CHAP. II. KEW PLANTS AND FLOWERS. S9 



of having his own way, and generally obtained it ; and equally 

 prepossessed in favour of his o^vn opinion, which he reluctantly 

 surrendered, and never without giving valid reasons why it 

 should have been followed. 



"WTienever the weather was favourable, we always spent as 

 much of the day as possible on shore, and always found much 

 enjojrment in noticing the rich, beautiful, and sometimes new 

 forms of vegetation which covered the land. I met with no 

 bulbs, but probably it was their season of rest; several 

 beautiful varieties of acacia, especially the yellow-flowering 

 Acacia inclica, grew everywhere most luxuriantly. Also a 

 dwarf solanum, with bright blue and yellow flowers, prickly 

 leaves, and globular yellow berries about an inch in diameter. 

 I frequently met with the lively little viuca or Catharanthus 

 roseus, not with pale, lanky-stalked, and sickly-looking yellow 

 leaves, as we sometimes see them in stoves at home, but 

 thick-stalked, dwarf, bushy, dark-leaved plants, every t^vig of 

 which was terminated -with perfectly formed and deep rose- 

 coloured flowers. I noticed also several species of what ap- 

 peared to me to be Grardenia, some in blossom ; also a beautiful 

 little grassy-like plant \nih. pale blue flowers, greatly re- 

 semblicg the wild forget-me-not. There were many kinds of 

 hibiscus, both herbaceous and woody, and the ricinus, or 

 castor-oil plant, both the purple and green variety. The 

 neighbourhood of Tamatave appeared rich in indigo plants, 

 of which there were two or three varieties, one with small 

 dark-coloured leaves and long spikes of reddish pink flowers. 



Amongst the trees, I noticed the aleurites, or candle nut, 

 with which I had been familiar in the South Sea Islands, and 

 one or two species of Eugenia. The soil on which they grew 

 was little better than pure sand, and the trees were dwarfish 

 and stiff. But I was most delighted with the few Orchidaceous 

 plants which I obtained. Among these were Angracum 

 eburneimi or A. superbum, and the rare and beautiful Angroa- 



D 4 



