M. SEEMANN’S JOURNAL. 239 
residence of one of the great heroes of the 19th century. The weeping 
willows which formerly shaded the grave have long since perished, and 
their last stumps were carried to France in 1840. The tree standing 
in the Royal Gardens at Kew has therefore as good a claim to be 
considered genuine as those now at St. Helena; for they are all only 
offshoots from the former ones. The little fountain, from which Na- 
poleon used to drink, still pours forth its crystal water. It is over- 
hung by a mass of Brambles (Rudus pinnatus, Willd.) and Birdlayer 
(Buddleia Madagascariensis, Lam.), both of which supplied specimens 
for my herbarium. 
Subsequently I made an excursion to Diana’s Peak, the most ele- 
vated spot in St. Helena, and the only one where the indigenous vege- 
tation still prevails ; yet even there it is fast receding,—like the Indian 
race before the Caucasian,—and in almost every other part has been 
completely superseded by plants introduced from foreign countries. 
The “ Jackson " (meaning Port Jackson) Willow, as the people call the 
Acacia longifolia, Willd., has overspread whole districts, and forms 
regular thickets. I have observed that Acacias always thrive best 
in places that are hard, stony, and much exposed to the sun and 
wind. In a rich alluvial soil, or in moist shady localities, they are 
apt to lose many of their peculiarities. The Acacia spadicigera, Cham. 
et Schlecht., for instance, is in suitable situations a tree of regular and - 
pyramidal growth, and always full of blossom, while on the banks of 
rivers, whither its seeds are occasionally swept by the heavy tropical 
rains, it is an ill-looking, straggling shrub, and hardly ever flowers. 
The Buddleia Madagascariensis, Lam., is abundant, and makes very | 
good hedges, through which cattle cannot break, as its branches, being —— 
decumbent and one over the other, form regular layers like those oa 
bird’s nest; hence its vernacular name, Birdlayer. I quite agree with — 
Mr. Bentham (DC. Prodr. vol. x. P. 447) that this plant is not indi- i: 
genous, but merely a fugitive from some garden. The Furze (Ulex 
Europeus, Linn.), with its golden blossoms, is found almost every- 
to be more robust than in Europe, a change pro- —— 
Where, and appears | 
bably produced by climate. Its young sprouts are considered an excel- 
iven to the cattle as a vermi- 
lent fodder, and are also, when bruised, gi i 
fuge. The Pelargonium inquinans, Ait., Mesembryanthemum edule, Linn., 
Leonotis Leonurus, R. Br., several Phylicas and others have been brought — 
from the Cape, and are now mingled with Mexican Agaves and Opuntias, | 
