220 
Mrs. T. Vernon Wollaston on 
makers ” as they icily collect the fresli-cut grass from the 
precipitous slopes at the commencement of the deep ravines. 
Yet lie may, perhaps, be tempted to feel that he might, after 
all, almost as well (except for the mere fact that it is summer 
at the time of year which he is accustomed, in more northern 
latitudes, to regard as mid-winter) be in the British Isles for 
what he sees in the surrounding country to indicate a tropical 
or even a distinctive fauna. But only let him scramble on 
for less than a mile, and he will be surprised at the complete 
change which presents itself. At least, daily as we returned 
to the crest of the great central ridge, we never failed to be 
astonished and delighted at the sudden transition from Eng¬ 
lish broom, brambles, willows, Scotch pines, and gorse 
bushes, Cape-of-Goocl-Hope bushes, Australian trees, Ame¬ 
rican weeds, and the somewhat choicer importations peeping 
from the various gardens and more highly cultivated spots, to 
the mass of native vegetation which still clothes the loftiest 
peaks. However, so small is the area that has been left in a 
state of nature that hardly more now remains than sufficient 
to give a tantalizing glimpse of what the island must have 
been like before the struggle for existence began between the 
imported * and natural vegetation : amongst the latter the 
arborescent Composite, tree ferns, and two or three distinct 
species of Wahlenbergias are the most conspicuous. 
Therefore, considering the extreme isolation of St. Helena, 
the smallness of its areaf, and the deteriorated nature of the 
country, the following is, I imagine, as good a list as could 
be expected. Out of the ninety-four species that we met 
* The manifest deterioration of St. Helena during the last three hun¬ 
dred years is much to he deplored. The first step towards producing this 
alteration (fully five sixths of the island, which was once well-wooded, 
being now utterly sterile) was undoubtedly due to the introduction of 
goats. These multiplied so rapidly that they soon existed in thousands, and 
jyell-nigh destroyed all vegetation by their continuous nibbling at every 
fresh shoot or seedling that appeared; and as, at the same time, the trees 
were permitted by the inhabitants to be “ chopped down ruthlessly for 
fuel, into a chaos of scorise,” it did not take long to bring about this un¬ 
desirable result. However, even this is not all that the aboriginal vege¬ 
tation has had to contend with ; for the same Governor who at last took 
the strongest measures to exterminate the goats (or, at any rate, com¬ 
pelled them to be kept within bounds) for the sake of protecting the 
native plants, counteracted his measures, for the latter purpose, himself, 
to a great degree, by promoting the introduction, on a large scale, of 
exotic plants from all parts of the world, which have since propagated 
themselves with such rapidity, and grown with such vigour, that the 
native plants cannot compete with them, and are therefore gradually 
diminishing year by year. 
t St. Helena is not calculated to be more than ten miles long by seven 
broad. 
