OF LA PEROUSE. 2^ 



water, a good fpirituous liquor : thefe fruits arc 

 here very abundant, and may be ufeful to navi- 

 gators. 



Among the large trees that grew on Cocoa-nut 

 Ifland I faw with furprife a new fpecies of arcca, 

 whofe trunk, which rote to upwards of thirty-fix 

 meters, was no more than two thirds of a deci- 

 meter in thicknefs. It was difficult to conceive 

 how fo weak a tree could fupport itfclf at fuch 

 an elevation ; but our aftonifhment ceafed when 

 we wifhed to fell one : its wood was fo extremely 

 hard, that for fome time it rehired the redoubled 

 blows of the axe. A great quantity of mucilagi- 

 nous fubftance, under the form of pith, occupied 

 its centre, as is the property of many other 

 trees of the fame family : this pith being re- 

 moved, the trunk exhibited a cylinder, the wood 

 of which was not more than a centimeter in 

 thicknefs ; the wood is of a beautiful black. The 

 fruit of this new fpecies of arcca is of a red co- 

 lour; it is fcarcely bigger than a common olive, 

 and is nearly of the fame fhape. 



The caryota urens was one of the large trees of 

 this forcft. Among the ihrubs I faw feveral fpe- 

 cies of draccena. I admired among the trees a 

 folanum, undoubtedly the talleir fpecies of that 

 genus; thofe which are till the prefent day 

 known to botanifls being only herbs or weak 

 fhrubs : the leaves of this folanum are oval, hard, 



and very fmooth. 



Teak- 



