CHAPTER IX. 



HOW THE LAND PLANTS CAME TO SWAN ISLAND. 

 ** What the sea sends and the land lends." 



To describe an isolated island, which has never had any 

 connection with the mainland, without referring to its 

 vegetation, or to the various agents by means of which 

 that vegetation has arrived to clothe what would other- 

 wise be a bare patch of coral debris, would be to ignore 

 one of the most interesting problems connected with 

 coral islands. 



In this chapter, then, we shall briefly attempt to give 

 the reader an idea of the woods which cover Swan Island ; 

 and then as briefly refer to some of the probable ways 

 by which some of their constituent trees and plants have 

 arrived from distant lands to form its flora. 



Originally, Swan Island must have been covered from 

 end to end by one uniform forest gro^\i;h. At the present 

 day, what with the clearings made for crops by the present 

 occupier, and the much more extensive workings at the 

 eastern end made by phosphate diggers in years gone 

 by, a good deal of the original wood has disappeared. 

 Fortunatelj', however, there is still left far more woodland 

 than clearing. These woods contain a varied assortment 

 of goodly forest trees ; among which is the satin-wood 

 tree (Xantlioxylon) ; dyewood or fustic [Madura tinctoria), 

 which was formerly used for dyeing, and also for turnery 

 and cabinet making ; snake-wood (Brosimum), another 

 extremely beautiful wood which takes a splendid finish, 



