Natural History in Scotland, 401 



be seen, whose history is connected with one of the most interesting and 

 affecting narratives that have ever been recorded, in the mutiny of the crew 

 of the Bounty, and in the preservation of Admiral Bligh, and the sub- 

 sequent settlement of the mutineers on Pitcairn's Island, where the prin- 

 cipal of them, with his family, by sober, industrious, and religious habits, 

 seems destined, by one of the mysterious ways of Providence, to carry 

 civilisation into the islands of the South Seas. This individual bread-fruit 

 was sent to us by Dr. Fraser, of Berbice, but in so sickly a state that we 

 dare not hope it will recover; yet we do not despair of again receiving and 

 cultivating it successfully. Numerous are the vegetables indeed in our 

 garden, which, a few years ago, it was not considered possible to keep alive 

 any where but in their native country, and which are now flourishing in 

 our stoves. The nutmeg, and especially the extensive tribe of air plants, 

 as they are called, no less remarkable for their place of growth (the trunks 

 of trees) than for the splendour of their flowers, are striking examples of 

 this. The mahogany was long known to us solely by the beauty and utility 

 of its wood, yet now we have good plants of it in a living state ; and, by 

 the kindness of an enlightened merchant of this city, the writer of this 

 Report is enabled to publish, together with a figure, a history, commercial 

 as well as botanical, of this most valuable of all trees. It is the staple 

 article of trade of Honduras ; and there, at the season of cutting the tim- 

 ber, the woods, at other times a desert, are alive with the labourers engaged 

 in that singular duty. The double or Maldivian cocoa-nut tree was, till 

 within these few years, only known to the wild inhabitants of the Seychelles 

 Islands ; now, the fruit has reached our shores in a vegetable state ; and 

 one individual, at the present time in England, is destined for our garden. 

 Of other palms we possess nearly forty species. The plants of Arctic 

 America, of the Rocky Mountains, that vast alpine range, forming a con- 

 tinuation of the chain of the Andes, which has just been explored during 

 two entire years by one of Dr. Richardson's collectors (Mr. Drummond of 

 Forfor), were, till lately, only known to the Canadian hunters, or the Esqui- 

 maux, or the still more savage Indians of North-west America. These may 

 very shortly be seen in cultivation in our gardens, of which they will form 

 a highly interesting and distinguishing feature. From Captain Franklin 

 alone, who commanded the overland arctic expedition, we have received a 

 parcel of 300 seeds. Among the useful plants of our collection we may 

 reckon the green and black tea, the coffee, the chocolate, gum arable, 

 jujube tree, tamarind, logwood, ginger, arrow root, turmeric; pepper, no 

 less than thirty-three kinds, though none of them more valuable than the 

 black pepper of the shops ; the sago, date, cocoa nut, Otaheitan gooseberry, 

 camphor, sugar cane, bamboo, &c., not to mention many others ; a new and 

 excellent species of guava [query — the species, and a hint for its culture, 

 for Gard. ATag.], whose fruit, which ripened last year, was pronounced by 

 all that tasted it to be delicious, and fitted to rank with the most choice of 

 our desserts. Among the more curious and ornamental plants, we must 

 not omit to notice our numerous banksias and dryandras, for which we 

 are mainly indebted to Mr. Mackay, of Clapton ; the various new calceo- 

 larias, or slipperworts, and fuchsias, the gift of our inestimable ^^outh 

 American correspondents, Dr. Gillies and Mr. Cniickshanks ; the papyrus, 

 now arrived at a height of from 12 to 14 ft.; the India rubber tree, which, 

 could we have afforded it space enough, would ere now have attained the 

 height of 40 ft ; the side-saddle flower, the famous pitcher plant, the fly- 

 trap or dionaea, the star apple ; the cherimoja, a present from. Her Grace the 

 Duchess of Montrose ; the manchineel, the alligator pear ; the buonapartea, 

 so named in honour of our late formidable enemy, and of which the sharp 

 pungent foliage seems to be characteristic of that hero; and, lastly, we 

 may mention what will soon be in great perfection, for they are among the 

 earliest-flowering plants in the great green-house, the numerous varieties of 

 Vol. I, — No. 4. e e 



