4 THE PI.ANT WORI.D 



glossy, fern-like fronds. Though they bear large edible farinaceous nuts, 

 yet they do not have true flowers. Their naked ovules, borne in the 

 notches of modified leaves of the female plants, correspond with the 

 macrosporangia of cryptogams and the small pollen sacs on the under side 

 of modified leaves of the male plant correspond with the microsporangia. 

 Fertilization is effected by means of spermatozoids having spiral bands 

 of moving cilia. They set me to thinking of the ancient strange forms 

 now extinct which come to light from time to time in a fossil condition, 

 and especially of the so-called cycado-filices, which were intermediate 

 between the cycads and the true ferns. This recalled the fact that in 

 geological ages Nipa-like palms formed thickets in the estuaries of England 

 like that which I have just seen in the Ilig River. The occurrence of 

 these tropical forms is recorded in the Eocene clays of Sheppey, an island 

 at the mouth of the Thames, where fossil fruits (^Nipadites) very much 

 like those of Nipa have been found. 



We now caught a glimpse of the beautiful little bay of Tarofofo 

 which the captain of the Nero has asked me to examine. Outside of 

 its entrance was a milky line of breakers. Along its shores there was 

 no sign of a village or of any living thing. At the time of the arrival of 

 the Spaniards on this island the vicinity of Tarofofo bay was inhabited 

 by the proudest and bravest of all the natives. More than all the 

 rest they clung to the customs of their forefathers and refused to accept 

 the teachings of the missionaries. Don Juan Antonio de Salas, who 

 arrived on the island in 1678, determined to break their pride, so he 

 marched upon the villages of Tarofofo and Pigpug, guided by two natives 

 named Ayihi and Soon, whom their fellows regarded as despicable trai- 

 tors. The natives defended themselves as best they could, with their 

 simple slings and lances, against the fire-arms of the Spaniards, but they 

 were defeated, and their villages were burned to ashes, together with 

 their boats, their stores of rice, representing months of toil, and every- 

 thing el.se belonging to them. The Spaniards themselves tell the sad 

 .story.* 



Descended the slope and made an examination of the bay. I was told 

 that during a great part of the year it was difficult for boats to enter and 

 leave the little harbor. It seemed to me that it would be unwise to land 

 the cable here. Moreover, on this side of the island the sea deepens 

 suddenly, while the other side is sheltered from the wind during the 

 greater part of the year, and there the bottom slopes more gradually. I 

 should think the best place for landing the cable would be on the penin- 



'•"'El Goveruador * * * los siguio, y quenio los Pueblos de Picpuc, y Tarufofo con todas sus 

 haziendas, y mas de veinte bancas, mucho arroz, y otros bastitnentos. Desvaratose la trinchera con 

 que se avian fortificado, y dando la vuelta per aquella costa, todos los demas Pueblos salieron con sus 

 preseutes, y socorro para la Milicia, pidiendo amistad, que se les concedi6 con las condiciones ordi- 

 narias, ventajosasdla Christiaudad."— Padre Francisco Garcia. Vida y martyrio de el Venerable Padre 

 Diego Luis de Sanvitores. p. 568. Madrid, 1683. 



