402 CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS. [1841. 



of them rise more than twenty-five leer above the ocean. 

 The sod is hut a few inches in depth, and is composed of 

 coral sand and vegetable mould : it is exceedingly produc- 

 tive, however, both in its natural state, and when cultivated. 

 Small pieces of pumice, that have probably drifted on the 

 islands, are found in considerable abundance, and are pounded 

 up and used as a manure. 



Bread-fruit trees are seen on the islands north of the 

 equator, but not on those south of it. The cocoa and the 

 pandanus are very plenty, and the former is cultivated by 

 the natives, the trees being fenced in, and pounded pumice 

 mixed with the soil at the roots. On some of the islands 

 there is a great scarcity of shrubbery, the ground being 

 covered only with a scanty growth of dry grass (sida) ; but 

 on others, dense thickets of underbrush are scattered amid 

 the clumps of pandanus trees and cocoas. The pisouia, 

 tournefortia, eordia, boerhavia, urticrc, mangrove, scaevola, 

 ficus, and hibiscus, are quite common, though they are 

 generally small in comparison with the specimens found on 

 other islands. There are two varieties of taro, and two of 

 yams. One species of taro (arum corrfifolium), called by 

 the natives p&ipdi, is extensively cultivated in deep trenches 

 excavated for the purpose. These are often placed near the 

 lagoons, and separated from them by a narrow em ban k- 

 nieiit, in order that the water may percolate through the 

 coral sand. The api is also cultivated to some extent. 

 Purslane is abundant, and is much eaten in seasons of 

 scarcity. There is also a bush, bearing a fruit resembling 

 the gooseberry, which the natives call teipant. 



The climate of these islands is delightful. The heat is 

 of a high temperature, but not as oppressive as might be 

 expected. There are no sudden changes, and the range of 

 the thermometer is limited. Earthquakes, in which the 

 oscillations are rapid and powerful, occasionally occur, and 

 violent gales from the south-west are not uncommon. From 

 October to April there are frequent rains; but during the 

 remainder of the year the weather is fine, the air is pure 



