LORD HOWE’S ISLAND. 301 
for this purpose. The stalks are brought rather close together on the. 
inside, forming a row of ribs, which has a somewhat neat appearance, 
and the feathery spray, or pinnæ, on the outside, become an outer 
covering, of from 7 to 8 inches in thickness, rendering the interior im- 
pervious to wet, and cool and comfortable to the inhabitants; it will 
last from eight to ten years. The other Palm, equally abundant, and 
intermixed with the one just noticed, is not used for any special pur- 
pose. It is of a more slender habit, having shorter and more arching 
fronds, with the pinne rising from the rachis instead of falling as in 
the former, giving it a rather peculiar appearance, from which it is 
called by the settlers the Curly Palm. Both of these produce very 
large quantities of fruit, the drupe being of an ovate form, about 1 
inch in length, and both have simple spadices (the latter having the 
longest), produced from among and below the lower fronds. 'l'he seeds. 
of both kinds are eaten with the greatest avidity, and are, indeed, the 
principal support of the large bodies of settlers’ pigs, running in most 
parts of the island. 
At an elevation of about 1500 feet, nearly the limit of the preceding 
species, another and very beautiful Palm occurs, called the Umbrella 
Palm by the settlers. It has large pinnate fronds, with a branching 
spadix, bearing a large plum-like fruit, which is of a reddish colour 
when ri This tree is comparatively rare, and is strictly confined to 
the sides of the two high mountains, on the tops of which another and 
smaller species of Palm than any of the preceding kinds is said to 
grow in very great abundance, the fruit yielding the chief food of the 
wild pigs running about in that part. I speak of this Palm only from 
hearsay, as neither I nor any of the party who visited the island with 
me succeeded in reaching either of the mountain tops. The settlers, 
who frequently go there to hunt wild pigs, describe it as comparatively 
low in stature, and bearing a profusion of roundish-shaped fruit. This 
island, therefore, though very small in extent, produces four distinct 
species of Palms, none of which, I think, are deseri 
Among other endogenous plants, those chiefly rabi are two 
species of Pandanus; one, found principally near the coast, with a 
stout, straight stem, bearing from its sides a small number of the usual 
root-like supports ; the other having a much more slender stem, and, 
from an early stage, supported by other very numerous, slender, stem- 
like roots, which are borne to a very considerable height, up to a point 
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