110 



gives figures for the months named in support of this statement. 

 Daily readings at 9 a.m. recorded an approximate average of 

 89-8° for Aldabra, against 824° for Mahe. The rainfall for 

 the same period was respectively about 34 in, and 49 in. 

 Dupont adds : "The dry season of Aldabra occupies seven 

 months of the year, and the absence of rain is the cause of 

 much trouble to the inhabitants who neglect to store sufficient 

 to provide against the drought. There is only one well in the 

 island, 16 miles distant from the settlement, and the water has 

 to be fetched by boat. 33 The heaviest rainfall in both islands 

 was in January, when upwards of 25 in. fell in 17 days in 

 Aldabra and 21 in Mahe. 









The Flowering Season. 



Concerning the flowering season in Aldabra, Mr. Dupont 

 wrote: " An old resident told me that in January to May the 

 whole island is a mass of flowering shrubs and herbaceous plants, 

 and that nowhere in Seychelles such a display of wild flowers 

 with its accompaniment of insects and birds is to be seen. 33 



\ 



History of the Botanical Investigation of Aldabra. 



t 



The history of the botanical exploration of Aldabra begins, 

 so far as this compilation is concerned, with Dr. "W. L. Abbott's 

 Notes on the Natural History of the Atoll in the Kew Bulletin 

 for 1893, in which he specially mentions thickets of Casuarina, 

 and mangroves 50 to 60 ft. high. Further particulars by the 

 same author appeared elsewhere and Mr. Dupont repeats them 

 in his report, published in 190T. From this source I have ex- 

 tracted much that is of interest in connection with the vegetation 

 of Aldabra and other islands. Abbott's notes were followed in 

 1894 by Mr. J. G. Baker's report on Abbott's botanical collec- 

 tion. This collection comprised fifty-two species of flowering 

 lants, including nine new ones. Noteworthy among the older 

 orms was Lomatophyllum borbonicum, a liliaceous genus of 

 two or three species restricted to the Mascarenes and the 

 smaller islands of the western Indian Ocean, though hitherto 

 not recorded from Seychelles. 



In point of date Mr. S. C. E. Baty, a local owner or joint 

 owner of insular property, is the next contributor, in the form 

 of an unpublished report on the Aldabra and Cosmoledo groups 

 of islands, a copy of which is in the Kew Library. This report 

 is mainly on the coco-nut industry and the useful trees, with 

 some topographical notes. He mentions, too, that Aldabra was 

 covered with stunted forest from end to end; that >nme 350 



coco-nut trees had been planted, and that Coco-nut Islands at 

 the east end of the lagoon had a small grove of coco-imt trees 

 and some line Casuarinas. 



During the years 1889 to 1895, Dr. A. Yoeltzkow, a professor 

 of zoology, travelled in Africa and Madagascar and likewise 

 visited Aldabra, where he made a small herbarium. This was 

 classified and the results published in 1897 by Dr. Hans Sehinz, 

 who also incorporated Abbott's plants in his enumeration. A few 

 pages of introduction treat of the topography and local conditions. 



