10 Expedition of 1906 



servants are the only inhabitants. The inhospitable islands with 

 their ruined houses and grass-grown streets are the home of a 

 dangerous malaria. Swarms of gnats attack the inhabitants at night 

 and are troublesome even in the daytime as one wanders through the 

 thickets. The strong smell from decaying plants and marine animals, 

 the moisture-laden air and almost intolerable heat bear eloquent 

 testimony, even after a short visit, to the injurious consequences which 

 are bound to follow a longer residence on one of these islands. The 

 lighthouse keepers, in spite of a comparatively high scale of payment, 

 remain a short time only and return with their families after 1 3 

 months service on a long furlough to the healthier climate of Batavia. 

 The island is encircled by surf; at the narrow entrance our boat 

 bumped against the small stone pier which has been built on the coral 

 reef for the convenience of landing. In the course of the repeated 

 journeys of the boat necessary to land provisions for the small number 

 of inhabitants, also the petroleum for the lighthouse lamp, and the post- 

 bags and monthly wages, we had time to explore the island. After 

 traversing streets overgrown with tall grass, and passing through a 

 small vegetable garden and a plantation of coconut palms to a waste 

 piece of formerly cultivated land, we reached the interior and the 

 opposite beach, where broad strips of the original vegetation still 

 remain. 



On the way we found several specimens of a large arborescent 

 euphorbiaceous plant, Pkyllanthns Emblica, draped with tangled 

 skeins and thick coils of yellowish green and brown threads. All the 

 branches and twigs are covered by a dense network of similar threads 

 and the same felted mass hangs from the grasses and herbaceous 

 plants growing under the trees. These long threads are the steins of 

 a climbing parasitic species, Cassytha Jiliformis, which bears a 

 striking resemblance in habit to our native species of Omenta, though it 

 is a member of the family Lauraceae, Avhich has no close affinity with 

 the Convolvulaceae to which Omenta belongs. The vegetative system, 

 like that of Cuscnta, consists of branched climbing shoots bearing 

 adventitious roots modified as haustorial organs which attach them- 

 selves to the tissues of the hosts. The true roots have disappeared 

 and the leaves are reduced to small inconspicuous and functionless 

 scales. The reproductive shoots, on the other hand, both flowers and 

 fruits, are abundantly developed and occur in large spherical or 

 elongated masses. The white fruits are in marked contrast to the 

 tangled felt of host and parasite ; birds eagerly eat them and by 

 ejecting the seeds contribute in an important degree to the dispersal 

 of this interesting member of the strand-flora, which is not as yet so 

 completely adapted to a parasitic life as Omenta. It has the power 



