416 
ISLAND LIFE. 
[part ir. 
and Bourbon, where, originally, dense forest covered the entire 
surface, and perennial moisture, with its ever-accompanying 
luxuriance of vegetation, prevailed. 
Flora of Madagascar allied to that of South Africa. — In my 
Geographical Distribution of Animals I have remarked on the 
relation between the insects of Madagascar and those of south 
temperate Africa, and have speculated on a great southern exten- 
sion of the continent at the time when Madagascar was united 
with it. As supporting this view I now quote Mr. Bentham’s 
remarks on the Compositse. He says : “ The connections of the 
Mascarene endemic Compositse, especially those of Madagascar 
itself, are eminently with the southern and sub-tropical African 
races; the more tropical races, Plucheineae, &c., may be rather 
more of an Asiatic type.” He further says that the Composite 
flora is almost as strictly endemic as that of the Sandwich 
Islands, and that it is much diversified, with evidences of great 
antiquity, while it shows insular characteristics in the tendency 
to tall shrubby or aborescent forms in several of the endemic 
or prevailing genera. 
Preponderance of Ferns in the Mascarene Flora. — A striking 
character of the flora of these smaller Mascarene islands is the 
great preponderance of ferns, and next to them of orchideae. The 
following figures are taken from Mr. Baker’s Flora for Mauritius 
and the Seychelles, and from an estimate by M. Frappier of the 
flora of Bourbon given in Maillard’s volume already quoted : — 
Mauritius, &c. Bourbon. 
Ferns 
Ferns, 
240 
Orchideae 
79 
Orchideae 
.... 120 
Graraineae 
69 
Gramineae 
60 
Cyperaceae 
62 
Compositse 
Rubiaceae 
57 
Leguminosae 
Euphorbiaceae 
45 
Rubiaceae 
24 
Compositae 
43 
Cyperaceae 
24 
Leguminosae 
41 
Euphorbiacese 
18 
The cause of the great preponderance of ferns in oceanic 
islands has already been discussed in my book on Tropical Nature; 
and we have seen that Mauritius, Bourbon, and Rodriguez must 
be classed as such, though from their proximity to Madagascar 
they have to be considered as satellites to that great island. 
