1871.] 291 [Grayson. 



shore, rolling and thumping, and the water casks which had broken 

 loose were dashing about over the deck most frightfully, endangering 

 the legs of the poor sailor. On the 20th, every movable article that 

 remained on board was taken off; this was safely done, because at 

 low tide one side of the vessel could be reached without the aid of 

 the little skiff, which was now hauled up on shore for safety. Nearly 

 everything was saved, even the clock, cooking stove, culinary uten- 

 sils, implements, sails, etc., all of which, the smallest articles, we 

 prized and treasured up for some future necessity, in anticipation of 

 a long abode amid the wild solitude that surrounded us. We ar- 

 ranged our camp in order, beneath the strange trees, the trunks and 

 branches of which are bent and crooked into every conceivable 

 shape. The wide spreading branches, thickly clothed with leaves, 

 were ample protection against the intense rays of the sun. 



•'This tree seems to belong to the Euphorbiacece. When the bark 

 is cut a thick milky sap flows freely, which very soon becomes con- 

 gealed, and would doubtless fdrm caoutchouc ; it bears a fruit re- 

 sembling small green apples, also containing a profusion of milky 

 fluid. This fluid is poisonous to the skin ; some of the party were 

 poisoned by it. These are the largest trees upon the Island, and the 

 largest of them would not measure quite three feet in diameter at 

 the root ; but the branches which commence near the root are long, 

 and horizontally inclined toward the ground, the leaves are ovate 

 and smooth, of a delicate green color ; the fruit, also smooth, contains 

 clusters of hard seed inside the pulp ; the flowers are without petals 

 or fragrance. Specimens of this tree, together with all the plants 

 collected and packed up, were unfortunately left behind. Other 

 shrubs and plants found upon the Island are of a scrubby nature. 

 Among the branches of the trees around our camp, the little warbler 

 (Paruld) and a busy, happy lit'tle wyen, sing from morning till night. 

 The new mocking bird, too, occasionally gives us a touch of his melo- 

 dious song, sometimes imitating the scream of the Buteo montanus, 

 and the pretty parakeets with their grass green plumage are chatter- 

 ing and whistling all through the grove. Numbers of the little towhee 

 finch (Pipild) that pointed out the water to Cristobal, came around 

 us picking up the crumbs of hard bread thrown to them, and drink- 

 ing and bathing in a basin of water placed on the ground for their 

 special use. All these birds were remarkably tame ; they confidingly 

 came around us, and seemed to be as much pleased with our society 

 as we were with theirs. 



