338 Rev. J. S. Henslow on the Native Plants 



composed of broken corals and shells, sometimes in the form 

 of calcareous sand ; and the quantity of vegetable mould is 

 extremely small. Twenty-three of the islands bear trees ; and 

 there are many others of small dimensions, scarcely elevated 

 above the surface of the ocean, which produce none. When 

 first seen, nothing can be observed but a belt of cocoa-nut trees 

 encircling the lagoon. The abundance in which these occur 

 has tempted a respectable Englishman named Ross to bring 

 his family and settle here. He has with him a party of about 

 eighty Malays, who are employed in manufacturing cocoa-nut 

 oil; and the nuts also are exported to Mauritius and Singa- 

 pore. Thrown as these men are so completely upon their own 

 resources, they have accurately investigated the natural pro- 

 ductions of the islands, and readily pointed out to Mr. Dar- 

 win the different species of plants, and assured him that he 

 had seen them all except one, of which there was only a single 

 tree, bearing a large square and very hard nut, growing on 

 one of the islands which he did not visit. Excepting the 

 cocoa-nut, and one other tree which was not in flower, and 

 which attains a diameter of five or six feet, with particularly 

 soft wood, Mr. Darwin brought away specimens of all the 

 species he saw, amounting to twenty-one. 



From the character of the soil and the condition of the 

 islands we might expect a priori to meet with a purely littoral 

 flora, and with none but extensively sporadic species. Mr. 

 Darwin heard of the trunks of trees, of many seeds, and of 

 old cocoa-nuts being washed on shore from time to time, and 

 probably all the species which have thus been introduced are 

 to be found in the East Indian Archipelago, or on the neigh- 

 bouring continent, though they have not all been noticed 

 there. Two at least of the species appear to be hitherto un- 

 described, and one or two others possess an interest from their 

 rarity, and the little information we possess concerning them ; 

 but all the rest have an extensive range throughout the intra- 

 tropical regions. 



Of the few imported plants the banana does not thrive 

 well ; the sugar cane has in some parts run wild, but has lost 

 greatly in flavour, as also has the tobacco. Besides these a 

 little maize and a few vegetables are cultivated. Three species 



