REPORT ON THE BOTANY OF JUAN FERNANDEZ AND MASAFUERA. 25 



dealt with in this work. Although Orchids are either absent or very rare in all oceanic 

 islands, their total absence from Juan Fernandez is remarkable, because there are several 

 in the Falklands, which are nearly as far from the mainland; and in the islands lyin"- 

 near New Zealand (Lord Auckland, Campbell, and Chatham Islands) there is nearly 

 as large a proportion as in the main island. Coniferse, too, are wholly absent, as in the 

 Auckland, Campbell, and other islands near New Zealand, as well as in all of the islands 

 coming within the scope of this work, from Fernando Noronha to Amsterdam aud St 

 Paul Islands. 



In addition to the collections of Juan Fernandez plants mentioned at p. 2, a small 

 one has recently been presented to the Kew Herbarium by Messrs Veitch, nurserymen, 

 of King's Eoad, Chelsea. This collection was made by Mr. Downton, who travelled for 

 the firm named, and whose special mission was the introduction of living plants of an 

 ornamental character. It comprises between thirty and forty species, including one, 

 Convolvulus tuguriorvm, not in any of the other collections. They were partly from 

 Juan Fernandez and partly from Masafuera. We have also seen living plants of Den- 

 droseris macroplnjlla, Wahlenbergia tuberosa (of which only the foliage was known 

 before), and Libertia formosa, introduced by Mr Downton from Masafuera. 



In conclusion, we have one more source of information to record. It is the book 

 entitled Crusoniaua, or Truth versus Fiction, elucidated in a History of the Islands of 

 Juan Fernandez by the retired Governor of that Colony, a copy of which w r as purchased 

 for the Kew Library while these sheets were undergoing revision. The author of this 

 remarkable book, which was published in 1843, was Thomas Sutcliffe, an Englishman, 

 who was Governor for a time during the period Juan Fernandez was used by the Chilian 

 Government as a penal settlement. Besides the author's personal knowledge, it contains 

 a condensed history of the island from various sources, commencing with an account of 

 Alexander Selkirk's sojourn there. We have extracted two or three interesting notes on 

 the vegetation. 



(bot. CHALL. EXP. — PART III. — 1884.) C 4 



