130 
the orig ee of the people, while, at his request, accompanied by 
Captain Noel, I made myself acquainted with the character of the 
ies ded we the view of suggesting some plants that would be likely 
to thrive in so unpromising a country. We first of all examined a large 
шге < Ts north of the Settlem ent. The surface here was almost 
entirely Hit with a porous Жерен ne, in the cracks and fissures of 
which some trees and shrubs of a scrubby aspect managed to grow. 
Here Srp there i in glades were some batebes of a shallow red soil formed 
by the disintegration of the limestone. In this soil, during such seasons 
as moderate rain fell, the people iie eassava, pigeon-peas, sweet pota- 
toes, okro. At the time of my visit, hardly anything pop was seen 
except some species of Agave, Opuntia, саа; and the vegetation 
peculiar to rocky cliffs in the tropics. The mier (Bursera gummi- - 
fera) was the largest tree seen, while small айй plants of Eugenia, 
Phyllanthus, Eleodendron, and weedy looking Crotons formed the 
bulk of the undergrowth. Such la id was evidently useless for purposes 
of cultivation, except for occasional and precarious food crops, and 
these could only be satisfactorily grown during seasons when there was a 
plentiful. supply of rain. Some of the brushwood was capable of being 
converted into charcoal, but there was no market nearer than St. Thomas, 
and the means of communication were few and far таж Some 
grass was growing here and there in cool hollows, and Ber goats, irse: 
and horses, if supplied with water, could pick up a somewhat scanty 
existence. Le might be,made of the patches of prm биесин for 
pastu ses, for some ' kinds of grasses are known to thrive where 
almost жылы other vegetation fails. We rejoined the Governor at 
nightfall and went on board. It appeared that the privations at An- 
guilla were not entirely owing to the drought. A large number of the 
men had been regularly м. in digging phosphates on the island 
of Sombrero. Their employment there, however, had suddenly ceased, 
and this, combined with the prolonged drought which had over taken 
them at Anguilla, bad left them almost destitute. 
December 15.—We landed this morning soon after 6 o'clock. iis 
went off into the interior of the island in a north-easterly directio: 
towards the revenue ap: near Sandyhill Bay. The чу һеге sloped 
radually towards the eastward, was less rocky, an 
depressions there were the remains of sugar estates ивы had been in 
— — the last 30 years. Тһе soil was fairly good und 
some shelter from wind. The trees in this neighbourho 
d fac than those seen the day before, and water was 
obtainable о deep wells even in the driest weather. Careful search 
but only 
tunately, one that yielded a very inferior class of fibre. It was useless, 
therefore, to attempt the systematic cultivation of this plant. After con- 
siderable difficulty, one plant of Furerea cubensis was found on land to 
orth-west. This it appears had been introduced there. The 
көйү 
