July 1894.] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 243 



at the proper moment ; and immediately afterwards we 

 liad all our stores landed and carried to the top of the 

 rocky shelving cliffs, where they were deposited under the 

 shade of some palm trees. The boat returned to Mapou 

 the same afternoon, and we were left to our own resources 

 on the island for the next two days. 



Feeling the effects of sea-sickness, I confined myself to 

 botanising in the inmiediate vicinity of our camp on the 

 afternoon of our arrival on the island. On the following 

 day I botanised during the greater part of the day, and 

 ascended to the top of the hill, from which I obtained a 

 good view of Serpent Island, which rises out of the sea 

 like a haycock to the height of 530 feet. It lies If mile 

 to the north of Eound Island, and it is about i mile broad. 

 The steep sides of Serpent Island are almost destitute of 

 vegetation, and they have a wdiite chalky appearance from 

 the guano which has been washed down over them by the 

 rain. Colonel Lloyd landed on Serpent Island in 1844, 

 and he states that the three species of sea-birds he observed 

 on it were different from the three species of sea-birds 

 found on Eound Island. On the forenoon of our last day 

 on Eound Island, I collected specimens of the three species 

 of palms which are native on the island. The boat 

 returned for us on 28 th November, and at about three 

 o'clock in the afternoon we set sail with a fair wind for 

 Mapou, which we reached in about three hours' time, and 

 drove the same evening to Pamplemousses. 



Mr. Scott devoted his time to making collections of 

 specimens of the rocks and animals ; and he also shot a 

 couple of rabbits, which have been introduced into the 

 island. With reference to the geological formation, Eound 

 Island appears to have once formed part of a volcanic 

 crater, as described by Darwin in the case of the Galapogos 

 Islands. The eastern side of the island has a crescentic 

 shape, and it is much steeper than the western side. The 

 rocks also on the eastern side appeared to me to have been 

 exposed to much greater heat than those of other parts of 

 the island. From these circumstances the island appears 

 to have been originally a volcanic crater, in which, sub- 

 sequently, the continued action of the surf, caused by the 

 prevailing south-east trade wind, has gradually worn away 



