NARRATIVE OF THE CRUISE. 127 



growth, which at first sight might perhaps be taken for indigenous vegetation, but' is 

 composed of plants that have overrun deserted sugar plantations. It is only in a few 

 remote parts of the island, and in small streaks of broken ground bordering the water- 

 courses, that any original forest exists. The whole of the available land in the island 

 itself, and in all the adjoining islands, was . planted with sugar cane until the 

 emancipation of the slaves in 1833 ; since that time the ground has been allowed to run 

 wild. There was only one estate partly under cultivation at the time of the ship's visit, 

 and the owner of it, Mr. Wyman, said that he made no sugar, but found sufficient sale 

 for his canes in the raw state to be cut up and resold for chewing. The consumption 

 of cane for this purpose must be considerable, for chewing cane appears to be the constant 

 occupation of the negroes of both sexes and all ages. Mr. Wyman was nearly ruined by 

 the emancipation, and said that the planters received only 50 dollars per head compensa- 

 tion for the loss of their slaves, and that after the lapse of three years. 



The shore is covered with corals bleached white by the sun, and amongst these occur 

 quantities of Calcareous Seaweeds [Halimeda opuntia and Halimeda tridens), branching 

 masses composed of leaf-shaped joints of hard calcareous matter articulated together. These 

 are all quite dry and bleached white, and hard and stiff, like corals. Seaweeds belonging to 

 two very different groups of algae thus secrete a calcareous skeleton, Halimeda and its 

 allies, belonging to the Siphonaceae — green coloured algae ; and Lithothamnion and allied 

 genera belonging to the Corallinaceae, which are red coloured algae. These lime-secreting 

 algae are of great importance from a geological point of view, as supplying a large part of 

 the material of which calcareous reefs and sand rocks are built up. At St. Thomas the 

 Siphonaceae are especially abundant, whereas at other places, as at St. Vincent, Cape 

 Verde Islands, the Corallinaceae appear to supply most of the calcareous matter separated 

 from the sea water by plants. 



There is only one kind of Humming Bird at St. Thomas, but it is very common, 

 and is constantly to be seen poised in the air in front of a blossom or darting across the 

 roads. It is remarkable how closely Humming Birds resemble in their flight Sphinx 

 Moths, such as our common Humming Bird Sphinx, so named from this resemblance. 

 They make in their flight exactly the same rapid darts, sudden pauses, quick turns, and the 

 same prolonged hovering over flowers. The most conspicuous land bird, in the island is 

 commonly called the " Black-witch " (Crotophaga ani). These birds are usually to be seen 

 in flocks of three or four, in constant motion amongst the bushes, and screaming harshly 

 when they apprehend danger. They behave very much like Magpies, but are some- 

 what smaller than the English Magpie and black all over. They belong structurally to 

 the family of the Cuckoos (Cuculidse). 



Two Snakes, one a species of Typhlops and the other apparently referable to the genus 

 Coronella, were obtained, as also specimens of Lizards belonging to the genera Anolis 

 and Ameiva. 



