1S39.] PRODUCTIONS. 16 1 



around them, and in the basins of the lagoons, show, conclu- 

 sively, that the coralline substances must have been depos- 

 ited, either by the animals themselves, or by the sea, since 

 the upheaving of these submarine mountains. If this be so, 

 why put the fancy to so severe a test, when a much sim- 

 pler, more probable, and more rational explanation, is at 

 hand ? 



(6.) The productions of these islands are not numerous. 

 A species of short wiry grass, and low tropical shrubs, cover 

 many of them, but on others there are trees from fifty to sixty 

 feet high. Endogenous plants are the most frequently met 

 with. The cocoa-nut (cocos nucifera), the bread-fruit, and 

 the pandamis odoratissimus, are the most valuable trees. 

 On the island of Anaa, the cocoa-nut is exceedingly abundant. 

 Like the other palms, this tree is tall and straight, and from 

 thirty to sixty feet in height. It has leaves only at the top, 

 under which the nuts hang in bunches. Fresh blossoms ap- 

 pear every four or five weeks, and there are generally ripe 

 fruit, and newly opened flowers, on the tree at the same time. 

 One tree will sometimes produce a hundred nuts within the 

 year. There are few trees which furnish more useful pro- 

 ducts to the islander. Besides the milk and kernel of the 

 nut, whose nutritive qualities are so well known, the woody 

 shell of the trunk, when old enough to be tough and durable, 

 is employed in building huts and canoes ; the leaves are used 

 for thatching and ceiling houses, and for making baskets and 

 wicker-work ; and of the fibres of the nut, twine and sennit, 

 and even strong ropes and cables, are twisted, which last 

 longer in salt water than those made of hemp. 



Pisonias, tournefortias, euphorbias, and apapas, are found 

 on the islands. Hibiscus tiliacus, bamboo, and wild cane, 

 are likewise common. Among the principal roots are the 

 taro, (arum esculentum,) and the sweet potato, — the latter 

 probably introduced by the Spaniards. The leaves of the 

 taro resemble those of the water-lily : the roots, which are 

 large, thick, and oblong, are baked and eaten by the natives, 

 and a favorite paste, called po'e\ is also made of them. Mel- 



