ON THE BOTANY OF TIMOE-IAITT. 371 



I been able to find any sedimentary rocks. In the interior of 

 Tamdena the coral lies a few inches below the surface, being 

 covered only by a very thin layer of dark mould. There are 

 absolutely no traces of sedimentary strata, with the exception of 

 one small nodule of a fine calcareous limestone. Along the shore 

 low coral-cliffs alternate with sandy baylets (the sand is almost 

 entirely of fine particles of coral and minute shells and broken 

 fragments of Echini &c), which are studded also with worn coral 

 boulders." 



Mr, Forbes also furnished to the Committee of the British 



Association the following account of the general characters of 



the vegetation of the group as far as he was able to examine it : — 



' Of plants my collection is not so large as could be desired, 



owing to my inability to obtain any one willing to assist in 



felling or to climb trees, as I have always been able to do in 



Sumatra. The season was also unfavourable, it being during our 



stay the height of the dry season ; besides I had the misfortune 



to have my drying-house, with 300 to 500 specimens, burnt to the 



ground, a conflagration which almost involved my house and 



endangered the village also. The forest is not very tall, few 



trees reaching even 80 feet, and has little undergrowth; but 



there is a thick sward of Commelyna. On the coral-rocks by the 



seashore several species of orchids grow, of which I have obtained 



living specimens. On trees at Cape Watoe Sianga, in Larat, 



where it faces the wind entering from the southern sea, I found 



a handsome and, I imagine, a new species of orchid ; but I have 



been able only to see half-shrivelled flowers. At few other places 



have I seen any orchids ; none on the mainland. Ebony, from 



the accounts of the natives (who make much use of it in their 



Carved work), is found in considerable abundance. A very few 



species of ferns and two species of Lycopodiaceae were found. A 



great species of Sterculia with dark lake flowers, which appear 



before the leaves, is one of the most conspicuous objects in the 



vegetation. Dammar trees occur; but the natives collect only 



to make lamps for themselves. The largest trees are figs of the 



genera Urostigma and Ficus ; but, though abundant, they are few 



in species. Artocarpus incisifolia (but not the true bread-fruit 



tree) is abundant ; but no Artocarpus integrifolia was met with. 



Leguminosa) and Myrtacese occur in considerable numbers, also 



low Composite and shrubby Apocynacese. Mingling in the belt 



of BMzophora where it is somewhat rocky, grows a species of 



2 1)2 



