NARRATIVE OF THE CRUISE. 
829 
cut just before the tree flowers, is excellent to eat ; the developing leaf buds being quite 
white, and tasting somewhat like a fresh filbert. It seemed more delicate than the shoot 
of the Cocoanut. The guide knew where there was a tree remaining in the woods not 
far above sea level, and it was at once inspected in the hopes that it might be found 
in flower. As it was not, it was cut down for eating, for the guide was only waiting 
to let it develop further before felling it for that purpose himself. A few seedling 
Palms grew near by. Palms of the same genus occur in the tropical Andes. 
Most remarkable in appearance amongst composite endemic trees are the species 
of the genus Dendroseris, allied to the Chicory. The specimens seen in flower were 
large straggling shrubs rather than trees, but w 7 ith thick wood 3^ steins and branches 
from 10 to 15 feet in height. The leaves are very like those of a dandelion in 
appearance, and the stem, which, when split open, has a curiously jointed pith, has just 
the smell of a clandelion-root, and would, no doubt, yield chicory. It pours out, like 
the dandelion and allied plants, a milky juice when cut. 
Hovering over the flowering bushes and trees, were everj^where to be seen two species 
of Humming Bird, one of which ( Eustephanus fernandensis ) is peculiar to the island, 
whilst the other ( Eustephanus galeritus), belonging to the same genus, occurs also on the 
mainland. A further closely allied but peculiar species occurs in Mas-a-fuera. In the 
species peculiar to the island of Juan Fernandez the male is very different in plumage 
from the female, being of a chocolate colour, with an iridescent golden-brown patch 
on the head, whilst the female is green. So different are the two sexes that they 
were formerly supposed to represent two distinct species, as has happened in the case 
of so many other birds. This endemic humming bird seemed more abundant than the 
continental one. 
In skinning some of the birds killed, it was noticed that the feathers at the base of 
the bill and on the front of the head were clogged and coloured yellow with pollen. The 
birds, no doubt, in common with other species of humming birds, and other flower- 
frequenting birds, such as the Myzomelidse, are active agents in the fertilization of plants. 
Pollen was noticed attached in a similar manner to the head of a bird at Cape York. 
Mr. Wallace concludes that the presence of these birds, as fertilizers, accounts for the 
abundance of conspicuous flowers in Juan Fernandez. 1 Ten species of land and fresh- 
water Mollusca were found by the Expedition, of which only one, Helix ( Stepsanoda ) 
selkirki , is new to science. 2 
The flesh of the wild goats of the island is most excellent eating, no doubt because of 
the abundance of food ; in some parts of the island, especially to the southwest, there 
are open stretches covered with long grass. Pigeons ( Columba cenas), w 7 hich are said to 
have been imported into the island, are common, and feed on the hillsides in flocks. 
1 A. R. Wallace, Tropical Nature, pp. 270, 271, London, 1878. 
2 E. A. Smith, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 279, 1884. 
