CHAPTER X I Y. 
ST. HELENA. 
Position and physical features of St. Helena — Change effected by European 
occupation — The Insects of St. Helena — Coleoptera — Peculiarities and 
origin of the Coleoptera of St. Helena — Land-shells of St. Helena — 
Absence of Fresh-water organisms — Native vegetation of St. Helena — 
The relations of the St. Helena Compositse — Concluding Remarks on 
St. Helena. 
In order to illustrate as completely as possible the peculiar 
phenomena of oceanic islands, we will next examine the organic 
productions of St. Helena and of the Sandwich Islands, since 
these combine in a higher degree than any other spots upon the 
globe, extreme isolation from all more extensive lands, with a 
tolerably rich fauna and flora whose peculiarities are of surpass- 
ing interest. Both, too, have received considerable attention 
from naturalists ; and though much still remains to be done in 
the latter group, our knowledge is sufficient to enable us to 
arrive at many interesting results. 
Position and Physical features of St. Helena . — This island 
is situated nearly in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean, 
being more than 1,100 miles from the coast of Africa, and 
1,800 from South America. It is about ten miles long by eight 
wide, and is wholly volcanic, consisting of ancient basalts, lavas, 
and other volcanic products. It is very mountainous and rugged, 
bounded for the most part by enormous precipices, and rising to 
a height of 2,700 feet above the sea-level. An ancient crater, 
about four miles across, is open on the south side, and its 
