ANATOM. 199 



horse cliesnut, the sago-pahn, another species of palm tree 

 bearing small nuts, called in the country Nakoai, the sugar 

 cane, the taro, whicli is the staple article of food, another 

 plant resembling taro, but much coarser than it, yams in 

 small quantities, sweet potatoes and arrowroot, both abun- 

 dant, the latter of excellent quality, and more than a 

 hundred species of ferns. The kinds introduced are the 

 orange, the lime, the lemon, the citron, the pine-apple, 

 custard-apple, papau-apple, all of which, as well as melons 

 and pumpkins, have succeeded. The cultivation of the 

 cotton plant has also begun, and as much as 1,900 pounds of 

 cotton had already been exported in 1864. In the same 

 year wei-e exported 2,^00 pounds of arrowroot, and 6000 

 pounds of French beans, which grow admirably well, and 

 lind a ready market at Sydney. 



A small dun-coloured rat is the only indigenous quad- 

 ruped. Pigs abounded when the island was discovered. 

 Whales are plentiful in the season : upwards of £2,000 

 worth of whale oil has been obtained from whales caught 

 round the island in one year. Horses, cows, goats, sheep, 

 dogs, and cats have been introduced, and, with the excep- 

 tion of sheep, thrive well. The English rat is common. 

 There are three or four varieties of the cat. 



Birds are not numerous : four species of pigeons, two of 

 hawks, one owl, one species of swallow, which is like the 

 sand-martin, and builds its nest in caves and rocks ; one 

 species of wild duck. Tlie common fowl, but small in size, 

 was plentiful when the island was discovered. Geese, 



