Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 82.djvu/24

20 ten days. From Paramaribo it is two or three days to Trinidad, where one can catch the Royal Mail for England.

The route from New York to the Guianas lies to the eastward of the larger West Indian Islands—the Greater Antilles—and passes close to the line of smaller islands, the Lesser Antilles. These are for the most part extremely mountainous, and the larger ones, like Dominica and Martinique, are exceedingly beautiful, and are also said to be most interesting botanically. Dominica, especially, with mountains rising some 5,000 feet above the sea, and evidently presenting great variety of conditions, made one wish that the ship would stop long enough to enable one to explore the luxuriant forest clothing the steep mountains to their summits.

Passing close to Martinique the sinister bulk of Mt. Pelée dominated the view, and the ruins of St. Pierre could be plainly seen—now after ten years largely overgrown by the rank tropical vegetation which is rapidly covering up the evidences of the great catastrophe.

No stop was made until Barbados was reached. This densely populated island is mainly devoted to the cultivation of sugar, and there is very little forest left. Moreover, unlike most of the West Indian islands, the elevations are comparatively slight, and the conditions much more uniform than in the other islands. To a newcomer in the tropics, however, no doubt the many striking cultivated plants will be a novelty. Some of the showiest flowering trees and shrubs, like the gorgeous flamboyant Poinciana regia and the beautiful frangipani (Plumiera), come to special perfection in the gardens of Barbados. Here one sees also the very striking mixture of races found in the West Indies—negroes form a large majority of the population, but there are many East Indian coolies; and a considerable number of Chinese. The white population is insignificant compared with the various colored races.

The next stop was made at Georgetown, the capital of British Guiana, or Demerara. The ship remained all day in port, and there was an opportunity to go on shore and visit the pretty botanical gardens. The town itself is attractively laid out, and the gardens full of luxuriant tropical growths testify to the thoroughly tropical climate. Fine avenues of tall palms are a striking feature of the town. These were apparently mostly the royal palm (Oreodoxa regia), but it is not always easy to distinguish this from the even finer cabbage palm (O. oleracea).

The botanical garden is really an attractive park rather than a scientifically laid out botanical garden. It contains, however, many fine specimens of palms and other tropical plants which will interest the botanist. Perhaps the finest features of the garden are the extensive