442 PERCY SLADEN TRUST EXPEDITION 



Plate 28. Assumption. 

 Fig. 1. A typical scene in the interior of the island. The surface of the land is fairly rough, and jagged 

 pinnacles, the result of rain-water denudation, are not uncommon. 



The vegetation consists of low trees and shrubs separated by stretches of rock covered with 

 tangled herbaceous plants among which Plumbago aphylla is conspicuous. The tree in the fore- 

 ground is Euphorbia Abbotti. 

 Fig. 2. A stretch along the east coast of the island is covered with guano. The illustration shows an 

 area from which the guano has been cleared while in the distance on the cliffs are trees of Pemphis 

 acidula. 



Plate 29. Sectional Diagrams. 

 Fig. 1. Assumption. 

 Fig. 2. Astove. 



These sections are drawn up from soundings kindly made for me by Captain R. Parcou. I would 

 call attention to the steep slope to the west and the long gradual slope to the east or windward. It is 

 believed that the latter has been caused partly by the loss of land due to sea erosion and partly by the 

 piling of sand (foraminiferal) by the sea. 



In order to bring the diagrams within reasonable dimensions it was necessary to greatly magnify 

 the vertical scale in relation to the horizontal. The heights are in feet and the depths in fathoms. 



The seaward slope to the west is in each section inset in natural scale. 



