2^2 
AUSTRAL-AFRICAN ISLANDS 
i6o° F. when placed in the ground. The hot springs 
that occur have a temperature of 176° F. and more, 
according to his observations; the waters are strongly 
alkaline and chalybeate. 
Under such circumstances we must agree that the 
introduction of plants and animals can only have taken 
place in recent times. In warm places, mosses {Sp/iag- 
miin lacteohmi) and club-mosses [Lycopodium cermnmi) 
flourish abundantly. Among ferns Lomaria alpina grows 
at a good elevation. Flowering plants appear to be 
represented by only a dozen species, among which Scirpus 
nodostts and Poa Novarco form good-sized beds. 
The animal world exhibits no single indigenous species, 
all the animals in the island having been unintentionally 
introduced. The rats are uncommonly troublesome, the 
wild-cats prey upon the sea-birds, the wild goats are 
very shy; there used formerly to be wild swine. Among 
oceanic birds, albatrosses and petrels appear regularly, 
but the commonest bird is the penguin [Eudyptes cJiry- 
solophct). Among lower animals the house-fly and flesh- 
flies are troublesome; the centipedes, pjulus corallinus 
and Scolopendra borbonica^ have apparently been brought 
from the Mascarenes. The sea around seems to be 
extraordinarily rich in fish, and occasionally a mighty 
cuttle-fish [Mouchezis Saucti Patdip 23 ft. long, is thrown 
up on the shore. Among the larger useful fishes, CJieilo- 
dactylus fasciatus and Latris hecateia are specially com¬ 
mon. Every year in November small vessels from Mau¬ 
ritius and Reunion put in, and carry on productive fishing 
till February, anchoring in the crater harbour. The 
fishermen lay up great stores of salt fish, for which the 
buildings inhabited by the French expedition in the year 
1874 are used as store sheds. 
It has often been proposed to make St. Paul into a 
coaling station, so that the Australian steamers might call 
there, or ships of war might find a safe harbour. With 
