CHAP. XIV ST. HELENA 309 



period, or even earlier, had been saved from the destruc- 

 tion which has overtaken their allies on the great con- 

 tinents. Unfortunately many, we do not know how 

 many, of these forms have been exterminated by the 

 carelessness and improvidence of its civilised but ignorant 

 rulers ; and it is only by the extreme ruggedness and 

 inaccessibility of its peaks and crater-ridges that the 

 scanty fragments have escaped by which alone we arc 

 able to obtain a glimpse of this interesting chapter in the 

 life-history of our earth. 



