49 



PLATE XV. 



BONINSIMA. 



WOODED PLAINS OF THE SEA-SHORE. 



Map. 



The foreground of this view adjoins that of the last, exhibiting the plants which 

 grow immediately above the sand of the sea-shore, those thick bushy herbs and 

 the creeping Sccevola. Close behind commences the forest, which, though cover- 

 ing without interruption the whole island, is very rich and diversified on the foot 

 of the mountains, where there is some level land. A number of fine tall species 

 of trees grow here intermingled in a tropical manner. It is self-evident that 

 many of them could not find room in a plate of such limited size ; even amongst 

 those introduced there were several which, as might be expected, could not 

 be determined at once. A characteristic peculiarity of this forest is the dispro- 

 portion between the crowns and larger branches, and the considerable thickness 

 of the stems of the trees. This feature is observed only on the plains near the 

 sea-shore, but here it is so general that one is inclined to ascribe it to perhaps 

 a regular periodical phenomenon of Nature, — an unusual high tide which occa- 

 sionally floods these plains and rises above the tops of the trees. We met with 

 two sailors who, having suffered shipwreck, and been left on this island, witnessed 

 a year and a half ago one of these catastrophes, and were compelled to take 

 refuge up the mountains. Perhaps this is an answer to the question which 

 every one asks on seeing these beautiful islands, How is it that the Japanese 

 have known them so long, and yet they have remained uninhabited? This 

 would leave little hope of their becoming peopled, for all the land above these 

 plains is mountainous and steep, probably little suited for cultivation. At pre- 

 sent the islands offer to the numerous whalers frequenting these seas a good 

 supply of wood and water. The forest, of which our plate gives a fair speci- 

 men, can everywhere be penetrated with ease, is strikingly beautiful, and 



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