104 



SoLt and productions of the Siwionn 

 Islandi — The bread fruit. 



THE S A MOANS. 



Character or the vegrution. 

 The yam.— Quadruped*. 



thousand six hundred and fifty square miles, which 

 are divided as follows, viz.: 



Savali 700 



Upola ...... 560 



Tutuila ...... 2-10 



Marnrao ...... !> 



Apnltma ..... 7 



M 'nii.i ...... 100 



Oloosings 21 



Oltw 10 



The soil of alt the islands is rich, ami wises 

 chiefly from the decomposition of volcanic rucks. 

 At Tutuila, it was remarked that the vegetation 

 was luxuriant, and the trees of large growth. At 

 Upolu the forests seemed more sombre than tliuse 

 of Brazil, allhnngh the same kind of growth ap- 

 peared to prevail. 



The trees do not hraneh out until near the top, 

 which renders it difficult to obtain botanical speci- 

 mens. The trunks are covered, and even the sum- 

 mits of the trees sometimes overgrown, with tiie 

 leaves of the scandent Huge II aria (freycinetia), a 

 climbing piper, and other vines, as hoyos, convol- 

 vulus, Ace, The lower part of the trunks are 

 enveloped with ferns, of which there are m.uiy 

 varieties, and with some species of poihos, which 

 give the whole ground a malted or woven appear- 

 aucc. 



The woods in the interior of the islands arc very 

 thick, and often composed of large and fine trees"; 

 among them are, tree-ferns, a species of banyan, 

 pnndanus, and several species of palms. Among 

 other plants a species of ccrhera was observed, 

 with beautiful clusters of largo and odorous white 

 flowers, which yielded a quantity of white viscous 

 aap, that our botanist, Mr. Rich, thought might be 

 manufactured into caoutchouc. On the whole, the 

 species of trees art* much more numerous than at 

 Tahiti, and the vegetation in consequence richer 

 and more varied. The woods, however, are not 

 enlivened by showy flowers, and the few of these 

 that are seen are of a white or grayish hue, which 

 is to be ascribed to their being but little exposed to 

 the rays of the sun, in consequence of the umbra- 

 geous foliage. Many of the flowers seen on the 

 ground were unknown to our botanist, were 

 several fruits. 



Among the trees which have heen named, that 

 winch struck us as most remarkable was the species 

 of banyan (ficus religiusa), called in these islands 

 ohwa. Some of these were seen, whose pendant 

 branches had takon root in the ground to the num- 

 ber of thousands, forming stems from an inch to 

 two feet in diameter, uniting in the main trunk 

 more than eighty feet above the ground, and blip- 

 porting a vast system of horizontal branches, 

 spreading like an umbrelhi over the tops of the 

 other trees. 



The bread-fruit fa the most abundant of all the 

 trees, and grows hero to a large size \ the vi-apjde, 



the cocoa-nut, and the wild orange are also fo 1 



in great numbers; and at Tutuila a large lime-tree 

 was seen in full bearing, which was said to have 

 been planted before Urn arrival ..f the missionaries. 



Among the most singular of the vegetable pro- 

 ductions is the stinging tree, of which the natives 

 are much afraid; for if its leaves be touched an 

 eruption is produced, particularly it' the skin be 

 wet. Its leaf is eordate, |, nI , imu ". Bt m»jth. 



The arborescent ferns are not as numerous as at 



Tahiti, but grow to a larger size. The palms give 

 a diameter of luxuriance to tho country, from the 

 variety of their foliage. Rattims ninety feet in 

 length wer> set n running over the trees. 



Bambo«>s and the. wild sugar-cane were very 

 common *, the latter is used in thatching houses : 

 the wild finger also abounds. 



Of the wild nutmeg (myrifiticn), two sp< n. s 

 were seen, which are small trees, and likely to be 

 pa*s«-<] without notice, were it ii"t for the peculiar 

 manner in which branches grow out of the trunk, 

 which is in whirls, at regular intervals, like the 

 white pine (pines slrobus} of our Northern States. 



It was remarked that the character of the vege- 

 tation approached mitre nearly to that of the East 

 Indies than of the Society Islands, and the leafless 

 acacias were the typo of those we afterwards saw in 

 New Holland ; but there are some plants which 

 appear peculiar to these islands. 



Many of the trees we have named, as well as 

 other plants, arc objects of cultivation ; but the 

 ground cleared for this purpose docs not extend 

 far from the coasts, near which all the villages arc 

 situated. 



To clear the land, the bark is burnt off tho 

 trees, after which they are permitted to Mtand 

 until they become dry, when they are cut down and 

 used as fuel. 



The cultivated plants and trees are bread-fruit (of 

 which they have twenty varieties), cocoa-nut, ti (dra- 

 eienaV bananas, ttiro, paper-mulberry, tncca, from 

 which arrow-root is made, and of which they have 

 several sorts ; sugar-cane, which is not made into 

 sugar, but used only for thatching; coffee, ava, 

 (piper mythisticumj, sweet-potato, pine-apple 

 (anana), brought by the missionaries from the 

 Society Islands, yams, the papaya, and t ibacco in 

 small quantities. The ngave bos not been intro- 

 duced ; but in a few years lemons and sweet 

 oranges will be produced in great quantities from 

 trees which have recently been planted. 



To the cultivation of the tacca they pay little 

 attention, yet the quality of the fecutu (arrow-root) 

 made from it is said to be Miperinr. 



The missionaries are endeavouring to teach the 

 natives the best mode of cultivating the sugar-cane 

 and manufacturing it, ami it is said that a few 

 persons have adopted the new methods. At pre- 

 sent they find a substitute for sugar in the root of 

 the ti plant, which is baked in ovens, and yields a 

 large quantity of saccharine juice resembling mo- 

 lass, s. 



Great attention is paid to the cultivation of the 

 yam. Tiny are planted in < letoher, and are ripe 

 in February and March. The vines run up the 

 trees, and when they die, the root is known to 

 be ripe. To plant them, they are cut, like the 

 potato, into pieces containing ft/ft, which are laid 

 in heaps and covered up until the sprout appears. 

 The pieces are then set out at distances of about 

 three feet from each other. 



Hearing ihat there were some extensive savan- 

 nas in Ujwdu, over-grown with the wild sugar-cane, 

 I directed Asgistant-Surgeon Whittle and Mr. 

 t'outhouy to proceed to the east end of the island, 

 where they were said to grow. They, however, 

 saw nothing of the kind except a few Hmall patches 

 of that plant. 



There are no traces among these islands of any 

 native quadruped, nor any other of the mammalia, 



