i83»3.] ITS APPEARANCE. 



48: 



at the trifling elevation of 1500 feet, it is surprising- to behold a 

 vegetation possessing a character decidedly British. The hills 

 are crowned with irregular plantations of Scotch firs; and the. 

 sloping banks are thickly scattered over with thickets of gorse, 

 covered with its bright yellow flowers. Weeping-willows are 

 common on the banks of the rivulets, and the hedges are made 

 of the blackberry, producing its well-known fruit. When we 

 consider that the number of plants now found on the island is 

 746, and that out of these fifty-two alone are indigenous species, 

 the rest having been imported, and most of them from England, 

 we see the reason of the British character of the vegetation. 

 Many of these English plants appear to flourish better than in 

 their native country ; some also from the opposite quarter of 

 Australia succeed remarkably well. The many imported species 

 must have destroyed some of the native kinds ; and it is only on 

 the highest and steepest ridges, that the indigenous Flora is 

 now predominant. 



The English, or rather Welsh character of the scenery, is 

 kept up by the numerous cottages and small white houses; 

 some buried at the bottom of the deepest valley*, and others 

 mounted on the crests of the lofty hills. Some of the views are 

 striking, for instance that from near Sir W. Doveton's house, 

 where the bold peak called Lot is seen over a dark wood of firs, 

 the whole being backed by the red water-worn mountains of the 

 southern coast. On viewing the island from an eminence, the 

 first circumstance which strikes one, is the number of the roads 

 and forts : the labour bestowed on the public works, if one for- 

 gets its character as a prison, seems out of all proportion to its 

 extent or value. There is so little level or useful land, that it 

 seems surprising how so many people, about 5000, can subsist 

 here. The lower orders, or the emancipated slaves, are I be- 

 lieve extremely poor : they complain of the want of work. From 

 the reduction in the number of public servants, owing to the 

 island having been given up by the East India Company, and 

 the consequent emigration of many of the richer people, the po- 

 verty probably will increase. The chief food of the working 

 class is rice with a little salt meat ; as neither of these articles 

 are the products of the island, but must be purchased with 

 money, the low wages tell heavily on the poor people. Now 



