tlirougli the sand and mnd, exposing to the water of the sea at high tide, 
to the air and the sun at low tide, from 6 inches to a foot of a structure 
as thick as the little finger and of the consistence of solali pith. The 
jungle along the south and east sides of the island commences at the 
edge of the sandy beach, the roots of the trees being washed by the 
waves at very high tides ; the trees that grow at this line are Thespesia 
populnea, Pongamia glahra, PrytTirina indica, Terminalia Gatappa, Stephe- 
gyne diversifolia, and Ficus Bumphii. East of the cleared part in front 
of the telegraph office and round as far as the graveyard, are a number 
of large Tamarind trees; it is not improbable that these have been 
planted. One specimen of Terminalia Catappa growing close beside the 
boat house differed from all the others in being in flower. There is no 
doubt that this particular tree is T. Gatappa, and there is hardly a doubt 
that it is an introduced tree. But that the others (and it is a plentiful 
species in Diamond Island) which were all, like those on the coast 
near Port Blair in the Andamans, and like those seen a week later on 
Table Island and the Great Coco, in almost ripe fruit in ISTovember and 
December, are quite wild and indigenous in the island scarcely admits 
of a doubt.* Underneath these Gees along the south side occur Hibiscus 
tiliaceus, not plentifully, however, and, especially towards the south-we st 
angle of the island, Hesmodium umbellatum. On the west side of the 
island, which is the most weather-beaten side, the trees are not so tall, 
and they are fewer in number, though all these species except Pongamia 
appeal*. But close to the beach we find there is a dense hedge-like mass 
of Pesmodium ^imbellatum, Tahernaemontana crispa, Premna integrifolia 
and Glerodendron inerme, with here and there some bushes of Vitex 
Negundo. All these species occur on the north side of the island also, 
and at the extreme north-east corner there is a considerable patch o:^ 
Citettarda speciosa/' All round the island Canavalia ensiformis is plenti- '• 
ful; it is associated on the western sea-face with Pueraria pliaseoloides, j 
Ipomoea grandiflora and Iporioea digitata; the last named species is/ 
common also in the interior^' On the south side a form of Capparis 
sepiaria, the most plentiful of the interior climbers, comes to the very 
outer limit of the jungle all along; it is here and there accompanied by 
Golubrina asiatica. There are several patches of Ipovioea hiloha on the 
beach, but the species is not so common as it usually is in such situa¬ 
tions ; and Ipomoea denticulata, which has not been generally believed 
to occur so far north, is many times more plentiful. Hear the mouths 
of all three streamlets, and also at the almost bare south-western corner 
of the island, there are considerable patches of Cyperus pennahis. The 
cleared space near the telegraph-oflfice is mainly covered by a short turf 
* As regards Great Coco Island a doubt on tlie point is impossible 
55 
