FLORA OF THE ISLAND OF HONGKONG. 355 
week or ten days together, ratlicr in sheets than drops ; the swollen torrents rush roaring 
down into the sea, which they often discolour for a quarter of a mile from the shore ; terrific 
thunderstorms reverberate amongst the hills, which are hidden in a dense veil of cloud and 
mist ; and such is the excessive humidity of the atmosphere, that articles of wood or Russia 
leather, or the covers of books, even if washed over with alcohol or a solution of some essen- 
tial oil, become, in the course of a night, covered with a thick blue mould. The rain will 
then cease for a few days; the heavens remain unclouded, though always more or less hazy, 
and lit up in the evenings by almost unintermitting flashes of sheet lightning; not a breath 
\vill agitate the air, tremulous with the heat radiated from the ground ; and the silence is 
alone broken by the unceasing, loud, and monotonous chirping of the Cicadea hidden in 
the grass. At this period vegetation is at its height, and is developed Avith wonderful 
rapidity : a few days suffice to perfect the blossoming of the richest flowers, which again 
fade as quickly; so that to an occasional explorer the face of Nature is singularly protean, 
and impresses liim with a high idea of its luxuriance. About the beginning of September 
the rain becomes much less frequent, though the heat is still. excessive, and, as a natural 
consequence, the Flora assumes a more sober and less attractive habit. This period may be 
considered equivalent to a European autumn. It is now that the island is occasionally 
visited by typhoons, those terrible circular storms which traverse the Indian Ocean and 
China Sea, and, when they meet with the land in their course, unroof houses, tear off and 
carry away doors and Venetians, drive vessels from their anchorages, prostrate trees, blight 
and destroy nearly all vegetation, and cause wreck and devastation wherever they pass. Fi- 
nally, the temperature decreases, the rains cease, and the vegetable world remains dormant, 
seeking repose after its late activity, and recruiting strength for that of the succeeding year: 
winter has again returned, and the cycle of the seasons is completed. 
To a stranger landing, or regardhig the island from the sea, the aspect of Hongkong is 
very unpromising, conveying the idea of almost absolute sterility. The hills are covered by 
a mantle of coarse grass, amidst which rise masses of bare, blackened rocks ; while the mo- 
notonous scene seems only varied by a few bushes, or a solitary tree, studded here and there, 
and by scattered groves of the Pinus Sinensis clothing some of the declivities. As remarked 
by Meyen, there is no doubt that this tree was at one time far more common, and originally 
formed dense woods on the flanks of the hills of all the islands hereabouts i but it is used 
very extensively by the Chinese for burning, and, plantations being seldom or never formed. 
it thus decreases rapidly. On a closer inspection, however, the botanist is gratified by find- 
ing that tlie first impression is very deceptive ; and indeed it is probable that, whether as 
regards the number of species, or the variety of new and interesting forms comprised in its 
Flora, the island is, from its size and geographical position, entitled to a very high rank. 
The littoral Flora consists of Vitex trifolia, the fruit of which resembles Allspice in 
taste, Clerodendron inerme, SccsvoJa Taccada, fyomoea Pes~capra, trailing to an immense dis- 
tance along the sands, and rooting at intervals, Bilivaria ilicifolia, two or three species of 
2 T 3 
