:^ 



50 



On Coral Reefs and Ic^lands. 



with at Fakaafo. Volcanic ashes are sometimes, distributed orer 

 these islands, through the atmosphere ; and in this manner the 

 soil of the Tonga Islands is improvedj and in some places it has 

 received a reddish color. ^^ m 



The officers of the Vincennes observed several large masses of 

 compact and cellular basalt on Rose Island, a few degrees east of 

 Samoa: they were lying two hundred yards inside of the hne 

 of breakers. The island is uninhabited, and the origin of the 

 stones is doubtful ; they may have been brought there by roots 

 of trees, or perhaps by some canoe. 



Notwithstanding the great number of coral islands in the Paii- 

 mbtu Archipelago, the botanist finds there, as Dr. Pickering in- 

 forms me, only twenty-eight or twenty-nine native species of 

 plants. The following are the most common of them : 



Portulacca, two species. 

 ScsGVola Konigii. 

 Pisonia? one species. 

 Tournefortia sericea. 



Pandanus odoratissimus, 

 Lepidium, one species. 

 Euphorbia, one species. 

 Morinda citrifolia. 

 Boerhavia, two species. 

 Cassytha, one species, 

 Heliotropiura prostratum. 



Pemphis acidula, 

 Guettarda speciosa. 

 Triumphetta procumbens. 



Suriana maritima? 



Convolvulus, one species. 



Urtica, one or two species. 



Asplenium nidus. 



Achyranthus, one species. 



A species of grass. 



One or two rubiaceous shrubs. 



Polypodium. 



J 



On Rose Island Dr. Pickering found only the Pisoyiia and a 

 Portulacca. The 'jTriumphetta procumhens^ a creeping plant 

 takes root like the Portulacca, in the most barren sands, and is 

 very common. The Tournefortia and Sccevola are also among 

 the earliest species. The Pisonia^ a tree of handsome foliage, 

 the Panda7uis or Screw-pine, and the Cocoanut^ (always an in- 

 tro4uced species,) constitute the larger part of the forests. In 

 the Marshall Group, where the vegetation is more varied, Cha- 

 misso observed fifty-two native plants, and in a few instances the 

 Banana, Taro, and Breadfruit. 



The language of the natives indicates their poverty, as well 

 as the limited productions and unvarying features of the land. 

 All words like those for mountain, hill, river, and many of the 

 implements of their ancestors, as well as the trees and other veg- 

 etation of the land from which they are derived, are lost to them ; 

 and as words are but signs for ideas, they have fallen off in geti- 

 eral intelligence. It would be an interesting inquiry for the phi- 

 losopher, to what extent a race of men placed in such circum- 

 stances are capable of mental improvement. Perhaps the query 



might be test answered by another, How many of the various 



arts of civilized life could exist in a land, where shells are the 



it*' 



■ 



$ 





* 



