saw the 
most wonderful lot of royal palms it is 
possible to conceive of. The palms of 
Cuba are insignificant compared with the 
royal palms in this garden at Calcutta. 
From Calcutta we sailed forth into the 
Indian ocean to the south, and one morn¬ 
ing, early, the bugle broke out with a 
strain of the missionary hymn. Upon 
rushing out to see what the racket was 
about, we saw in all its glory the place 
“where every prospect pleases, and only 
man is vile.” I think the good old bishop 
who wrote the words to that hymn must 
have been a little soured on humanity, 
