204 ON THE BOTANY OF THE BRITISH POLAR EXPEDITION. 



* 



Mons. N. Vitale, the British Vice-Consul at Lattakia, gives the 

 following brief particulars of the whole procedure of the growth 

 and manufacture at the present clay (1876) : — 



The seeds are sown in March in nursery-beds, carefully worked 

 and manured. From these, in May, the young plants are removed 

 and planted out in the fields a foot apart, and carefully watered. 

 Seven or eight weeks afterwards gathering commences, the leaves, 

 as they are daily collected, being strung on threads and hung to 

 the roofs of the houses, which are without windows. When the 

 collection is finished the fumigation is begun by burning in the 

 houses the wood of "el Ez'r " ; the greener the wood the more 

 successful the fumigation. This gives the tobacco its black colour 

 and its almost aromatic odour. It continues till the following 

 April, but produces the best results in whiter, and especially 

 in February. When the tobacco is removed from the roofs it 

 is dry, and needs damping before packing. The absorption of 

 water is facilitated by piling it in heaps and weighting it with 

 stones. The merchants who receive it keep it some time in store 

 to allow it to dry and ferment before packing. 



ON THE BOTANY OF THE BRITISH POLAR 



EXPEDITION OF 1875-6. 



Chichester 



7 — 3 



' Discovery. 1 



(Continued from p. 182.) 



if 



Dist. 12 3-5. Lat. 69° 15' to 78° 18'. E. and G. 



Frequent, and always by the sea-side, at or near high water 

 mark . 



8. lunyipes, Goldie. 



Dist 1 2 3 - 5 6 7 8 9 - - 12 13. Lat. 69° 15' to 82° 27'. 

 E., W., and G. 



One of the commonest plants at Foulke Fiord ; a reindeer shot 

 thereby Lieut. Conybeare had its stomach full of this plant in a 

 hall-digested state ; in this condition it is a dish highly prized by 

 the Esquimaux. Common in Discovery Bay, but flowering 

 sparingly. In flower July 7. 



Sea-level to 1500 feet in Discovery Bay. 



Cermtium alpimun, L. 



Dist 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13. Lat. 68° 42' to 82° 50'. 

 E., W., and G. 



A very variable plant, very stunted in the more northerly 

 regions. In a small enclosure behind the governor's house at 

 Disco it reached a height of ten inches. Flowering the first week 

 m July m Discovery liay. Floeberg Beach (H. W. F. and coll. 

 Moss) ; Cape Joseph Henry (H. W. F.) 



