THE stranger in the Hawaiian Islands finds himself in a new world - a land of eternal bloom and verdure - over which, like a benediction, rests an atmosphere of peace. With a temperature that averages 8o°, a soil naturally rich, and frequent, copious showers, plant life, in its most luxuriant varieties, attains the highest perfection.

As none of the eight islands has exactly the same climate as the others, different trees and shrubs are peculiar to each. The island of Hawaii, upon which is situated the famous active crater of Kilauea, is considered the most tropical. Here are raised the celebrated Kona coffee and delicious thin-skinned oranges, and ten of the fourteen miles of the new route to the volcano are through dense groves of pandanus or lauhala trees and magnificent forests of feathery fern-trees. Kauai is known as "The Garden Island ; " and certain small plants, such as the "silver sword," are indigenous to the colossal crater of Haleakala, on the island of Maui.

If one wishes to obtain a bird's-eye view of the fair Hawaiian capital, on the island of Oahu, he has but to climb the rambling slopes of the extinct old crater, Punchbowl, in the rear of the town, and from its summit look down upon the beautiful "summer city by the sea," literally embowered in a wealth of foliage, roofs and church-spires peeping out from a maze of cool, green algarobas (members of the locust family) and various species of palms. It is difficult to credit the assertion that this spot was once entirely unshaded, and was first laid out in trees by the early missionaries. The maneanea, or Bermuda-grass, carpets with emerald turf hillsides, lanes and by-ways, and the lantana, a kind of wild verbena, raised in hot-houses in America, is gradually covering the rocky sides of ancient volcanic peaks.

Guarding the sea-coasts, sentinel fashion, is that exceedingly picturesque tree, the cocoanut, described by Mark Twain, the irrepressible, as "a gigantic feather-duster struck by lightning." Nevertheless it is the prince of palms, and sometimes reaches the height of 120 feet. No tourist should consider his trip complete in detail until he has seen some agile native perform the feat of scaling its long, slim stem to obtain the coconuts. The uses of this tree are many and varied. Its trunk supplies material for the manufacture of boats, furniture, fishing-poles, etc.; from the fiber are woven ropes, mats and fish-nets; the shells are used for cups or bowls, called calabashes, which are often beautifully carved and polished ; the milk of the nut is a refreshing drink, and the young meat may be eaten with a spoon, like custard, or used when riper in different ways in cooking. The leaves are utilized in thatching grass huts, and are also burned for fuel or saved for fodder. Cocoanut oil is also a well-known product of this invaluable tree. Other palms are numerous. The approach to the Queen's Hospital is through a noble avenue of stately date palms, with tempting clusters of luscious fruit.

Majestic, indeed, is the Royal palm, which grows abundantly, there being no less than eighty of its representatives in the private grounds of one of Honolulu's prominent citizens. Fan palms are seen on every side, together with dragon palms, yuccas, Spanish bayonets and palmettos.

Among other trees, useful or ornamental, which grow in greater or less profusion on the different islands, may be mentioned the bread-fruit, with its golden spheres, the alligator pear, the pride of India, the tamarind, the curious banyan, the kukui or candle-nut, the iron-wood, the monkey-pod, the sweet-scented sandal-wood, which is gradually diminishing in the forests, the traveler's-tree, the olive, the paper-mulberry, from the inner bark of which the Kanakas manufacture a parchment-like cloth called tapa, used for mats or clothing; and the kou, koa, and other timber trees, which furnish a handsome wood, much used in the construction of choice furniture.

Large plantations of fine bananas are an ordinary sight in this favored land. Where the American householder places, in pantry or hall-way, a box of red-cheeked Baldwins, the head of the house in Hawaii hangs a cluster of this wax-like fruit. At certain seasons of the year, a generous bunch may be purchased for the trifling sum of 25 cents, and not seldom they are given away entirely. Other native fruits which, to a greater or less extent, may be had for the gathering, are the ohia, or mountain apple; the pomegranate, the artichoke, the pineapple, the guava, the rose-apple, the papaya, the custard apple, the mandarin orange, the ohelo, or huckleberry, the mango, the lime and the lemon. Some fruits of the temperate zone have been cultivated with success; but, as a rule, they do not take kindly to the foreign soil, the peach, for example, being small and slightly bitter. Grapes are raised with sedulous care, but are often stolen before reaching perfection by the nimble-fingered Portuguese.

Sugar-cane, being the staple product of the islands, is abundant everywhere; but on the great sugar plantations one is fairly bewildered at the outlook over the broad acres of rustling, saccharine • stalks, each tipped with a delicate nodding tassel. The fields are very fertile, producing three or even four different crops. Irrigation being necessary for its best development, the cane is grown mostly on plateaus or on the level ground. The puffing smoke-stack of the sugar-mill, in the midst of a large cane-field, suggests an ocean steamer homeward bound over billows of living green.

The face of the open country is cut up into numerous taro patches and rice fields, the water in both cases being confined by solid banks of grass. The taro, of which there are many varieties, much resembles the calla. From its root is made that singular compound, poi, which is the "staff of life" of the native Hawaiian. The young leaves are sometimes cooked like spinach and are very palatable.

The prickly pear cactus abounds on every rocky hillside, and the quaint and beautiful night-blooming cereus well nigh conceals the stone walls inclosing the premises of Oahu college in the suburbs of Honolulu. As we roll leisurely along through quiet, shady streets, on one side we behold jungles of the tali and graceful bamboo, or the dwarf rattan, and on the other the bright scarlet berries of the coffee-tree, or the asparagus-like stalk of the century plant. Truly this is the land of flowers ! The oleanders are one large bouquet, and load the air with their fragrance. The bougain-villia, a hardy vine of a deep crimson, runs riot over fences, houses and palm trees in a mad luxuriance of bloom, and the hibiscus, or celestial rose, with its flame-colored bell and golden tongue, is a prominent feature in many gardens. Wide-spreading passion vines are trained over verandas and carriage drives, as screens from the heat of the tropical sun and the glare of the ocean. Among other flowering plants are the Cape jessamine, the stephanotis, the tuberose, the ginger and the Indian shot, besides our own familiar geraniums, heliotropes and roses, which flourish amicably with their foreign neighbors.

Vegetables are raised by the industrious Chinese, sweet potatoes, yams, lettuce, cabbage, musk and watermelons being cultivated the most extensively. Peanuts and tobacco are also grown, and small, sweet strawberries are obtainable at any time of the year.

Of ferns there are about 150 varieties, the largest being the tree-fern, the bird's-nest fern, the pulu, the scented fern, and the mammoth Australian maiden-hair. They hide in the dark romantic forests; uncurl their fronds on the banks of rapid streams, or in the deep ravines of cloud-capped mountains, or clothe the sides of frowning precipices over which dash sparkling waterfalls. Ferns, flowers, seeds, beans and vines, especially the glossy maile-vine, a species of smilax, are all employed in the construction of "leis," or garlands, worn by native women and men alike on every possible occasion, and which are thrown, by well-wishing friends, over the head of the traveler as he reluctantly bids "aloha" to the verdant isles of Hawaii Nei.

Bertha F. Herrick.

Alameda County, Cal.