Stewart—Botanical Conditions on the Galapagos Islands. 323 
season. The strong winds, and the loose character of the soil, 
are the probable causes for the small amount of vegetation here. 
The ground in most places is covered with a sparse growth of 
grass, the two common species of which are, Aristida subspicata 7 
and Panieum hirticaulum. 
Nprth Side. 
The shores along the north side of the island are made up of 
sand beaches and low rocky coast, which in most instances slope 
down gradually to the edge of the water. There are but few 
cliffs along the shore on this side, a condition that is probably due 
to the fact that this is the leeward side of the island and is con¬ 
sequently not subject to strong wave action as are the more ex¬ 
posed sides. 
For a considerable distance inland the country is flat and cov¬ 
ered in many places by beds of basaltic lava on which there is 
but little soil. There are small areas, however, which are cov¬ 
ered with a light gray ashy soil in among the deposits of lava. 
Rough lava ridges are common, and there are several low lava- 
hills, and small craters scattered around at various places on this 
side. 
The sand beaches for the most part bear the usual herbaceous 
plants, and in the vicinity of the shore thickets of Cryptocarpus 
pyriformis, and Yallesia pubescens bushes are common. Bushes 
of Maytenus obovata line the shore in places, some of which grow 
so close to the water’s edge that their roots are covered at high 
tide. In such places the trunks are more gnarled, and the leaves 
more succulent than is usually the case. Mangrove swamps oc¬ 
cur in several places, the largest one being located about two 
miles west of the lower end of South Seymour Island. So far as 
was observed this is the most typical mangrove swamp on the is¬ 
lands. A shallow bay occurs here which has a narrow opening 
into the sea and affords much quieter water than in most places 
on these islands. There are several small islets in the bay, and 
these as well as the shores of the bay are heavily covered with; 
mangroves. One is able to get through the swamp in a small! 
boat by following the deeper channels at high tide. We found it 
to be an excellent place for capturing sea turtles. Trees of Avi- 
cennia officinalis and Laguncularia also occur in this swamp, but 
Rhizophora makes up the bulk of the vegetation. All three spe- 
