280 BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 
as I take little interest comparatively in them, from knowing scarcely 
anything about them. They are from the following countries :— 
* 1. Madeira, about 123 species.—There is nothing regarding them 
` worth noting here. 
“2. St. Vincent, Cape de Verd.—‘ Although at this season (J uly, 
1853), at the end of a long-continued drought, and before the periodical 
rains had fairly set in, I did not expect an extensive field for botanical 
research, I was yet unprepared for such a dearth of vegetation. During 
our visit only nineteen indigenous pheenogamous plants were observed 
in flower: of these seven were Grasses. "Three species of Ferns, among 
them Adiantum Capillus-Veneris, and six species of Lichens, were the 
only Cryptogamic plants, omitting Algæ, observed. Formerly „there 
were trees upon the island ; these are now all cut down, but from the 
stumps lateral branches have shot up into tall bushes, covering many 
acres of level ground in the salt marshes and in the shallow valley x 
along the course of the streams. This shrub or tree (Tamarix Gallica, 
L.), the * taruff " of the inhabitants, presents rather a bountiful appear- 
ance, from its spreading branches of pale, green imbricated foliage, and 
long slender racemes of white flowers.’ 
“3. Rio de Janeiro.—While looking after zoology here, I of course 
collected some plants, but I do not suppose that there is a single one 
which is a desideratum in your herbarium. The number of Ferns 
(62 out of 182 or thereabouts) is larger than it would otherwise have 
been, because I was anxious to know the characters of the genera, 
having so good an opportunity; but I feel certain that I must have 
made several mistakes in the naming. However, I am not yet too old to 
learn, and shall probably do better next time I get into a Fern country. 
“4. Tristan d' Acunha.—We were only a few hours on shore here, 
but I managed to get most of the plants, although I was more anxious 
about the few mollusea and birds, besides being interested in the little 
community of eighty-five souls whom we found there. Milne has pro- 
bably got a few plants which did not occur to me, as he had nothing 
else to do. I found Carmichael’s account of the botany of Tristan 
d'Aeunha in Linn. Trans. vol. xii. in the publie library at Cape Town ; 
this enabled me to name most of my plants; there are two or three not 
mentioned in that paper. My notes on the botany are interspersed 
throughout the long account of the visit in my Journal. When you 
next write, I should feel extremely obliged by your mentioning the 
