CHAP. VII. 
NOVEL ASPECTS OF THE VEGETATION. 
173 
his shoulder, he struck the pole with the palm of his hand, 
producing a sort of hollow sound ; when his companions each 
seized his pole, and lifting it over his head, brought it down 
upon the opposite shoulder. Sometimes all four of the 
hearers changed at the same time, but more frequently only 
the two who were together, either in front or behind. 
Many new forms of vegetation presented themselves 
through this day’s journey. Amongst those bordering the 
coast, the acacia, the casuarina, and the pandanus were most 
abundant, with occasionally a group of sago trees or a solitary 
cocoa-nut towering above the rest. I had seen nothing, either 
in Mauritius or Polynesia, resembling them,—especially one 
kind seldom attaining above ten or twelve feet in height, a 
kind of pandanus, having a number of leaves in the centre of 
the crown, apparently glued or stuck together at their extre¬ 
mities, giving to the centre or crown a singular form; while 
the disentangled leaves, that stretched out horizontally or 
hung down parallel with the stem, seemed very much like 
the leaves with which the Chinese line their tea chests. I 
could, however, only notice the peculiarities of this tree as we 
passed along; and I failed to fulfil my intention of procuring 
seeds or leaves at some future time. Another species of pan¬ 
danus was to me equally new and remarkable. The stem of 
this was straight as that of a fir tree, and the branches hori¬ 
zontal with feathery tips of flag or short ribbon-formed leaves. 
The tree was frequently forty or fifty feet high, crowned 
with an upright plume, and at a distance might have been 
mistaken for a larch, but for its stiff and formal growth. I 
did not see it near the shore, but amongst the low wet places 
inland. I had no opportunity of examining it minutely, but 
was told it was indigenous; it is probably Pandanus muri- 
catus , called at Mauritius Vacoua en pyramide. 
But the most remarkable objects on this day’s journey 
were the vast numbers of that splendid production of Mada- 
