24 MR. I. H. BURKILL ON 
of change of seasons, except perhaps a touch of prickly heat in 
December. The temperature is very even, ranging practically 
from 70° F. to 90°F. One bitterly cold night we found the 
thermometer had gone down to 63° F. From January to March 
may be considered the rainy season, during which time also the 
advent of hurricanes is dreaded. The annual rainfall is about 150 
inches. My notes contain such entries as the following :—16 in. 
in three days (94 in. on one of the days); 4 in. in a night, 
followed by 6 in. in a day; 4 in. in two hours, &. The rain ig 
by no means confined to this season. I find an entry for July of 
7 in. in two days. A different kind of entry (also for July) 
reads “ no rain for three months.’ In such circumstances every 
drop of water becomes precious, for the island furnishes no fresh- 
water. The natives acquire freshwater by collecting rain in 
holes in the ground, and when their store fails, as it usually does, 
they sponge on the ‘‘ Papalagi.” I had a 500-gallon tank. The 
first night’s rain filled it to overflowing, and it never became dry, 
notwithstanding continual visits of Tongan neighbours with 
buckets. 
The dampness and warmth of the atmosphere produce certain 
inconveniences. A pair of boots left undisturbed soon becomes 
covered with mould ; salt is always wet, and butter is a liquid. 
C. S. CrosBy. 
To the enumeration of the Phanerogams and Vascula 
Cryptogams of Vavau I have added the dispersal of each of the 
species, naming first any of the Tonga Islands whence the plant 
is known, then Fiji and Samoa, if it is found in them, and after 
that the wider distribution. The islands of Futuna and Uea, 
between Fiji and Samoa, are reckoned to Fiji; Easter Island is 
considered as belonging to the Low Archipelago, and the Isle of 
Pines as belonging to New Caledonia. 
The endemic flora of the Pacific is centred in three (or perhaps 
four) nuclei. These are New Caledonia, the Fijian Archipelago, 
the Sandwich Islands, and the fourth, if recognized, Tahiti. The 
influence of the Fijian nucleus extends to Samoa and the Tonga 
Islands, and the area comprising these is here called the Fiji- 
Samoan area. Savage Island also belongs to it. 
Of the flora of Vavau: 
33 phanerogams (11°8 °/,) are confined to the Fiji-Samoan area. 
12 ( 4°3 °/,) occur in it, and only to the east of it. 
55 ” (19°6 °/,) 
67 
bP) 
” ” west 29 
” (23°9 °/,) are restricted to the Pacific. 
