HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOS SIP. 



83 



westward of Perseverance Point, and nearly op- 

 posite to the settlement of Chatham. As we left 

 the jetty at Ross, the dark nimbus clouds which had 

 obscured the morning began to break and give place 

 to a fairer sky, and ere we had completed half our 

 voyage, the truant sun peeped out upon us, and 

 shed such a magic light around, that the superb 

 land-locked inlet, with its picturesque islands and 

 wooded shores, seemed all aglow with gold and 

 amber, while the white breakers dashing over the 

 coral reefs, and gathering force and grandeur at 

 every fresh breath of the sea-breeze, lent such an 

 additional charm to the rich green forest, still 

 dripping and sparkling with pendent rain-drops, 

 that the scenery attained an almost, ideal beauty, 

 impossible to describe. 



The distance across the bay is rather more than 

 three miles, and it was about eleven o'clock when 

 we landed at Hope Town, on the still unfinished 

 pier, which scarce three months later earned such 

 a melancholy celebrity by the assassination of Lord 

 Mayo. 



After a shoit delay at the village, until the 

 servants arrived with our supplies of food and other 

 impedimenta, we commenced the ascent by a very 

 good bridle-road of thirteen furlongs in length, 

 which climbs easily and pleasantly through a 

 beautiful virgin forest to the commissioner's 

 bungalow upon the summit of the hill, 1,185 feet 

 above the level of high tide. Nothing can be more 

 charming than this pathway, winding, as it does, 

 amidst the profuse and irrepressible vegetation of 

 the tropics, and vocal with the many strange and 

 singular sounds with which creation speaks in these 

 voluptuous latitudes. Noble trees of great height, 

 andremarkable for their hugebuttressed trunks, stand 

 all around like mighty sentinels, and cast grateful 

 shadows from their green canopy of foliage over 

 much of the ascent, tempering the heat and 

 affording shelter to hundreds of gay and often sweet- 

 voiced birds and marvellous insects, which make 

 their home amidst these vast storehouses of nature ; 

 while clinging to the giant stems and round the 

 great spreading arms of the patriarchal trees, are 

 myriads of parasitical and climbing plants, rejoicing 

 and luxuriating in the moist warm climate, which, 

 though almost free from the oppressive sultriness of 

 the calm regions, possesses much of that fervent 

 life-giving humidity so characteristic of the equa- 

 torial zone. 



It is not the least of the attractions of this 

 delightful roadway, that in its immediate vicinity 

 a beautiful brook comes dashing down the mountain- 

 side from a perennial spring near the summit, and 

 after a sparkling and rapid journey, falls into the 

 bay near Hope Town. 



Escaping a drenching shower on the way by the 

 opportune occurrence of a sheltering rock, we 

 reached the summit of the hiU in due course of 



time, and, taking possession of the Commissioner's 

 house, regaled ourselves with cool draughts of 

 magnificent milk, which appeared to be tbe only 

 purchasable article within reach, notwithstanding 

 that a considerable portion of the extensive clearing 

 round the bungalow was devoted to the cultivation 

 of vegetables of different kinds. Other houses, 

 inferior in size and aspect to that which we had 

 temporarily appropriated, combined to form a sort 

 of village in this charming locality, which seemed 

 to rejoice in a most cool and pleasant climate, and 

 afforded us such a view as is rarely seen even in the 

 tropics. The panorama unfolded by our elevation 

 embraced a vast extent of sea and laud, including 

 Rutland Island and Macpherson's Straits, as well as 

 some of the lofty elevations of the North Andaman, 

 which culminate in the Saddle Mountain, visible 

 at sea sixty miles away, and estimated to be 2,400 

 feet in height. Almost below us lay the beautiful 

 harbour of Port Blair, with its various rocky islands, 

 and stretching away to the southward, the forest- 

 fringed lagoons leading to Port Mouat. 



Mr. Ball, Avhose interesting paper on the geology 

 of the vicinity of Port Blair* I have already quoted, 

 states that the principal rock of Mount Harriet 

 is a coarse yellowish-green or grey sandstone, 

 apparently very absorbent of water ; also that close 

 to the top of the hill the sandstone appears in 

 vertical beds, but that on the ascent the rocks are 

 much obscured by humus. 



During the alternations from gloom to sunshine 

 which the moving clouds so frequently created, the 

 effects of light and shade upon the extended land- 

 scape open to our view were exceedingly beautiful, 

 and sometimes so wonderfully rapid and complete as 

 to be almost startling. In a single instant it seemed 

 as if the forest changed from a brilliant combination 

 of vivid greens to a solemn and uniform heavy- 

 looking, almost blue tint, while perhaps, after the 

 lapse of a few seconds, it would suddenly reveal 

 itself again in all its former sunny brightness. The 

 luminous play upon the water under these conditions, 

 though perhaps not quite so striking, was even more 

 lovely still, — now presenting to our gaze a sapphire 

 sea, and anon passing quickly to chrysophraze and 

 emerald, to flash back upon us next moment with 

 an intensity of blue rivalling the deepest azure o^ a 

 southern sky. 



There were scarcely any flowers in bloom, except- 

 ing orchids, which seemed to be chiefly representa- 

 tives of various species of Dendrobium, but they 

 were all out of reach, and I did not procure a single 

 specimen. Many of the trees were unknown to me, 

 but in the forests I recognized a few that I was 

 familiar with; amongst which were Dipterocarpus 

 lavis, Mesua ferrea, and Pterocarpus dalbergioides . 

 There was also a tree with brilliant red decaying 



* J. A. S. B , xxxix. p. 231. 



