184 A NATURALIST ON DESERT ISLANDS. 



That is to say, these islands are so situated in regard to 

 the Trade- winds and currents, that the seeds of trees and 

 plants, along with other vegetable flotsam, would be 

 driven from them to Bknquilla as along a well beaten 

 track. 



It woald seem, therefore, as if an examination of the 

 floral contents of the long belt of wooded country, 

 which we have already described, mighfc furnish an 

 engrossing sbudy for the botanist interested in the 

 oversea transportation and origin of an island vegeta- 

 tion ; for when Blanquilla first " shewed its nose " 

 above the v/ater, it seems to us that it must have done 

 so in some such form and shape as the green portion of 

 our rough map. That is to say, it probably first appeared 

 as a flat elongated and slightly curved coral reef, which 

 had gradually grown upwards to the surface from a 

 submarine foundation of granite. 



We have thought it worth while to dwell at some length 

 on the description of this coral platform, because in the 

 two small island groups known as the Los Roques and the 

 Los Aves islets, which are situated respectively one 

 hundred and twenty and one hundred and eighty miles 

 almost due west of Blanquilla, we probably have two 

 good examples illustrating at the present day the mode of 

 origin of Blanquilla. 



The Aves group, which will always remain famous as 

 being the scene of the wreck of an entire French fleet 

 under Admiral D'Etrees in 1678, consists of two main 

 divisions — a westerly known as Ave de Sotavento and an 

 easterly as Ave de Barlovento. Both these divisions 

 are mere coral reefs, about twelve miles apart, which 

 consist of numerous small and low cays or islets (the 

 largest three and a half miles long), covered with deposits 

 of phosphate and sand. In the largest of these islets 

 there is a big salt water lagoon. Ludwig * states that the 

 flora is extremely scanty, consisting of mangrove trees 



* *' Globus " Die Inselor vor der Nordkiiste von Venezuela, 

 September, 1898. 



