47 
Flora of Narcondam and Barren Island. 
appear to indicate that originally Harcoudam may have been a volcano, 
produced, like the volcano that appeared on the Island of Camiguin 
in July 1871,* by the extrusion of viscid lava without the accompani¬ 
ment of crater-forming materials. In any case, the depth of the ravines 
that plough the flanks of the hill on every side indicates very clearly 
how remote has been the period of the island’s activity.f 
The top of the island is frequently bathed in cloud ;X during the 
ten days spent in the island in 1891, this cloud-cap seemed to envelope, 
for the greater part of the day, the last 400 feet of the peak. The appear¬ 
ance, however, was slightly deceptive; for it was noticed that the cloud 
was only condensed on the western aspect of the hill, and that towards 
evening the peak always became clear. The nature of the vegetation 
on the peak,—the trees bearded with moss, and their bark covered with 
Trichomanes —indicates clearly that this is a usual state of affairs. 
Save on the sea-cliffs, which are bare, and on the eastern side of 
the peak near the top, where the jungle is thin and scrubby, the whole 
island is clothed with dense forest: this consists mainly of lofty trees, 
with but few climbers, in the beds of the various watercourses. On the 
intervening ridges the vegetation consists of a tangled mass of slrrubby 
growth overloaded with creepers. Landing at Anchorage Bay one finds 
on the shingle some plants of Ipomosa hiloba; immediately behind the 
shingle, and under the shade of about a dozen coco-nut trees, is an at¬ 
tempt at a sea-fence, composed of Sccevola Koenigii, Hibiscus tiliaceus, 
Mormda bracteata, Guettarda speciosa, Pandanus odoratissiimis; some 
Ipomcea grandiflora, Convolvulus parviflorus, and Wedelia scandens climb 
over these. Behind these bushes some trees of Barringtonia speciosa, Termi- 
nalia Gatappa, Erythrina indica, Sterculia rubiginosa, Thespesia popidnea, 
Eracoena angustifolia, Ardisia humilis, and Ixora brunnescens represent the 
beach-forest. There is, however, but scanty room for species of either 
class, and a few plants of ErantJiemum succifolium underneath the trees 
complete the representation of this sort of vegetation in this situation. 
To the south of this point are some low cliffs, covered at the top with a 
tangled mass of Hoy a orbiculata, while at their base plants of Pluchea 
indica, Blumea glomerata, Vernonia diver gens, Desmodium polycarpon, 
Gyperus pennatus, and Thysanolcena acarifera occur ; the last-named,—it 
is, by the way, the only grass that is found on the island—is the most 
plentiful and seems to be, besides Fimbristylis ferruginea and Boerhaavia 
strongly supports the conclusion (to which Mallet also inclines) that there never 
was a crater in Narcondam, and that the island is of the endogenous volcanic type. 
* Moseley : “ Notes by a Naturalist on the ‘ Challenger,’” p. 409. 
t Mallet: Memoirs of the Geol. Survey of India, xxi, 281. 
J Ball ; Records of the Geol. Survey of India, vi 89. 
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