XIV 



MlusttYRtiani at 13f)gta--<&e0grap|)2. 



dry season ; everywhere is aridity, very 

 few trees with fresh foliage are seen in the 

 forest, and perhaps the third part of all is 

 quite leafless. The sea-shores are either 

 kept supplied with moisture by rivulets 

 from the interior, and then overgrown 

 with Bruguiera and other Mangroves ; or 

 they are sandy, and in that case distinguish- 

 ed by two forms very characteristic of this 

 island— Cycas circinalis, very common here- 

 abouts, and a shrubby pyram idal Casuariiia, 

 which is again met with in the upper 

 steppes of the interior. Banks of coral 

 surround the shores on all sides, making 

 this larger island, as the high Carolines, 

 appear like mountains risen in the centre 

 of extensive coral plains. The plain, shown 

 in our illustration, though destitute of 

 springs, is nevertheless covered with fine 

 tall trees, and, although thorny underwood 

 abounds, is on the whole tolerably easy to 

 penetrate. True, there are occasionally 

 considerable thickets of luxuriant Cycas, 

 as shown in the centre of our illustration, 

 a few old trees of considerable height form- 

 ing an agreeable contrast with this rather 

 chaotic group of saplings. Amongst them 

 are a few branching apparently very old 

 specimens, as seen on the left of our plate. 

 The forest trees include one distinguished 

 by its slender growth and thick foliage (the 

 leaves resembling those of the ash), which 

 vernacularly is termed ' Pai-pai,' and es- 

 teemed on account of its extremely hard 

 wood. The same remark applies to another 

 tree of similar aspect, the leaves of which 

 are, however, more like those of the myrtle, 

 whilst the bark is pale yellow. A screw- 

 pine, Pandanus, though isolated, is rather 

 common. It does not seem to differ essen- 

 tially from Pandanus odoratissimus, and is 

 conspicuous by its slender undulated 

 branches, and long narrow leaves, of which 

 there are comparatively few in each crown. 

 Several species of Cordia exhibit their 

 gigantic growth, and are in the dry season 

 but sparingly clad with leaves; here and 

 there their stem is surrounded by a net- 

 work of creepers. But the most striking 

 of all the trees is a huge species of Fig, the 

 representative of the banyan in this place. 

 It differs evidently in every respect from 

 that of Ualan, the height of which it no- 

 where seems to attain. Its comparatively 

 tall stem has the appearance of a gigantic 

 bundle of sticks, the component parts of 

 which must be considered as being curious- 

 ly twisted around each other, and grown 

 together into a compact mass. On the 

 upper end of this rather conical bundle 

 spreads out like an umbrella a crown form- 

 ed of fantastically twisted branches, which 

 has numerous fine leaves of a dark rather 

 greyish-green. The tree seen on the right- 

 hand side of the foreground is a smaller 

 species of fig, the aerial roots of which 

 have quite the look of creepers. Elegant 

 ferns cover its branches. There is also a 

 species of Cerbera, frequently met in the 

 Caroline, Marianne, and Bonine Islands ; 

 it resembles in growth and in its leaves 

 he Terminalia Catappa, but its principal 

 ranches are more rectangular. [B. S.] 



CORAL REEF IN THE CAROLINES. 



(Plate VII.) 



[REFERENCE.— a. Myrtaceous tree; b. Scaevola ; 

 c. Tournefortia ; d. Cocoa-nut Palms ; e. Ar- 

 locarpus incisa ; f. Tournefortia ; g. Pan- 

 danus odoratissimus.'] 



Imagine a chain of comparatively long 

 narrow sandbanks, hardly elevated above 

 the level of the ocean, having a general 

 horseshoe-like outline, and sheltered 

 against the waves by a coral reef surround- 

 ing the whole. Everywhere within the 

 latter the water is shallow; the bottom, 

 consisting of coral sand, is evidently rising 

 and gradually becoming dry land, so that 

 the open narrow channels crossing the long 

 ridge of land and dividing it into several 

 islands, will in time disappear. The present 

 view represents one of these channels. 

 Standing at the extremity of one island, 

 we look across upon the other. On the 

 right we have an expanded view of the 

 reef, distant about 200 paces, and behind it 

 the surf of the ocean ; on the left we be- 

 hold the basin of unequal depth, surround- 

 ed by the horseshoe-like chain, where the 

 prospect is closed by a few islets of this 

 selfsame chain. Such coral islands, but 

 recently risen above the sea-level, exhibit 

 no trace of that vegetation which esta- 

 blishes itself on the older ones. The first 

 green appearing on the hitherto naked 

 sand invariably consists of shrubby Sccevo- 

 las with small white flowers, which after- 

 wards form also the principal brushwood 

 of the shores, and a specimen of which is 

 represented in thecentreof theforeground. 

 The rich juicy foliage of this plant may be 

 I well suited to the formation of vegetable 

 j mould, in which afterwards a more diver- 

 I sified vegetation finds a home. Next fol- 

 j lows a Tournefortia, common in all the 

 islands of these seas, which assumes more 

 the look of a small tree, and has a less 

 bushy habit ; the silvery grey colour of its 

 leaves forms a strong contrast with the 

 fresh light green of the Scozvola. A young 

 specimen of this exclusively littoral plaut 

 is seen on the right-hand side of the fore- 

 ground, and an older one in the distance. 

 Close by will be noticed the delicate f ol iage 

 of another probably myrtaceous shrub pe- 

 culiar to the outskirts of these forests : an 

 old fully grown specimen of it is seen in 

 the foreground to the left. In the out- 

 skirts of the forest at a distance are found, 

 besides theexclusivelylittoralplants, other 

 half-shrubby trees. Two specimens of 

 Pandanus odoratissimus, so common in all 

 these islands, will easily be recognised by 

 their peculiar habit. Their trunks exhibit 

 numerous crowns. On the right-hand side 

 of the smaller specimen to the left are seen, 

 besides the low Scwvola and the just-men- 

 tioned Myrtacea, a species of Hibiscus, 

 with cordate leaves and dark carmine- 

 coloured flowers, which either occurs as a 

 shrub or small tree ; and above it a Calo- 

 phyllum, which in other places becomes a 

 stately forest tree, and has a dark green 



