JuLYlt<94.] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBUEGH. 241 



Colonel K Pike, author of " Sub-Tropical Eambles," 

 paid a visit to Eound Island ou 7th December 18G8, and 

 investigated its fauna. He again visited the island, on 

 10th Xovember 1869, in company with the Governor, Sir 

 H. Barkly, and Mr. John Home, Director of Woods and 

 Forests. Colonel Pike devoted his attention to the fauna, 

 and Sir H. Barkly and Mr. Home investigated the flora, 

 xlccounts of the scientific results of these two visits are 

 given by Colonel Pike in his " Sub-Tropical Eambles," 

 published in 1873, and in the "Transactions of the Eoyal 

 Society of Arts and Sciences of Mauritius" for 1869. 



On 26th iSTovember 1889, after a long spell of calm dry 

 weather, Mr. William Scott, Assistant Director of Woods 

 and Forests, and I landed on Eound Island and resided on 

 it for two days, with no other protection from the weather 

 than that afforded by the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. 

 As Eound Island is uninhabited, and contains no drinking 

 water in dry weather, one has to bring everything in the 

 way of food and drink from Mauritius, and it is especially 

 necessary to bring a large supply of provisions in case of 

 being storm-stayed, as happened to Colonels Lloyd and 

 Pike. 



Having made arrangements beforehand to have a boat 

 ready for us at Mapou, at the north end of Mauritius, Mr. 

 Scott and I started from the Eoyal Botanic Garden at 

 Pamplemousses, at three o'clock in the morning of 26 th 

 November 1889. Mr. Scott and I drove together, and we 

 were followed by two carioles conveying our two Indian 

 servants, provisions, water-barrel, camp-bed, botanical 

 apparatus, etc. After a drive of eleven miles we reached 

 Mapou at five o'clock, at which hour we had ordered the 

 boat to be ready ; but, with the usual unpunctuality of 

 natives in out of the way places, it was seven o'clock 

 before we set sail for Eound Island. After a short sail 

 over the smooth shallow sea intervening between the land 

 and the outer margin of the coral reef, we steered through 

 a narrow channel in the reef, locally called a " passe," and 

 soon found ourselves being tossed about by the long swell 

 of the Indian Ocean. The morning was fine, bright, and 

 dry, but, unfortunately, we had a light wind which was 

 considerably ahead of us, and during the six hours 



TKAXS. BOX. SOC. EDIX. VOL. XX. Q 



