CLIMATE AS INFLUENCED BY THE FOREST. 139 



ST. HELENA. 



Fully forested when discovered in 1502. The introduction 

 of goats and other causes led to the removal of its forests. 

 Heavy floods and severe droughts were the result ; replanting 

 of forest trees towards the close of 1700 resulted in a more 

 uniform rainfall and its better distribution. Subsequent de- 

 structions of the forest have again brought back the original 

 condition of affairs. 



ISLAND OF ASCENSION. 



When discovered in 1815 it was barren, and so destitute 

 of water that supplies were brought to it from the mainland. 

 The effects of planting trees resulted in an increased rainfall, 

 from 10.18 in 1858 to 25.11 in 1863. It now grows forty kinds 

 of trees, where but one grew in 1843 for want of water. 



