35 2 A NATURALIST IN THE PACIFIC chap. 



and Samoan Islands with the genus from regions to the west. 

 But the occurrence of the genus in Hawaii seems to compel 

 us to assume that the seeds have been carried in a bird's 

 stomach over 1,500 to 2,000 miles of ocean. This difficulty, 

 however, does not really exist. Eugenia rariflora, the Polynesian 

 species found in Hawaii, frequents, as before observed, coast 

 districts and coral islets in Fiji, and if we suppose that the 

 low islands of the Fanning and Phcenix Groups, lying between 

 Hawaii and Samoa, have served as stepping-stones, a capacity 

 of crossing 1,000 miles of ocean would be alone required. This 

 is not much in excess of the distance that must have been 

 traversed by the bird that first brought the seeds of Eugenia 

 monticola to the Bermudas. 



Other genera like Morinda and Scaevola, possessing fleshy fruits 

 dispersed by frugivorous birds, have been mentioned in different 

 connections in other parts of this work, and will not be further 

 dealt with here. But before concluding this chapter I will refer 

 briefly to one of the disquieting mysteries in the flora of the 

 Pacific which is presented to us in the genus Gossypium. Three 

 species are, or were, truly indigenous in this region. One is 

 Gossypium drynarioides, a small endemic tree found by Nelson, 

 the companion of Captain Cook, in Hawaii, which was very rare in 

 Hillebrand's time, and is perhaps now extinct. The second is G. 

 tomentosum (Nuttall), which is also peculiar to Hawaii, where it 

 is found on the beaches. I am following here the Index Kewensis ; 

 but it should be remarked that this species occurs also in Fiji, though 

 Seemann regards it as introduced. The third is G. religiosum (L.), 

 found by Captain Cook's botanists growing wild in Tahiti, and hail- 

 ing from the tropics of the Old World. The seeds of the first species 

 are covered with a short brownish tomentum, and could never have 

 been of any value. The tawny wool of the seeds of the second 

 species has a staple too short for cultivation ; whilst the Tahitians 

 do not seem to have made any use of the third species. It is 

 difficult to draw any conclusion concerning the presence of these 

 plants in the Pacific islands at the time of their discovery ; nor can 

 Dr. Seemann, who was especially well informed in these matters, 

 aid us much in our endeavours to solve the mystery. From the 

 aboriginal names we get no clue. The Hawaiian name of 

 " huluhulu " seemingly refers to the hairy covering of the seed ; 

 whilst the Tahitian " vavai " and " ovari " simulate the Fijian 

 " vauvau," which is merely the reduplicated form of " vau " (the 

 word in many shapes for Hibiscus tiliaceus in Malaya and Poly- 



