370 TE-lNSACnOXS AXD PKOCEEDDsGS OF THE [Sess. lix. 



end, and 20 feet above sea-level at the highest part. 

 The island is flattish on the top, and the surface is pretty 

 weU clothed with a coarse grass, Stmotaphrum complan- 

 atum. On 27th August 1887 a ship, laden with coals, 

 was wrecked on the reef near He Marianne, and the coals 

 recovered from the wreck were deposited on the west end 

 of the island. A caretaker's house was erected the same 

 vear, and it was inhabited up to the date of my last ^•isit 

 in March 1890. I botanised on He Marianne on 3rd 

 September 1889, and 19th March 1890. 



The following table shows the number of species in each 

 of the three divisions of the vegetable kingdom : — 



One of the Monocotyledons, HahphUa ovata, is a marine 

 plant, and grows on the submarine coral sand, about 300 

 yards from the shore. There are -4 species of Cryptogams, 

 one of which is a marine Alga, Caul^rpa pluniaris, and 

 grows on the submarine coral sand, about 500 yards from 

 the shore. The remaining 3 species belong to the 

 Lichenes, and only one of them, Lepraria fxiva, is common. 

 The 26 native species belong to 17 natural orders, or 

 about \h species to an order on an average. The number 

 of species in the larger orders are Gramineae 5, Lichenes 3. 

 and Portulaceae, Convolvulaceae, and Euphorbiacea; 2 each. 

 Of the 22 native species of Phanerogams, the following G 

 species are not recorded from Mauritius in Baker's " Flora 

 of Mauritius and the Seychelles," viz. : — Sida diffusa, 

 Portxdaca psammotropha, Ipomona. glaberrima, Phyllanthus 

 mauritianus, Fimhristylis dbtusifolia, and Lepturus repens. 



Sida diffusa, H. B. K. — Baker, Plor. Maur. Seych., 

 p. 19. Very common, 3rd September 1889. See remarks 

 on this species, under lie de la Passe, in this report. 



