Man's Footsteps. 19 
colony when it was bordered by a fringe of mangrove and 
courida trees. The coast plants are very rarely found 
at any distance in the interior, even where the land is 
cultivated ; the clearings, however, have their character- 
istic weeds which will be presently mentioned. The 
most striking examples of the coast weeds may be seen 
in the grasses. As all colonists know, grasses grow 
rampant on all the estates' dams and road-sides to the 
exclusion of almost every other kind of vegetation. 
The sour grass (Paspalum conjugatum) is the most com- 
mon ; it is useless as fodder, because hardly any herbiv- 
orous animal will eat it in the green state, although it is 
said to make passable hay. It prefers moist ground but 
cannot exist beyond the belt of cultivation. There is a 
continual struggle for existence between this species 
and the Bahama grass (Cynodon dactylon) . During the 
rainy season the sour grass grows rampant everywhere, 
extending its long creeping runners in all directions, so 
that every other weed is smothered by its dense growth. 
As the dry weather comes however, it dwindles and 
becomes less and less, while # the pretty Bahama grass 
begins to take its place, gradually covering the road-sides 
with its delicate foliage, until the heavy showers bring 
its antagonist again to the front. Although the sour grass 
is the follower of cultivation, it is not an indicator of it, 
on the contrary, good drainage like drought eradicates 
it for a time, but being provided with a marvellous 
power of endurance in its roots, and also from its 
bearing myriads of seeds, it recovers from the longest 
dry season very quickly. 
Although there are many other grasses scattered over 
the coast, none of them can compare with the above- 
C 2 
