454 KEELING ISLAND. [cHaAP. xx. 
metry, were mingled into one wood. A beach of glittering white 
sand formed a border to these fairy spots. 
Iwill now give a sketch of the natural history of these islands, 
which, from its very paucity, possesses a peculiar interest. The 
cocoa-nut tree, at the first glance, seems to compose the whole 
wood; there are, however, five or six other trees. One of 
these grows to a very large size, but, from the extreme softness 
of its wood, is useless; another sort affords excellent timber for 
ship-building. Besides the trees, the number of plants is exceed- 
ingly limited, and consists of insignificant weeds. In my collec- 
tion, which includes, I believe, nearly the perfect Flora, there 
are twenty species, without reckoning a moss, lichen, and fungus. 
To this number two trees must be added; one of which was not 
in flower, and the other I only heard of. The latter is a solitary 
tree of its kind, and grows near the beach, where, without doubt, 
the one seed was thrown up by the waves. A Guilandina also 
grows on only one of the islets. Ido not include in the above 
list the sugar-cane, banana, some other vegetables, fruit-trees, 
and imported grasses. As the islands consist entirely of coral, 
and at one time must have existed as mere water-washed reefs, 
all their terrestrial productions must have been transported here 
by the waves of the sea. In accordance with this, the Florula 
has quite the character of a refuge for the destitute: Professor 
Henslow informs me that of the twenty species nineteen be- 
long to different genera, and these again to no less than sixteen 
families !* 
In Holman’s t Travels an account is given, on the authority 
of Mr. A. S. Keating, who resided twelve months on these 
islands, of the various seeds and other bodies which have been 
known to have been washed on shore. ‘ Seeds and plauts from 
Sumatra and Java have been driven up by the surf on the wind- 
ward side of the islands. Among them have been found the 
Kimiri, native of Sumatra and the peninsula of Malacca; the 
cocoa-nut of Balci, known by its shape and size; the Dadass, 
which is planted by the Malays with the pepper-vine, the latter _ 
intwining round its trunk, and supporting itself by the prickles 
* These plants are described in the Annals of Nat. Hist., vol. i., 1838, 
337 
de 
t+ Holman’s Travels, vol. iv. p. 378. 
