I laid out a new border to the
approach for the Governor, with the help of four soldiers, and it was
really rather a successful piece of work. I began with a large group
of Kentia and Chamaeropes palms, after which came a patch of bright
yellow crotons, giving place to a thicket of a white-foliaged Mexican
shrub, followed by a mass of crimson and orange crotons and
copper-coloured coleus, which arrangement I repeated. What with
scarlet poinsettias, many-hued hibiscus, and the pretty native orange
pigeon-berry, I got quite an amount of colour into my border.
Pretty as are the gardens of Government House, they have to yield the
palm to those of Admiralty House, which have been carefully tended by
generations of admirals. Bartimaeus in _Unreality_ grows quite
enthusiastic over these gardens, though he does not mention their
three peculiarities. One is a fountain, the only one in the islands.
As there is not one drop of fresh water, this fountain has its own
catchment area, and its own special rain-water tank. My own idea is
that the Admiral reserves its playing for the visits of foreign naval
men, to delude them into the idea that Bermuda has an abundant water
supply. The second unusual feature is a series of large chambers hewn
out of the solid rock, with openings towards the sea.
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