Makvs I, 18B6.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



639 



wholesome fruit, aud, doubtless, it assisted the cholera 

 in the ravages it made here last spring, when it is 

 believed from six to seven hundred natives died of 

 that dire disease. Several European seamen died on 

 board the vessels in the harbour, but only one died 

 on shore, and his habits were intemperate. 



The pine-apple grows best on the arid rocky slopes, 

 on the worst red soil, and it partakes outwardly of 

 this red colour. It the pine-apple fibre comes into 

 repute in England, which it is likely to do, then 

 there will be a wide field here for its manufactm-e. 



The Agricultiu-al Society has not effected anything 

 as yet in the horticultural department, which, I be- 

 lieve, it was intended that it should embrace. The 

 Chinese and 31alays raise in their own way all the 

 vegetables which are brought to market. These are 

 sweet potatoes, bad yams, kaladie, or the arum colo- 

 casia (of K) which is cultivated in swampy places. 

 The root is single, oblong and biUbous, and it is 

 eaten as a substitute for the potato. The stalks and 

 leaves are sold as fodder for pigs. A few inferior 

 cabbages are grown from sprouts by dint of stimul- 

 ant.s which shall be nameless. Celery is also grown, 

 but the root is not solil in the bazaars, the leaves 

 oidy being so ; and tltis absurd way of using this 

 vegetable is patiently endured by the cousuujurs, who 

 will, it seems, consent to pay a high price for EngUsh 

 preserved vegetables, which, for ought that has been 

 proved to the contrary, might by the offer of pre- 

 miums, and by ft DLodicum of instruction have been 

 cultivated at their own doors. It may be said that 

 these will not grow here, iSo it was said long 

 ago at Calcutta and J[adr;is, yet perseverance has 

 overcome every obstrjction at these Settlements. 

 The native vegetables are rather small, yet they are 

 of good quality, and for a garden of a moderate ex- 

 tent, a soil can readily be made to suit every species 

 which the climate whiU permit to grow. From all 

 that has been stated, it would appear that the cul- 

 tivation of this island is still in its probationary period. 

 The Chinese have been shewn to be the chief cultiv- 

 ators, but then they have no attachment to the soil. 

 Their sole object is to scourge the land for a given 

 time, and when worn out to leave it a d&sert. 



And what, we may inquire, what Is to become of 

 the thus empoverished land covered wi^h the jungle 

 they leave in tbe rear on their onward progress over 

 the island. A fifty years fallow would barely return 

 it to its pristine condition ; and what agriculturist 

 would be so rash as to embark 011 a large scale in 

 the attempt to renovate it V In short, it seems clear, 

 that if no general cultivation of a )norc permanent 

 nature than pepper and gambler can br advantageously 

 established, the forest must ultimately reassume its 

 dominion. Unfortunately, there is no rice land worth 

 mentioning which might induce a settled Malayan 

 population. The only remaining chance therefore would 

 seem to be the planting of coconut, areca, and other 

 iadigenuus fruit trees and incorporating them gradu- 

 •Uy with sugar cane and trees yielHing an exportable 

 produgi". A' the case stands, it is clear that if there 

 ehuuld jbe any cousilcrable prolonged (all iu the prices 

 of pepper and gambier, the (.ultivation of these articles, 

 »iid consequently of the greateft cultivated portiou 

 of the island would cease, 



The area of the ialaml has beeu stated at about 

 l:i0,0OO acre.'!. But as far an the above two products 

 are concenie 1, the quantity of land available for them 

 might not Ih; reckoned at abo\'e one-fourth of the 

 whole, suppo.sing that pepper and gambler must con- 

 tinue to be cultivated together and cannot pro>e pro- 

 fitable separately. Because the proportion of pepper 

 land is uiuch smaller than that suited to gambler. 

 Then a very large deduction would be required for 

 the jungle land which must be attached to each plant- 

 ation for the supply of fuel. When the whole lauds 

 on the island and iu cultivation shall have beeu 

 measured and tbe nature of the remaining portion 

 shall have been ascertained, a correct estimate may 

 he made of the period after which pepper and gambler 

 »iil ttikjb Iu It. cultivated, lor it way bi> [cmuktxi 



that these plants or trees cannot, until a long period 

 of years has elapsed, be successfully raised a second 

 time on tho same soi\. — Siii(/aporc Free Prcsn. 



KoR.MMA.— Mr, im Thurn, an <).xford graduate, who 

 wrote such an interesting book ou British Guiana two 

 or three years ago, has been engaged in exploring the 



' most mysterious spot in South America. About seven 



I or eight year.s ago Mr, Barriogton, a geologist and 

 naturalist, made known to science the existence of an 

 inaccessible bit of table-land, called Koraima. It was 

 surrounded by precipitous cliffs, and, it was believed, 



I would only be explored by balloon agency. The top 

 was covered with forests, and naturalists have ever 

 since been on the tiptoe of expectancy with regard 



I to this possible fragment or outlier of a former geol- 



} ogical epoch. There we might possibly meet with a 

 portion of the miocene or pliocene fauna and flora 

 — fossilised elsewhere — which had become stranded, as 

 it were, on this American Ararat! The secret was 

 boimd to to be found out afer this, and by au En- 

 glishman, too, Jtr. im Thurn went back to (juiana 

 determined to scale lioraima, and h'>, .#fites to say 



, that, after one or two failures, he has .succeeded. He 

 found the top covered with shrubs (no trees), and he 

 found a large number of new species of plauts, but no 

 strange or new animals. The top of the plateau is 



' 12 miles by four, and its weather-worn surface plainly 

 reveals its geological antiquity. — .hiftiula.iiaii. 



Ironbauk. — This is one of the most valuable of 

 Australian timber trees, and grows abundantly in New 

 South M'ale.s, Some kinds are said to be almost 

 indestructible in any situation, impervious alike to the 

 white ant and the Teredo navalis, and with all their 

 defects, probably unequalled in the world for railway 

 ! sleepers, piles for bridges, wharves, and jetties, fencing, 

 or any kind of heavy carpentry, as well as ship-building, 

 for beams, keelsons, sternpost«, engine-beams, and 

 other works below the line of flotation, where great 

 ; strength is required and a heavy material is not ob- 

 I jectiooable. The ** Ironbark " stands iu the first class 

 I of lyloyd's list of shipbuilding timbers, and together 

 ' with several other kinds is already extensively used 

 I by European ship-builders. There are several kinds 

 or Iroubark in use, all, however, true Eucalypts, The 

 I two best species are said to be the white narrow-leaved 

 Iroidjark (E. crebra), and the white, pale, or she 

 Ironbark (E. paniculata), both growing in the open 

 ; forest, and on poor or indiff«rent soil in the northern 

 I coast districts. Three other species^the red-flowering 

 Ironbark (K. leucoxylon), the silver-lesived Ironbark 

 j ^E. melanophloia), and the large-leaved Ironbark 

 (E, slderopldoia) — also grow iu the northern districts, 

 and make valuable timber, though inferior to the two 

 first-named. Ironbark is largely used for bridges and 

 piles where there is no danger of the terrible Teredo, 

 and for poles and shafts of carriages, wheel-spokes, and 

 railway sleepers. Owine to the difficulty of obtaining 

 it, Ironbark is the most expensive of all New .South 

 Wales hardwnorls, and has maintained its price of 30s, 

 per lOy superficial f-'Ot, quoted fifteen years ago, al- 

 though almost every other hanlwood hati decreased iu 

 price since then, especially during the last two or 

 three years, the average retail price in Sydney of most 

 of the hardwood being about 1.5y. The whole seaboard 

 of New South AVales, from Capo Howe to the Kich- 

 mond River, contains rid^'es of this splendid wood. 

 Lai-ge shipments of it are .sent from the Clarence and 

 Kichmond districts to New Zealand and to Melbourne, 

 for bridge-building, anil more especially for wharves, 

 jetties, piles and girders. There is some fine Ironbark 

 country, too, on the Cl3'de, from which district a great 

 deal was formerly shipped to Nt'w >^ealand direct. Con- 

 sidering the great demand for it, the long distance it 

 has to be drawn to the water before it can be shipped, 

 and, considering, too, its splendid properties, the price, 

 large though it seems in comparison with that paid for 

 other timber, can h.irdly be called extravagantly high 

 — Auitraliaii I'u^a; 



