2 Coward, Some Notes on the Mammals of Lundy. 



Lundy Island, lying about 12 miles N.N.W. of Hart- 

 land Point on the North Devon coast and over 30 miles 

 south of the coast of Pembroke, is a granite and slate 

 tableland of about 3^ miles from north to south and less 

 than a mile from east to west at the widest point. It 

 rises to about 450 to 500 feet above the sea and is sur- 

 rounded by steep and weathered cliffs, except at the 

 southern end where there are tv/o beaches — on either side 

 of a narrow neck of land — that on the east being the only 

 one available for landing purposes. From this beach a 

 steep lane ascends a sheltered combe, where there are a 

 few small trees and much thick undergrowth, cultivated 

 ground and the walled and terraced gardens round the 

 residence of the owner, the Rev. H. G. Heaven. We set 

 most of our traps in the bracken and bramble-covered 

 banks of this lane and, by permission, in Mr. Heaven's 

 kitchen -gardens. The vegetation on the eastern and more 

 sheltered slopes is much more luxuriant than on the west; 

 the old turf banks are thickly tangled with bramble, fern, 

 honeysuckle, and other plants, and in small combes 

 bracken and osmunda grow to a great height ; ling and 

 heather is thicker and finer on the eastern than on the 

 more exposed western cliffs. The trees — mostly ash, 

 sycamore, willow and mountain ash — have been planted 

 within recent years, and are small and insignificant. 

 Camden (2) says — "Trees it hath none but stinking Elders," 

 and T. V. Wollaston, so recently as 1845 (3), declared 

 that it "has not so much as a single tree to boast of" This 

 is not the case to-day; though there are no large trees, the 

 combe referred to, has been well planted, and the trees 

 appear to be healthy. 



At the southern extremity is a slate islet, cut off from 

 the mainland at high tides only, which shelters the bay 

 from the south ; it is called Rat Island, and is covered 



