317 



w 



exposed in the ravines of San Miguel, pp. 219, 220. We alsa 

 learn from him that '* immense cedar trees" are occasionally 

 found embedded in the ravines and valleys of Terceira (p. 253). 

 One hears of the occurrence in the other islands, such as Flores, 

 Pico, and San Jorge, of buried trunks of '^ cedar " of huge size. 



The whole subject of these buried trees in the Azores requires 

 systematic investigation; but there can be little doubt that the 

 group possessed an abundance of excellent native timber in the 

 early centuries of its occupation^ and that it has none now. We 

 would be unable to find in our own days any native trees large 

 enough to supply timber for roofing churches, Men^ goats, and 

 cattle have been active agents in deforesting these islands for four 

 hundred years and more. Pico, as we learn from Walker (p. 84), 

 was at one time ^^ densely covered with timber of large size,'^ 

 Except when specially preserved, it would be difficult to find trees 

 more than 20 ft. high and more than thirty years old on that 

 island now. 



One can scarcely be surprised that authors, judging the past 

 from the present, should write dej^reciatingly of the original 

 forests of the Azores. Godman characterises them as *' under- 

 wood " (p. 4); and Watson, when referring to their features 



(p, 268), speaks of the '^frutescent and sub-arborescent'* species 

 and of the ''shrubs and small trees'' of which they were com- 

 posed. Correcting Seubert's description of Myfica faya as a tall 

 tree, he says that, according to his recollection, it would be more 

 truly described as a dense bush (p. 224). He might have seen 

 them 35 to 40 ft. high in the gardens around Ponta Delgada, 



It was the fact just mentioned that led me to investigate the 

 subject on the island of Pico. Land is there valued for the wood 

 upon it, and it is profitable for the owner to leave his land undis- 

 turbed for many years. The great demand for wood for firing and 

 other purposes usually prevents this being done ; but in two of 

 these ^'preserves" at the back of Magdalena, where the larger 

 wood was made up entirely of Myrica fdya^ Laurus canariensis, 

 and Erica azorica, the trees of the two first named commonly 

 attained a height of from 35 to 40 ft. and a diameter of from 

 12 to 15 inches, and those of Erica azorica a height of 25 ft. and 

 a diameter of 11 or 12 inches. The Faya trees occasionally exceeded 

 40 ft,, the maximum being 50 ft.; whilst the Tree-Heaths at 

 times must have measured between 30 and 35 ft, in height. 



It does not appear, however, that the present Juniper trees 

 anywhere approach the size attributed to the '^ cedros " of the 

 original forests. On Pico, a height of 15 or 16 ft, and a diameter 

 of 15 to 18 ins. (in a very few cases 20 ins.) represent my 

 maximum measurements. Rarely does the Azorean Juniper grow 

 straight, the trunk being twisted and bent. It is likely that the 

 finest specimens exist on the uplands of San Jorge. Judging from 

 a photograph, kindly taken in my interest by Colonel Chaves, they 

 might there attain a height of 18 or 20 ft. Mr. Ogilvie-Grant 

 mentions the ^^ grand old Juniper trees " on the higher levels of 

 the same island (Novitates Zoologicae, xii. 1905). 



Affinities of the Native Flora, — A few concluding remarks may 



now be made on the general affinities of the native flora of the 



