7G 



THE MARIANA ISLANDS. — GUAHON. 



1 HE Mariana islands form a volcanic chain, lying 

 in a direction from north to south. The volcanoes 

 and the seat of the subterraneous fire are in the 

 north of the chain, where barren, burnt rocks are 

 enumerated among the islands. 



In Guahon, the most southern of them, and, at 

 the same time, the largest and most considerable, 

 only slight shocks of earthquakes are felt. Guahon 

 appears, from the N.E. side, a tolerably high level 

 land, the shores of which are rugged precipices. 

 The neiirhbourhood of the eminences and town 

 bear a different character, and have lofty hills and 

 beautiful vallies. 



We found no other kind of rock but madre- 

 pores, calcareous spar, and lime-stone. 



The island is well wooded ; the Flora appears to 

 be rich, and the vegetation luxuriant. The forests 

 descend on the sloping shores to the sea ; and dif- 

 ferent kinds o? Rhizophora bathe, in covered places, 

 their foliage in the waves. Nothing can equal the 

 aromatic odour which wafted to us on our arrival 

 over the surf, when we were seeking an anchorage. 

 The orange-trees, like other fruit-trees of various 

 kinds, are grown wild ; memorials of a former more 

 flourishing cultivation. Many foreign plants have 



