In the centre of this, the northern extremity of the Nave, rises one of the finest specimens to be met with in this country of the noble _Sabal Palmetto_. This tree represents the extensive group of Palms, having palmate or fan-shaped leaves. A curious fibre hangs in graceful ringlets from the foliage. On the right hand of this splendid tree, we commence our return down the garden side of the Nave with Border No. 10. In the corner stands a large group of Bamboos. This species attains a much greater size than its cogener on the other side: in its native wilds the stems often exceed the height of 100 feet, the growth of a single season. The stems seldom grow higher after the first year, but become densely clothed with delicate leafy branches. This may almost be called the domestic Bamboo, as it furnishes material for an almost infinite variety of domestic articles. In this Border are two other large varieties of Palm. The first _Corypha sylvestris_, from New Holland, is, like the _Sabal Palmetto_, a Fan-Palm. The _Coryphæ_ are so called from _Koryphe_, the summit, as the leaves branch only from the top of the trunk, making a very stately and beautiful form. This tree surmounts a group of root-work, upon which are planted rare Orchids, Ferns, and a variety of other beautiful exotics. The large Borders on this side of the Tropical Department are mostly made in this picturesque manner. If we now pass on we find close to the column a large Coffee-tree, from Yemen, which in the autumn bears its interesting berries. Close to this is a lofty Screw Pine (_Pandanus odoratissimus_) from the East Indies. The flowers of this tree are so deliciously fragrant that in Egypt and Arabia it is often cultivated for their sake; the fruit somewhat resembles the pine-apple, but is not so good. In the South Sea Islands, where this species grows in great plenty, the natives convert its leaves and products into a variety of uses and ornaments. It has received its name from the screw-like arrangement of its foliage, and not from the appearance of the trunk. It will be noticed that the roots are partially above ground, and constitute a kind of support which strengthens according to the peculiarities of position in which the tree grows. The roots from some of the _Pandani_ descend thus, like tightly strained cords, from a height of 12 or 15 feet. The great Palm-tree in the centre of this bed is upwards of 40 feet high. It is from the Isle of Bourbon (_Latania Borbonica_), and once formed part of the renowned collection at Fontainebleau of the Empress Josephine. We are now standing under the luxuriant branches of the _Ficus Roxburgii_, a curious Fig-tree which bears its fine fruit on the stem close to the ground. Further back, on the left of the great Palm, is a Mahogany-tree from Honduras, and a fine fruit-bearing specimen, 14 feet high, of the delicious Guava. But it is impossible here to particularise the rich contents of these Borders; as