MAYI77I ST. HELENA: PRODUCTIONS 447 



Good Hope, which, though by nature a mere desert, supplies 

 abundantly refreshments to all nations who touch there, and 

 this island highly favoured by nature, shows not unaptly the 

 genius of the two nations for making colonies. Nor do I 

 think I go too far in asserting that were the Cape now in the 

 hands of the English it would be a desert, as St. Helena in 

 the hands of the Dutch would as infallibly become a paradise. 

 Small as the island is, and not raised very much above 

 the surface of the sea, it enjoys a variety of climates hardly 

 to be believed. The cabbage-trees, 1 as they are called, which 

 grow on the highest ridges, can by no art be cultivated on 

 the lower ones, where the red wood and gum wood both 

 grow ; these in their turn refuse the high ridges, and neither 

 of the three are to be found in the valleys, which indeed are 

 in general covered with European plants, or the more common 

 ones of the Indies, in all probability originally brought here 

 by ships. This is the more probable, as much the largest 

 proportion of them are natives of England. Among them I 

 may mention the meadow grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum), 

 which is the chief covering of their pastures, and to which I 

 am much inclined to attribute the verdure of the island, far 

 exceeding anything I have before seen in equally low latitudes. 

 The furze also (Ulex Europeus), the seeds of which were 

 brought over in the beginning of this century, thrives wonder- 

 fully, and is highly praised by the islanders as a great im- 

 provement, though they make no use of it except for heating 

 their rooms. Barley was sown here about forty years ago, 

 and produced sufficient to supply the island without any 

 being sent from home, Its cultivation has, however, suddenly 

 dropped, for what reason I could not find out, and since 

 that time has never again been attempted. Yams, the same 

 as are called cocos in the West Indies, are what they chiefly 

 depend upon to supply their numerous slaves with provisions : 

 these, however, are not cultivated in half the perfection that 

 I have seen in the South Sea Islands ; nor have they like 

 the Indians several sorts, many of which are very palatable ; 

 but are confined to only one, and that one of the worst. 



1 Small trees and shrubs allied to the aster and groundsel. 



