WEST INDIAN BEACH-DRIFT 



15 



once very large, now very small, reaches the Turks Islands at the 

 south-eastern extremity of the Bahamas. Depositing on those small 

 islands a sample of its contents, it continues its drift westward and 

 northward towards the last starting-point of the swift current of 

 the Gulf Stream in the Straits of Florida before it begins the Atlantic 

 traverse. 



How truly the sample represents the seeds likely to be drifted 

 across the Atlantic is shown in the fact that practically all the seeds 

 and fruits known to me as having been stranded on the coasts of 

 Europe occur in the drift of the Turks Islands, making up as much as 

 a third of the total. A list of them is given in the following chapter. 

 We are thus able to detect at a glance the larger seeds and fruits 

 of the drift which are most likely to accomplish the traverse of the 

 North Atlantic without loss of the germinative capacity. The results 

 obtained in the Turks Islands therefore fully justified my selection 

 of this locality for the observation of Nature's method of sifting the 

 drift of the West Indian region before it gets within the influence 

 of the Gulf Stream in the Florida Sea. 



The Black River of Jamaica as a Source of a Drift. — As an 

 example of the manner in which rivers convey seeds and fruits to 

 the sea in the West Indian region, I will take the case of the Black 

 River, the largest river in Jamaica. Above the mangrove belt of 

 Rhizophora mangle, Laguncularia racemosa, and Avicennia nitida, 

 all of them trees that contribute to the floating drift, one passes into 

 a region where the Anchovy Pear (Grias caulifiora) is the most con- 

 spicuous tree on the riverside, its large germinating fruits frequently 

 floating past in the stream. Although in places taller trees closely 

 line the river, it is the Anchovy Pear with its terminal head of large 

 leaves, four or five feet long, and its flowers and fruits growing from 

 the simple straight trunk, that first catches the eye. One of the 

 loftier trees is the Paki tree (Crescentia cucurbitina), with its gourds 

 hanging suspended over the water and often to be noticed floating 

 down the river. A Crinum flourishes at the water's edge, its large 

 fleshy seeds frequently occurring in the germinating condition in the 

 floating drift. Here and there, hanging in leafy festoons from the 

 tree branches as they spread over the water, is the Antidote Vine 

 (Fevillea cordifolia), which with Grias caulifiora may be regarded as 

 amongst the most interesting plants at the riverside. Its large fruits, 

 like cannon-balls, were occasionally to be seen afloat. The Hog 

 Gum tree (Symphonia globulifera), one of the Guttiferae, grows also 

 on the banks, its large germinating seeds floating in numbers in the 

 stream. 



Beyond the lower wooded district at the riverside, one passes into 

 an open savannah-like region, much of which is swamp. It is known 

 as the Great Morass, and is the home of the alligator. A reed-like 

 growth of Typha, Papyrus-like Cyperi } and other tall sedges, which 

 add little or nothing to the floating seed-drift, lines the banks; 

 whilst clumps of Grias trees decked with Ipomceas occur at intervals 

 by the water-side. In this open country, in places where the ground 

 is rather drier, one notices on or near the banks various trees that are 

 represented by their fruits or their seeds in the floating drift, such as 



