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10

Sunday at 5.30 PM. We drove around the grounds a bit before starting back to town. Dick called my attention to the aqu[[strikethrough]]a[[/strikethrough]]duct which carries water from Hope River for use in the Gardens. It was first constructed by the Spaniards and has stood the years so well that it was necessary only to top it with a concrete trough to make it quite serviceable. The water stream is about 18 inches

[[photograph - aquaduct near road]] [[caption - Old Spanish aqu[[strikethrough]]a[[/strikethrough]]duct still in use at Hope Gardens.]]

wide and 6 to 8 inches deep. It flows very swiftly and must pass a large quantity of water in 24 hours.
On our way back to town we were caught in the worst storm of the season. The rain came down so hard that the road filled above the curbs in spite of the storm sewers. The rain lasted for just a few minutes and we then took the car to Masterton to have the plugs dried. After dinner we went out with flash light and took a good series of cricket, some Black Widows, a few specimens of an ant (Cryptocerus sp.) which were running up and down the trunk of a Lignum Vitae. The shade trees along Cargill Ave. are mostly Lignum Vitaes and are very beautiful. They flower branch by branch, rather than all over at once; the flowers are about an inch across, pale bluish lavender with orange center, and with not much odor. Lignum Vitae honey  is well spoken of; we did not have any. One of the trees in the side yard was dying and Boydie cut off one of the larger branches so that I could have an 18 in. section to take home.