pitcairn's island, 107 
mile and a half being the greatest length. The 
climate, which is just without the tropics, is 
adapted for the production of useful vegetables, 
which form the chief article of food : — Irish and 
sweet potatoes, yams, bread-fruit, a vegetable 
called taro (Arum escuhntum) , pumpkins, Indian 
maize, and beans. Here and there are patches 
of the tobacco -plant, and sugar-canes. The 
fruits are pines, plantains, and bananas, oranges, 
limes, melons, a species of apple, and cocoa-nuts. 
Among the trees are the cocoa-nut ( Cocos nuci- 
fera) ; the Plantain (Musa paradistaca) ; the 
Bread-fruit tree (Artocarpus incisa) ; the Nono 
(Morinda citrifoUa), &c. ; but the most striking 
and remarkable is the Banyan (Ficus Indica) : — 
" The fig-tree ; not that kind for fruit renown d, 
But such as at this day to India known, 
In Malabar or Deecan, spreads her arms, 
Branching so broad and long, that in the ground 
The bended twig takes root, and daughters grow 
About the mother-tree, — a pillar'd shade, 
High over-reach'd, and echoing walks between. 
There oft the Indian herdsman, shunning heat, 
Shelters in cool, and tends his pasturing herds 
At loop-holes cut through thickest shade." 
Milton. 
The temperature of Pitcairn ranges from 59° 
in winter to 87° in summer. The average is 
65° in winter, and 82° in summer. The vege- 
tation sometimes suffers from swarms of insects. 
To remedy this evil, there having been on the 
island only one species of land bird, a small fly- 
catcher, it was thought desirable to convey some 
birds to the spot. Her Majesty's Ship, Virago, 
Commander Prevost, left Callao for Pitcairn, in 
