FLORA VITIENSIS. : f 215 
attempted to capture the * Brigand,’ which, however, was frustrated by the prudence of the captain. An 
attack on the * Sisters’ unhappily proved successful, and since that time a number of white lives have been 
sacrificed in trading with Mare for sandal-wood. When H.M.S. ‘ Hayannah,’ Captain Erskine, visited the 
Loyalty group, it was learnt that Captain Lewis had shot a native who, with some others, attempted to 
board the * Will-o’-the-Wisp.’ The justification of his conduct given by Captain Lewis not being deemed 
sufficient, a complaint was lodged at Sydney, in consequence of which Lewis was arrested on an accidental 
visit to the place, and on the 7th July, 1851, brought to trial for murder. Though every effort was made 
by religious bigots to obtain a conviction, the jury found the prisoner not guilty. Captain Lewis then 
returned to his station, and one of the first acts of the natives was to capture his cutter and murder the 
whole of her crew.* : 
Owing to the ferocious character of the Polynesian natives in whose islands the sandal-trees grow, 
and the diffieulty hitherto experienced in putting this trade upon a different footing than it is at present, 
the loss of. life resulting from this species of commerce is proportionally much greater than experienced in 
the whaling trade, with which it ranks as the most adventurous of callings. Mr. M‘Gillivray, who was 
employed in the sandal-wood trade, states that the profits obtained from this species of commerce are 
sometimes enormous, whatever, that may mean. Lieut. Pollard, formerly of H.M.S. ‘ Havannab,' has fur- 
nished more satisfactory estimates, as far as the South Sea is concerned, and shows that in the case of the 
‘Julia Perey,’ which cost £1200 with her boats, —in one voyage, after all expenses, including interest and 
amounting to £2595, had been paid, a clear profit of £1182. 4s. was yielded to the owner. The Australian 
vessels employed in the collection are in general small, and such as are nearly worn out, and unfit for 
other branches of commerce. The crews, collected at Sydney, or picked up amongst the islands, are 
almost universally paid by the Zay, as in whaling voyages; that is, by ashare either of the wood collected, 
or of the value calculated at a low fixed price (about £12 a ton), the proportion for each seaman being 
one seventy-second part, so that for every ton of sandal-wood he receives £12. The amount of trade be- 
tween the Australian colonies and China depends entirely on the price of the commodity in the market, 
which varies from £40 to £12 a ton.t 
EXPLANATION OF Prare LV., representing Santalum Yasi, Seem.—Fig. 1,°an entire flower; 2, the 
same laid open; 3, stamen and lobe of disk; 4 and 5, sections of ovary ; 6, ripe fruit :—all, with exception 
of Fig. 6, magnified. 
Orvo LXXXIV. EUPHORBIACEZ. 
LJ 
This Natural Order is very strongly represented in tropical Polynesia, especially in the western parts, 
more than 150 species being already known,—a third of which number have been met with in Viti. In 
addition to the genera and species enumerated or alluded to below, we have the following :—viz. Lithozylon 
nitidum, Müll. Arg. (Securinega nitida, Lindl. Collect. t. 9), from Tahiti; Longetia buxoides, Baill., from New 
Caledonia ; Breynia disticha, Mill. Arg. (Breynia disticha, Forst. Gen. t. 73), from Tana (Forster !) ; Bridelia 
buxifolia, Baill., from New Caledonia; Cleistanthus stipitatus, Müll. Arg., from New Ca edonia ; Bocquil- 
lonia spicata, Baill., from New Caledonia; B. brevipes, Müll. Arg., from New Caledonia; B. sessiliflora, 
Baill., from New Caledonia; and Steigeria montana, Müll. Arg., from New Caledonia. 
I. Euphorbia, Linn. Gen. Plant. p. 243; Boiss. in DC. Prodr. vol. xv. p. 7. Involucrum sub- 
regulare, campanulatum turbinatum v. hemisphæricum ; lobis 5 (rarius 4-8) primariis membranaceis, 
5 aliis (rarius 8) secundariis alternantibus glanduliferis, glandulis abortu interdum 1—4-nis. Flores 
d pedicellati, ecalyculati, bracteolis ciliato-laceris interdum obsoletis basi stipati, in series 5-nas 
(rarius 4-8-nas) lobis primariis involucri oppositas dispositi. Flos 9 centralis, pedicellatus, calyce 
3-6-lobo suffultus, sepius ecalyculatus. Styli 3, distincti v. plus minus coaliti, 2-fidi; lobis 
apice v. latere interiori stigmatosis. Semina pendula cum v. absque carunculá.— Plante monoice, 
rarissime dioice, monocarpiez v. perennes, herbacez v. fruticose, et arbores, succo acri lacteo 
under the name of Santalum Austro-caledonicum, and named ** Tibéan " by the aborigines of that great 
island. M-Gillivray says, * The sandal-wood trees of the Fijis, Aneitum, and the ‘Isle of Pines constitute 
three distinct species.” à 
5 Erskine, l. e. 890, and Appendix, p. 478. 
+ Erskine, 1. c., Appendix C, p. 486. 
2F2 
