THE BOTANY OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND. 157 



In July 1897 Mr. C. Andrews, visited the island and 

 remained for upwards of a year, during which he made exten- 

 sive collections, and explored a good portion of the island. 

 The account of his expedition appeared in 1900 as " a Mono- 

 graph of Christmas Island" published by the trustees of the 

 Britsh Museum. He added a large number of species to the 

 known flora ; many indigenous ones, and about a dozen intro- 

 duced plants or weeds which had more or less established 

 themselves. 



At that time clearings were being made and roads cut, 

 and since the opening up and development of the Phosphate 

 quarries, there has been an influx of Chinese, who have 

 brought in their train a number of cultivated plants and 

 weeds. Practically however the greater part of the island is 

 quite unaffected by these arrivals, which have only spread in 

 Flying Fish Cove, along the Cemetery road, and round the 

 Phosphate hill quarries, and also on the cleared ground at 

 the waterfall. At the time of Mr. Andrew's visit no herbi- 

 vorous animals except one goat had been introduced, but 

 since then a few cattle and some horses have been brought, 

 and these perhaps are responsible for the appearance of some 

 weeds, such as Amaranthus viridis, and Panicum colonum which 

 not rarely spring up where the dung of these animals is 

 dropped. In the collections made by myself in 1904 there 

 are a number of introduced weeds not obtained by Mr. Andrews, 

 as well as some indigenous plants which were either overlooked 

 by him or not in flower at the time of his visit. 



The collection although made at a very dry time of the 

 year, as not a drop of rain fell till quite the close of our visit, 

 contained nearly all the flowering plants and ferns previously 

 collected, as well as the novelties alluded to. 



The plants not seen by me on this occasion were Spilan- 

 thesacmeU 'a and Hibiscus abelnwschus, introduced and fugacious 

 weeds ; Cerbera odollam found by Andrews at Rocky Point, 

 which has since been much cleared for coolie lines, and the 

 tree perhaps destroyed ; Remusatia vivipara in the old path to- 

 Phosphate hill, which has perhaps been destroyed by the 

 formation of the tip for the Phosphate, at the end of the 



ft. A. Soc, No. 45, 1905. 



