74 



W 



F.E.A. and L.S. 



Among the most remarkable of plants peculiar to the Polar and sub- 

 polar regions of the Southern hemisphere, will undoubtedly rank the 

 Bolax glebaria, first discovered by Commerson in Tierra del Fuego ; 

 in Good Success Bay by Banks and Solander^ by Mr. Webster in 

 Staten Land ; by Dr. J. D. Hooker in Hermite Island ; and by Per- 

 netty, Gaudichaud, and D'Urville in the Falklands, where it is fa- 

 miliarly known to the English settlers under the name of " Balsam- 

 bog/' but is called " Gommier" by the French voyagers. It is also 

 in great perfection in Patagonia, and even on the Andes of Peru and 

 Bolivia, according to Dr. Weddell. In 1764, when the French formed 

 an establishment on the Falkland Isles, the Abbe Pemetty, 'the histo- 

 rian of the voyage, speaks thus of the face of the country on the first 

 landing :— " Deceived by distance, we had expected to find a perfectly 

 dry and barren country ; but no sooner had we set foot on terra frma, 

 than we saw everywhere a tufted herb, a foot or a foot and a half and 

 more high, growing even upon the loftier hills, which we had great 

 difficulty in ascending, from the obstacle which this plant opposed to 

 our progress. Our fatigue was excessive. There were no tracks among 

 this herb, which appears to have vegetated there since the foundation 

 of the world. We broke into the decaying masses formed by it, up to 

 our knees ; and the soil beneath, nearly black, was but the vegetable 

 detritus of the decayed shoots of successive years, which felt elastic 

 under the feet in consequence of the interwoven roots. . . . Luckily 

 we had provided ourselves with small sealed bottles of brandy and a 

 few ship-biscuits, which proved of great use in supporting our strength 

 under the heat and fatigue which we endured." 



Pernetty, a few days after, speaks of the resinous qualities of this 

 herb ; and its abundance upon a little island, which they afterwards 

 named lie BrMee, because the Commander of the expedition M. de 

 BougainviUe, ordered fire to be set to these plants, " pour rendre plus 

 facie le defnchement des terres," notwithstanding the remonstrances 

 ot M Pernetty, who represented that « tout le pays etant convert de 

 ioin le feu gagneroit de proche en proche, peut-etre meme toute la 

 surface de la TeaTe-ferme, s'il n'etoit pas arretd par quelques rivieres ; 

 que d aiUeurs ce feu detruiroit tout le gibier." The fire was repeated 



