360 FEEJEE GROUP. 



thousand feet, on the leeward side of the large islands, the original 

 vegetation has been for the most part destroyed by the fires which 

 the natives use to clear their planting grounds. During our sojourn 

 we occasionally saw the fire running over vast fields. The forest 

 above that elevation, having escaped its ravages, forms umbrageous 

 masses, where the underwood and herbaceous part of the vegetation 

 disappear. As the ridges and summits are approached, the trees 

 become more sparse, giving an opportunity to the numerous species 

 of ferns (Filices), to receive both light and air : these are found in 

 great quantities, and varieties, both terrestrial and parasitical, inter- 

 mingled with various forms of epiphytical orchidese, and many mosses, 

 with which the trees are decked. Climbing plants are numerous, but 

 are found chiefly to prevail around the margin of cultivated patches 

 and the banks of rivulets, finding there more nutriment for their 

 support. Three species of Freycinetia, a melastomaceous and ascle- 

 piadeous plant, were the only climbers observed above the height of 

 two thousand five hundred feet. The lower region is usually appro- 

 priated to plantations of fruits and roots. The yams are generally 

 planted in dry open situations, but the bananas and plantains are 

 found in extensive plantations, growing in rich soil, protected by 

 the bread-fruit and ivi trees from the violent winds which they oc- 

 casionally experience. The plants that strike the eye of a stranger 

 visiting these islands, are those immediately above high-water 

 mark, viz. : Hibiscus tiliaceus, Barringtonia, Hernandia sonora, 

 Erythrina indica, Cordia, with rich yellow flowers, Xylocarpus, 

 which has a large and very attractive-Looking yellow fruit; a species 

 of Ixora and a Volkameria, both with fragrant blossoms; the man- 

 grove (tiri of the natives) which pushes its vegetation even into 

 the salt water, and covers large tracts of coral reefs and muddy 

 creeks, giving a beautiful appearance to the low and swampy ground. 

 The last-named plant seems peculiarly adapted to this situation, and 

 it not only lives and thrives in salt water, but the young plants are 

 found pushing themselves towards the sea, springing from the 

 chinks and cracks of the coral; they are frequently overflowed 

 three or four feet at high water, but they nevertheless contrive to 

 hold their place, and when they gain sufficient height, they again 

 send forth their aerial roots, which descending, soon give the parent 

 stem sufficient support to withstand all the efforts of the surf to dis- 

 place them. 



Our botanists were extremely industrious in collecting in this new 



