THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE 513 



Near the coast the rough lava is quite bare : in the central 

 and higher parts, feldspathic rocks by their decomposition 

 have produced a clayey soil, which, where not covered by 

 vegetation, is stained in broad bands of many bright colours. 

 At this season, the land moistened by constant showers, pro- 

 duces a singularly bright green pasture, which lower and 

 lower down, gradually fades away and at last disappears. 

 In latitude 16, and 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, 

 vre 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 indig- 

 enous 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 valleys, 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 forgets 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 believe extremely 

 VOL. xxix Q HC 



