92 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Notewbe'r 9, 1853. 
to the Spaniards on account of its insalubrity. I cannot help j 
thinking it a great pity : it is the key to trade for this part of 
the const. The climate) is excessively hot and moist, and the 
whole island is covered with a dense forest, which, until cleared, 
must render the plain unhealthy ; but it has mountains over 
10,000 feet high, on which Europeans may live. T think many 
East Indian products might he cultivated here. The Clove and 
Nutmeg would he at home. Cinnamon lias been introduced, I 
and has become wild. Vanilla is certainly indigenous. Colteo I 
could he finely grown on the hills ; while the numerous moist j 
valleys would suit Cocoa. The low shrubs near 1 he town of I 
Clarence are chiefly composed of Guava, Lime, Orange, and other ' 
fruits, which have spread amazingly. The Bread-fruit tree forms 
a beautiful object here : its large dark leaves and spreading habit, 
contrasted with Palms, can only be realised with other children 
of the tropics. Oil Palms form dense forests. Some oil is made, 
but most of the fruit falls and rots on the ground. 
“ It. rained almost daily during my slay. I could ascend no j 
elevations. Though I gathered many plants, most of them were j 
lost in storing: the excessive moisture renders everything mouldy. 
Paper absorbs it from the air; cloth and books have to be dried 
often before the fire. You may fancy, therefore, the difficulties 
of a plant collection in Western Africa. 
“ We entered the river in July, passed through the Delta with¬ 
out being molested by the natives,—though they have since 
attacked us,—and reached the confluence of the two rivers in 
August. All the lower parte of the river form a vast alluvial de¬ 
posit, intersected by creeks, and covered with an impenetrable 
forest. A more horrible residence for human beings I cannot 
imagine, or a more degraded race. The towns are placed in 
swamps ; the fierce sun pouring down on the mud, sends up the 
proper stuff for fevers; slimy creeping things inhabit the dwell¬ 
ings ; and the people are frequently covered with ulcers, and some 
loathsome in the extreme. 
“ A curious little fish is found in the Mangrove thickets. Its 
fins arc adapted to form legs. It rushes out of shoal water on 
our approach, running over the ground, and climbing trees with 
facility. 
“ I did some botanising in theso parts. I found some new 
plants and many Orchids : the genera of the latter were principally 
Angrtecum, Bolbophyllum, Manilla, Gaillardia, Polystichum, 
Eulophia. Ferns were very abundant, comprising the following 
genera :—Trichomanes, Adiantum, Pteris, Lastrea, Antropteris, 
Platycerium, Diplagium, Acrosticum, Lygodium, and many others, 
new to me. The trees are of enormous size in this region. 
Bombax, Eriodendron, and Oldfieldia, sent up trunks 100 feet 
high without a branch. Eicus also attains a great size; but the 
former are the true monarchs of the forest. The Cocoa-nut 
Palm grows 180 miles from the sea, the limits of its range, 
which is also an indication that the sea breeze comes inland. A 
much drier region begins here, and plants which love moisture 
now disappear. An Artocarpus, with fruit like the Bread tree, 
I have gathered. I have some preserved. Its average weight is 
from 20 lbs. to 40 lbs. These trees are pretty thick in the forest. 
The fruit falls with a great crash, rendering it necessary to keep 
an eye aloft, when the feet need all. 
“ We left the tender which came with us, at the confluence, 
and proceeded up the Kworra with the steamer only. About 
twenty miles above former exploration, rocks became numerous. 
The ship struck on one under water, cracked in her bottom, and 
sunk soon after. The water was fifty feet deep close to where she 
struck, but luckily she rested on a portion of the rock: the 
stern remained out of water. In the scramble, none were 
drowned, but we lost most of our things. I lost my labours of 
months : I saved only one box of specimens,—that with some 
difficulty,—the water being up to my waist, and the ship sinking 
rapidly. We had some sick at the time. Putting these in a safe 
place was our first effort, or many things could also have been 
saved. I lost nearly 800 specimens of dried plants, and all my 
living ones. This occurred ten months ago. Ever since we have 
been living in a rude sort of camp, in expectation of a steamer 
coming to our assistance. From various causes, no ship has yet 
reached us, but some supplies have come to us overland. In the 
mean time I have collected about 2000 more plants, by making 
journeys in various directions. 
“ This region is very dry: we have six months of perfect 
drought and frightful heat, the averangc range of the thermometer, 
in our thickly-matted tent, being 108° at mid-day, and rising to 
145°in the open air. No forests occur; no Orchids ; njiepiphytes; 
no Ferns, or very few. In fact, a very different vegetation distin¬ 
guishes Ibis from the coast region. Oil Palms are less abundant, 
confined to the banks of rivers ; but magnificent Fan Palms 
occur, which,together with immense Boahabs,givo still a tropical 
character lo the vegetation. The Boabahs, from their immense 
size and grotesque aspect, battered by storms, and charred by 
fire, look like the remains of an ‘extinct creation,’ so little do 
they harmonise with existing scrubby trees. 
“ I have been up the river in a boat as far as it is navigable, - 
i.e., about 000 miles from the sea,—a point before undetermined. 
Wo obtained an old volume of poor Mungo Park’s, near Bousra, 
—a book of logarithms. It contains no notes of value. 
“ I am sorry to say wo have had much sickness. 1 have buried 
just half of the steamer’s crew. Fever commenced soon after we 
entered the river. The deaths have since occurred at intervals.. 
No deaths have taken place in the Government party. We muster 
but five now ; but one left some time ago, through sickness, (hi 
the whole, we may Consider it a triumph that so many remain, 
under all the trying circumstances of our situation; and great 
credit is due to Dr. Barker, our principal, on this head. He is a 
very pleasant man, fond of botany, so we get on well together, 
My health has been excellent. I have never been prostrated by 
fever, and feel as well as on leaving home. Ague sometimes, 
after a day spent in botanising in a swamp, reminds me that l 
am in Africa. Somo of our party have had, however, very narrow 
escapes. 
“ The people in the interior are more civilised,—very civil and 
kind to us : they do not want us to leave them. I roam about 
perfectly safe, in tliis respect. Wild beasts arc not uncommon. 
Leopards used to give us much trouble; elephants have been 
killed close to our eamp, but I never saw one alive; buffaloes 
are dangerous ; hippopotami threaten our boats in'the river ; and 
crocodiles look out for bathers. We shall go down to I ;rnando 
To when the steamer comes.” 
NOTES FROM BISHOP'S YVALTnAM. 
I enclose you a printed paper on an American production, 
called “ Oswego Prepared Corn.” I and some of my friends 
have tried it, and think it superior to Arrowroot, for puddings. 
We should like your opinion of it. 
I have grown upwards of 20 lbs. of Grapes on my espalier 
Vines this year, which are perfect, and not in any way affected 
by Oidium, or otherwise. A friend of mine, whose Grapes were 
attacked by the disease, and who dusted them with black sulphur 
in the summer, has now' made, or prepared to make, wiue from 
them; but the juice is so strongly impregnated with the sul¬ 
phureous flavour,—something like that of sulphuretted hydrogen 
gas,—that lie fears he must throw it away, which w'ouldbe a pity 
and great waste. Can you, or any of your clever correspondents, 
tell him what he may do to get rid of this disagreeable and 
unwholesome odour and taste, without losing the liquor ? 
I have a valuable and rather remarkable hen, whose parentage, 
or genealogy, I am not aw are of; but you will perhaps say she is 
of Spanish extraction. She was jet black ; but, in moult ing, the 
tips of many of her feathers have become white. She is of a very 
vicious temperament, so that other fowls dare not approach her: 
even a cat or a dog stand but little chance with her. She will 
not scruple to attack the hand that feeds her. Yet she is a very 
excellent layer and sitter, and laid 9 t eggs in 174 days, omitting 
only one day occasionally during the whole time; and, after 
resting a month, went on laying again. Her eggs are all very 
largo and good. If these should bo the characteristics of Spanish 
fowls generally, I must prefer them to any others I have hitherto 
met with.—T. M. W. 
[The Osw'ego Arrowroot is the starch of Indian Com, and, 
from experience, we know it to be nutritious and wholesome, and 
far superior to that which is frequently sold under the name ol 
Arrowroot.] 
ON TnE USE OF BEE BREAD, OR POLLEN. 
I hate long had a suspicion that pollen, or bee bread, is used 
as food, not only for the grubs, but also by the mature bees j 
but, as everybody, from Reaumur and Huber downwards, lias 
stated that it is U3ed solely for feeding the grubs, and some 
writers have even accused the bees of improvidence in collecting 
| a larger store than could be required for that purpose, I kept 
| my suspicions to myself, knowing how r readily an outcry is raised 
