the Island of Tristan da Cunha, ^c. 499 



Of the herbaceous plants, the most remarkable is a gigantic spe- 

 cies ofSpaj'tina {S. arundinacea). This grass overruns the whole of" 

 the island, from the upper edge of the table-land down to the sea- 

 shore, accommodating itself to all soils and situations. It sprino-s 

 up in large close tufts which, when full grown, are borne down 

 by their own weight, and lean upon each other in such a manner 

 that a person may roll himself over them without any danger of 

 sinking. Its stems grow to the length of six or seven feet, and 

 are of a solid, almost ligneous, texture, and covered with a pro- 

 fusion of leaves. This grass makes an excellent and durable 

 thatch, and the young leaves are eaten by horses and oxen. 



The wild Celery grows in abundance over all the low ground, 

 and attains a great size, its stem sometimes measuring upwards of 

 three inches in diameter. It possesses in a high degree the fla- 

 vour of the garden celery, and by proper management might be 

 brought to equal it in every respect. 



A species of Chenopodium (C. tomentosum), of a strong balsamic 

 odour, is common around the cantonment. An infusion of the 

 dried leaves of this plant is used as a substitute for tea by the 

 Hottentots sent down in charge of the cattle. The soldiers use 

 for the same purpose the leaves of the Pelargonium, which hardly 

 yield to the others in strength of odour. 



The low ground is overrun with a species of Accena {A.sarmen- 

 tosa), a plant of no apparent utility, but an intolerable nuisance to 

 such as have occasion to walk over the ground where it grows. 

 Its fruit is a sort of bur, which on the slightest touch fixes itself on 

 one's clothes, and falling in a hundred pieces, covers him all over 

 with an unseemly crust of prickly seeds, not to be got rid of with- 

 out infinite labour. 



VOL. XII. 3 T Descrip- 



