Ill 



supplied by Voeltzkow, and of the composition of the vegetation, 

 by the author. The number of species of flowering plants was 

 hereby increased from fifty-two to seventy-one, inclusive of one 

 new species, Grewia salici folia. I have not seen Voelukcw - 

 book, but a notice of it by Hahn in Peternian's Geographische 

 Mitteilungen for 1898 conveys a false idea of the vegetation of 

 Aldabra which is said to consist chiefly of Rubiaceae, T iliac eae, 

 Leguminosae, and especially of OUaceae. Rubiaceae and 

 Legwminozae are certainly dominating families; but th& 

 Tiliaceae are represented by the genus Grewia only, and 

 Jasminum aldabarcnse is the sole member of the Oleaaea* known 

 to inhabit the island. 



Mr. Dupont's kelp in the investigation of the Flora of Sey- 

 chelles, Aldabra, and other coral islands of the western Indian 

 Ocean, has been most valuable and continuous, beginning in 

 1905 and ending, so far, in 1916. His technical knowledge of 

 plants enabled him to answer botanical questions, to which li« i 

 always very promptly responded. His first communication con- 

 cerning Aldabra plants is dated Dec. 7th, 1906, and included 

 a list, .of dried specimens of upwards of a hundred species of 

 plants collected by himself in the atoll, together with their 

 local names, applications, etc. This was followed in 1907 by 

 a most interesting and valuable report to the Governor of Sey- 

 chelles. It is a mine of information, general and special, and 

 is illustrated by charts of all the groups, except St. Pierre, and 

 by a tabulated view of the distribution of the plants in the 

 islands and in Madagascar and the Mascarenes. The section 

 relating to Aldabra is much fuller than the others, especially 

 on the vegetation, and, as the report exists in few libraries, 

 some of the paragraphs are reproduced here in detail. Man- 

 groves constitute the bulk and a predominating feature in the 

 vegetation, and Dupont records particulars of the extent, compo- 

 sition and economic value of this element in the "forests,' 1 

 as he terms them. In his own words: "the lagoon is encircled 

 on all sides by mangrove trees, which are visible from outside 

 on spots where the ring of land is narrow. Most of the islets in 

 the lagoon are also covered with the same trees. The contrast 

 between them and the scrubby ring of land is striking. As the 

 ring of land is about thirtv-nine miles long*, the dimensions of 

 the forest may be put down as 3000 acres. The forest is not 

 of uniform width, some places being destitute of frees and other * 

 possessing forests which extend alongside channels as far as 



one mile inland. On He Picard and Middle Island I have come 

 across lofty trees over 60 ft. high and over 1 ft. in 

 diameter. Towards the south very fine clumps are also to fed 

 seen, but the forest in this part is not in a very healthy con- 

 dition." 



He enumerates eight species of mangrove under their botanical 

 and popular names, and groups them in two sets, as follows: — 



I. Mangroves constituting the bulk of the forests. 

 Rhizophora mucronata — Manglier Hauban. Rhizophoraceae. 

 Bruguiera gyvinorltiza — Grand Manglier Eouge. ,, 



Ceriops CandoUeana — Manglier Jaime. * f 



