ROAIANZOFF ISLAND. 2'2l 



Tlie islands seen by iis all appeared to be inhospit- 

 able, and really nninhabited, and the small Uoman- 

 zoff Island was the only one of all those on which 

 we landed that was covered with cocoa-trees. The 

 formation to which they belong has already been 

 described. We have only to add a few remarks 

 on those we visited. A look at the atlas will be 

 more instructive with respect to the others than all 

 we could say about them. 



Romanzoff Island is of small circumference. 

 The raised dam of madrepore, which forms the 

 outward edge, incloses a flat, where there seems 

 to be a greater depth of mould, on which slender 

 cocoa-trees rise here and there, without forming an 

 entire wood. The raised protecting edge is par- 

 tially broken on the leeward side of the island, and 

 it appears, that in very high tides the sea pene- 

 trates into the interior of the island. The rain- 

 water which w^as collected in many places was per- 

 fectly sweet. 



The Flora here is extremely poor. We counted 

 only nineteen species of perfect plants, (one fern, 

 three Monocotyledones and fifteen DicotyledoneSy') 

 and we do not think that many have escaped our ob- 

 serv^ation. The low AcotyledoneSy with which vege- 

 tation begins in higher latitudes, seems to be want- 

 ing here. The lichens appear only on the trunks 

 of old trees, like a powdery covering, and the black 

 mould on the stone does not seem to be of a vege- 

 table nature. A moss, and several fungi which we 



