VEGETATION OF TROPICAL WESTERN AFRICA. 21 
bays about these islands will be struck with the exquisite beauty 
of the waters and the various forms which can be seen beneath them. 
At 50 or 60 feet, the eye penetrates with ease: the bottom is 
rocky and very irregular; the boat at one moment glides over 
masses of coral-bound rock many feet below, but on which many 
beautiful sponges and corallines can be seen; the rest reveals 
nothing but a cavernous depth of blue water, unless a shoal of 
those beautiful fish of the tropics dart across. The rocks and 
everything that is exposed to the alternate action of the tides are 
covered with the small Mangrove Oyster; below it, seldom 
exposed, grows a pretty crimson Coral, with it a large Flustra. 
Gorgeous Actinie, with the common Echinus and Starfish of more 
northern climes, abound in all the little salt pools, on these rocks. 
The. sponges are very large; but few are sufficiently soft to be fit 
for use. The waters are almost destitute of Alge; I gathered 
but one species of Fucacee, and that not attached; a small plant 
of confervoid growth alone represents the family. 
The vegetation of Prince's Island, from its proximity to Fer- 
nando Po, cannot, of course, be essentially different. At present 
I have seen so little of either island, that scarcely anything like a 
comparison can be ventured on. At Prince's Island I was at 
once struck with the abundance of Begonias ; at Fernando Po only 
one species (and that with yellow flowers, and therefore a question- 
able Begonia) was seen. Some 10 or 12 species occur in Prince's 
Island: I gathered several; but being very juicy plants, I lost all 
but three in drying. I fancy three of those gathered to be iden- 
tical with B. nitida, B. ulmifolia, and B. Fischeri. Most of the 
others were large-leaved succulent species, all having rose-coloured 
flowers; they grow on trees for the most part, a semiepiphytical 
life sustained in the black soil which collects on old trees of the 
forest. We found here an Eleis, which I fancy is distinct from 
E. Guineensis ; the great size of some nuts which were brought 
alongside the ship for sale first drew my attention to it. These 
nuts were three times the size of E. Guineensis; the trees also 
present a different aspect, resembling more the cocoa-nut. The 
pinne in J£. Guineensis stand out irregularly, some pendulous, 
others erect; in this variety they are somewhat pendulous, but all 
regular and on one plane, as in the Cocoa-nut : the tree is not abun- 
dant, but grows scattered along the shore. The Baobab, not seen 
at Fernando Po, grows pretty common at Prince's Island, also the 
* Opakala"' (a large Artocarpean), or “ Oqua" of the Eboe; the 
latter I secured in flower for the first time. Little marshy ground 
