134 
TUSSAC AND ARUND0 GRASS. 
wild cattle and horses have completely destroyed 
the plants by eating down to the very roots inclu¬ 
sive, these lumpy accumulations of decayed fibres 
are left encumbering the ground with a multitude 
of hummocks, easily removed, however, by fire. 
The grass growing in large tufts upon the high 
base of decayed roots resembles, at a distance, a 
diminutive grove of thickly-clustered palms; and 
from the dark green and luxuriant appearance giv¬ 
en to the smaller islands clothed with tussac, the 
richness of tropical vegetation is forcibly recalled 
to the memory. 
All the other species of the genus Carex are de¬ 
scribed in botanical works as coarse and rank, and 
by no means adapted for fodder, but it is very dif¬ 
ferent indeed with this species. That it is sweet- 
flavored, tender, and most nourishing, is evident 
from the avidity with which all animals feed, and 
the rapidity with which they fatten upon it—cattle, 
horses, sheep, and pigs alike. For about three or 
four inches the roots are very agreeable to man, 
being crisp, and of a sweetish, nutty flavor, very 
much resembling the heart of the palm-tree in the 
West Indies, which is called the mountain cab¬ 
bage. 
i There is an island close to the settlement, which 
is fringed with the tussac grass for a breadth of 
about 200 to 300 yards, the remaining portion be¬ 
ing wiry, coarse grass and moss on wet land. Lean 
cattle turned upon this island become fat in two or 
three months: and the miserable old horses that 
return from the cattle-hunting expeditions dread¬ 
fully out of condition, soon pick up, and become 
quite fat upon the tussac which grows there. 
The two Americans who wandered upon West 
Falkland for 14 months, lived upon the root daily, 
and formed their huts of what I have termed the 
cushion, rolling one to the small doorway or open¬ 
ing when night came on. 
i« The long blades of the grass make but an indif¬ 
ferent thatch, as it is much too brittle to last when 
dry; there are no fibres sufficiently tough or coarse 
for this purpose. I may notice that cattle and 
horses will readily eat dry tussac when they can 
not procure it fresh; but an ample supply of it can 
always be obtained, as it is green and luxuriant all 
the year round. 
\ The bounty of Providence causes this extremely 
nutritious grass to grow most luxuriantly in the 
rank peat-bogs by the seashore, where any other, 
even of the most inferior quality, could scarcely 
live. I may say that by far the greater part of the 
coasts of these islands are fringed with it in many 
places to the breadth of half a mile: all the small¬ 
er islands are completely covered with it. It grows 
readily between clefts in the rocks, out of shingle 
and sand, close down to high-water mark; but it 
is most luxuriant where there is a depth of wet 
peaty bog. Whether it will grow upon boggy 
land further than half a mile from the sea, can 
only be determined by experiment. At the proper 
time I shall try it, and I entertain the most san¬ 
guine hopes that it will succeed, though perhaps 
it may not grow so luxuriantly as by the seashore. 
If it should succeed upon inland bogs, such land 
could be made to yield as much nutriment for cat¬ 
tle as any other. 
I am informed that a similar species of sedgy 
grass is to be found in the straits of Magellan, the 
Auckland islands, and many other places in the 
southern hemisphere; but, unlike its northern re¬ 
lations, the southern Carex appears everywhere to 
be tender, full of nutriment, and the favorite food 
with all cattle. 
Extract from a later Report , dated October 1, 
1842.—In my last report I noticed the extraordi¬ 
nary dryness of the atmosphere, produced chiefly 
by the constant winds of summer. During the 
past winter months of June, July, and August, the 
excess of dampness and moisture has been equally 
remarkable, unaccompanied, however, by rain, and, 
comparatively with England, there was but little 
snow. The ice has been sufficiently thick to bear 
the weight of a man twice, for two or three days 
together; and the thermometer has occasionally 
been as low as twenty-five degrees, and once eigh¬ 
teen degrees during the night. The wind has 
been by no means so strong or frequent as in sum¬ 
mer ; and calm days, with sunshine, occurred very 
often—much more frequently than in England. 
Upon the whole, the winter, though considered 
in this place as very severe, would have been 
thought a mild one in England. The dryness of 
the air is now again beginning to be apparent, and 
a fine summer is anticipated; already the ther¬ 
mometer has risen as high as sixty-nine degrees. 
My present opinion, therefore, is that the winters 
in the Falklands may be considered very mild, but 
moist, though not rainy, and with little wind. 
The moisture does not arise from rain or fog, but 
from the nature of the ground (a light soil upon a 
tenacious subsoil), numerous springs and rivulets, 
and the absence of the evaporating winds of sum 
mer. 
The plant described as the tussac by Mr. Hook 
er, in the enclosure which I had the honor of for¬ 
warding with my report, is of the genus Carex, and 
proves not to be the real tussac of the islands— 
which it very much resembles, and might easily 
deceive any person, the more so as it grows in the 
same situations, and is also eaten by the cattle. 
My friend Mr. Hooker has since given very great 
attention to this useful and interesting plant, which 
is a true grass, and in very much greater abundance 
than the other. As soon as I can collect some ripe 
seeds, I will also take the liberty of forwarding 
them; as perhaps your lordship may deem the 
grass worthy of a trial in England, both inland, as 
on chat-moss, and on the seacoast. 
Some seeds of the tussac grass, sown in the gov¬ 
ernment garden, in good soil, different from that in 
which it grows naturally, and at a little distance 
from the sea, have shot up, and are likely to prove 
that this valuable fodder for cattle may be cultiva¬ 
ted in any soil; but it evidently prefers moisture, 
and would probably require irrigation in a dry soil 
at any distance from the sea. 
During several long rides into the country I al¬ 
ways, as I have before stated, found the tussac 
flourishing most vigorously on spots most exposed 
to the sea, and in soil unfit for anything else to live 
in, viz., the rankest peat-bog, black or red. It is 
singular to observe the beaten footpaths of the wild 
cattle and horses, as marked as a footpath across 
