AN EXPEDITION TO CHRISTMAS ISLAND. 149 



it is one of the most widely distributed of sea-shore sedges. 

 In another small bay were found three shells of nautilus, and 

 a rhizome and several cut bamboos, which must have been 

 drifted for a long distance there being no bamboo on the 

 Island. The pieces of bamboo were all dry and the rhizome 

 was probably dead when it reached the Island. Although I 

 sought constantly for washed up seeds, etc., on the shores of 

 the Island I could find very little. Seeds, dead, of Terminalia 

 Catappa and Guettarda speciosa, both common plants on the 

 sea coast and one broken shell of a seed of Pangium edule a 

 native of Java were all I could see. Drift wood was also not 

 common. Perhaps when storms occur more seeds and wood 

 are drifted across from Java and elsewhere. Many years 

 ago I received from Mr. Ross an extensive series of seeds 

 drifted up on Cocos Island and one can hardly doubt that 

 many of the trees and shrubs inhabiting Christmas Island 

 are descended from seed drifted there from more distant 

 localities. I was, however, surprised to find so few drift 

 seeds on the beaches. After dark a Malay man captured a 

 large yellow tabby male cat, which said to have escaped a 

 few years ago from an European had become feral. It was 

 extremely savage and bit and scratched the Malay severely, 

 having grown very large and powerful. Although it had been 

 for some time in the forest it had not wandered far from the 

 Waterfall Settlement, and though there was plenty of focd in 

 the way of rats and birds in the forest, it had become a nui- 

 sance by killing the chickens belonging to the coolies. After 

 it had been confined in a box for a short time it became quite 

 tame again and before we left was quite quiet and merely kept 

 on a string to prevent its taking again to the woods. When 

 Andrew's book on Christmas Island was published there were 

 no cats on the Island and he deprecates their introduction on 

 the grounds that if it were to increase to any extent the sea- 

 birds would probably be destroyed or diminished in numbers. 

 There are plenty of cats on the Island now but except this 

 one it does not appear that any have taken to the forest, and 

 should they do so they are more likely to destroy the ground 

 pigeon, thrush and whiteeye which are more terrestrial birds 



R, A. Soc, No. 45, 1905. 



