is not necessary to organize an excursion in
order to reach them, as is the case with many similar resorts elsewhere,
such as Sydenham in London, Central Park in New York, or the Bois de
Boulogne, Paris. Here semi-arctic and semi-tropical plants and trees
were found growing together, and all parts of the globe seemed to be
liberally represented. The hardy Scotch fir and the delicate palm of
the tropics jostle each other; the india-rubber tree and the laurel are
close friends; the California pine and the Florida orange thrive side by
side; so with the silver fern-tree of New Zealand and the guava of Cuba.
China, Japan, India, Africa, Egypt, and South America, all have
furnished representative trees and shrubs for these comprehensive
gardens, and here they have become acclimatized. A thrifty cluster of
the Indian bamboo, that king of the grasses, was seen here forty feet
high, close by a specimen of the native Australian musk-tree, which
attains a height of nearly twenty feet and exhales from leaf and bark a
peculiarly sweet odor, though not at all like what its name would seem
to indicate; it has broad, laurel-like leaves and bears a pale yellow
blossom. There was pointed out to us a sheoak-tree, which it is said
emits a curious wailing sound during the quietest state of the
atmosphere, when there is not a breath of wind to move the branches or
the leaves. This tree is almost universally found growing near the sea,
and is said to have borrowed the murmur of the conch-shell. No
reasonable cause is assigned for its mournful song, which has proved to
be the inspiring theme of many a local poet.

Near the very centre of the gardens three Norfolk Island pines attracted
particular attention because of their remarkable development. The head
gardener told us that they were planted here about 1820, and they are
certainly the noblest examples of their kind we have seen. The oldest
one, perfect in form and foliage, is ninety-five feet high, and three
feet from the ground measures fourteen feet nine inches in
circumference; the other two are even taller, but measure one foot less
in circumference. The density of foliage, uniformity of shape, and
general perfection of these beautiful pines exceed anything of the kind
to be found elsewhere.

In walking to the Garden by the way of Bridge Street, there was
observed, just opposite the buildings containing the Educational Bureau,
a dual tree of great size and beauty. The effect was that