279 



shadows began to lengthen and mist obscured the summit. Before 

 us stretched rolhng country covered by Miconia apparently as diffi- 

 cult to traverse as the region we had come through. Beyond, at 

 only a slightly greater height, lay, as far as we could judge, the 

 highest point of the land. We seemed to be on the u]iper edge of 

 the lateral crater visible from Academy Bay. It would have been 

 interesting to see what lay at the very pinnacles of the island, but 

 from our oI)servations it seems ]irobable that few outstanding varia- 

 tions in the vegetation occur. Our precipitous scramble downward 

 to the plantation in the dusk was fortunately uneventful, and on 

 the morning we descended to Academy Bay and to the luxury of 

 the Nounnahol. 



The next day I joined Dr. Townsend and Mr. Sanborn in a tri]) 

 to the tortoise country, in company with Messrs. AA'^old and Ed- 

 wardsen, the survivors of the Norwegian Colony. They had a 

 pony with them to trans])ort tortoises. An hour's travel along the 

 Fortuna trail, and we turned sharply to the westward. 11 ere the 

 vegetation became a little more open, with trails made l)y wild 

 burros criss-crossing in all directions. It was folly to stay behind 

 the remainder of the party to examine plants, as I learned almost 

 immediately, for it was impossible to pick up the trail. A person 

 lost in this waterless region would be unlucky. Four hours more 

 of constant travel brought us to the tortoise country, in which sev- 

 eral small ponds were located. Here the mosquitoes were equally 

 as vicious as those on the coast, of seemingly twice the size, and 

 present in just as countless numbers. x^-Vfter midnight it rained, but 

 by morning the sky had cleared, and we cooked more coffee and 

 boiled water for our canteens. This water, after the scum had 

 been removed in boiling, had a rich coffee color and a very smoky 

 taste. Two tortoises, each weighing about 40 pounds, had been 

 captured and brought in, making a tremendous load for the little 

 horse on our returning journey. Although we left at 11 o'clock, 

 we reached Academy Bay at nightfall, the party being delayed 

 every now and then l)y my collecting. 



Dr. Townsend wished to see a spineless cactus which he had 

 previously discovered on Charles Island, so on the fcdlowing day 

 the N ourmahal steered for Charles Island, 30 miles to tlie south, 

 and anchored off the lava rocks of the Black Beach Roads. The 

 appearance of Indefatigable and Charles Islands is strikingly dif- 



