WARNINGS FROM HISTORY 305 



Formerly the plains were cultivated, and inundations 

 were much less frequent and less destructive than 

 nowadays. As roads came to be opened the profit 

 from sheep and cattle became greater, and the clear- 

 ing of forests was begun to make room for pasturage 

 and, to some extent, for timber, until by degrees the 

 slopes of the mountains were denuded, and the rains, 

 having nothing to hinder, began to form eroding 

 torrents, the south slopes suffering most, because first 

 cleared and directly exposed to the sun's heat. The 

 extremes of flood and drouth became excessive, and 

 extensive tracts have been ruined for present occupa- 

 tion from this source. 



ST. HELENA 



BYR. W. PHIPPS 



THE Island of St. Helena, the well-known scene 

 of Napoleon's banishment, furnishes a remarkable 

 illustration of the connection that exists between 

 forests and rainfall. When first discovered, in 1502, 

 it had heavy forests. The introduction of goats, and 

 other causes, destroyed these woodlands, until the 

 island was almost denuded. The consequences were 

 that in the records of the last century we find accounts 

 of repeated and almost periodical visitations of 

 very severe drought, occasioning various losses to 

 cattle and crops. Towards the end of the last 

 century, however, the governor saw the need of 



