456 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



as fully as possible in tlie care aud attention tbe new plants would re- 

 quire, and made to understand the value of this addition to their re- 

 sources. Not a trace can be found of the things planted by this gener- 

 ous Frenchman, but whether they were suffered to die out through the 

 ignorance or indolence of the natives may never be known. 



We found the lapse of a century had made but little improvement in 

 the resources of the islanders. Trees have been planted around the 

 house of Mr. Brander, at the southwest end of the island, but, with 

 the exception of the fig, acacia, and paper-mulberry, they do not appear 

 to thrive. At various places throughout .this land we found small 

 clumps of Edwardsia, Broussonetia, and Hibiscus, but all were dead, 

 having been stripped of their bark by the flocks of sheep, which roam 

 at will over the island. None of these trees were over 10 feet high, 

 and the largest trunk we found would measure about 5 inches in 

 diameter. 



The natives are not altogether ignorant of husbandry, though they 

 practice it spasmodically and at a great expense of time and labor, dif- 

 fering in no respect from the customs of their forefathers hundreds of 

 years ago. In the cultivation of yams, potatoes, and taro, the young 

 plants are protected from the fierce heat of the sun by a mulching of 

 dried grass gathered from the uncultivated ground. Bananas are 

 grown in holes a foot or more deep and with sloping sides, designed to 

 eatch and hold the rain-water as long as possible about the roots of the 

 plant. Sugarcane is grown in protected spots, and attains the height 

 of about 10 feet. During our peregrinations this succulent plant was 

 extensively used in lieu of something to drink, and proved exceedingly 

 valuable in preventing a parched condition of the throat. The natives 

 have no knowledge of the art of extracting the juice of the cane for 

 the purpose of making sugar. 



The sweet potatoes are large and remarkably good. The natives eat 

 them both raw and cooked. Experiments have been made recently 

 with imported white potatoes, but they have been tried in various situ- 

 ations and at different seasons without success. After the first growth 

 they appear like new potatoes, and when planted again they are inva- 

 riably soft and sweet, and are much less palatable than the indigenous 

 variety. We saw tobacco plants growing in secluded spots, but were 

 unable to determine by whom or when they were introduced. The 

 natives maintain that the seed was included among that which was 

 brought to the island by the first settlers. Tomato plants were also 

 found growing wild, aud on several occasions proved a valuable addi- 

 tion to our limited fare. 



A wild gourd is common, aud constituted the only water-jar and 

 domestic utensil known to the natives. Suitable clay abounds, but the 

 potter's art seems never to have been known on the island. There are 

 two varieties of indigenous hemp. 



We saw no flowering plants that are indigenous to the soil. Vervain, 



