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118 A BOTANICAL TOUR AMONG THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.
times form an impenetrable mass, especially when an Ipomcea, of which I
noticed several species, had found its way into the midst of them. Among
the Ferns, Nephrodiitm, NephroJepis, Asplenium, Pteris, and Lomaria, were
more plentiful upon the mountain sides, while groups of Marattia elegans,
and a species of Alsophila, were common in moist places.
Our next anchorage was at Apia Upolu, which is also one of the Samoau
group. Here the vegetation is much the same, and the natives quite as mild
and good-humoured in aspect as those at Tutuila. Although the weather was
exceedingly warm, I had some very pleasant walks during our stay at Apia,
and through the kindness of H.M. Consul (Mr. Williams) and tlie mission-
aries, who sent guides with me into the interior, I experienced no difSculties,
save the work of travelling up and down the steep mountains, which is often
rendered less laborious by the many trailers and climbers that hang around
almost every stem, and which enables one, by catching hold, to pull up or
lower himself down at pleasure. The Artocarpus incisa is more plentiful in
Upolu than in any other island we visited, and there are said to be there sixteen
sorts of that useful and ornamental plant. This I cannot doubt, when
in a walk of twelve miles I met with eight distinct varieties. In a valley near
to the cascade grew one of the finest specimens I have ever seen. The leaves,
which are not incised, measured two feet by eighteen inches in width. The
fruit was not so large as that of some of the other varieties, but the foliage
and the form of the tree were truly magnificent. In the island of Tana, New
Hebrides (of which I shall speak in due course), about five miles in a north-
easterly direction, I found an immensely large fruiting variety, and succeeded
in getting a few young plants, which have arrived safely. The fruit measured
exactly 18 inches in lengtli, and 12 inches in circumference, while the tree
itself was not more tlian 20 feet in height. But by far the largest Breadfruit-
tree I have met with anywhere, was also in Tana ;
its trunk was 7 feet in cir-
cumference five feet from the ground, while it could not have been less than
65 feet in lieight. The Tannese, however, seem to care less for the fruit than
any of the other islanders. At the Samoas and at Vavou it seems to be the
principal diet. The refreshing green of its foliage, the large and beautiful
fruits that hang down from its branches, together with the pleasant shade it
affords, all contribute to render it one of the most attractive trees to be met
with in the islands. At Upolu, as also in most of the islands, the Inocarpus
edidis, or " South Sea Chestnut," is to be found ; but it is nowhere so plentiful
as n\ the Fijis, where it often grows to a heiglit of more than 50 feet. The
trunk presents a very remarkable appearance, having projections like buttresses
standing out from it on all sides, and extending from the root to the branches.
The leaves are of a dark green, and the flowers, although small, are very fragrant.
The fruit somewhat resembles a chestnut, and when roasted is much
used as food by the natives; Near to the Breadfruit-tree, with fine fohage
(described as being near to the cascades), were the finest sjjecimens of Inocarpus
I have met with. Tliey presented a rather novel but beautiful appearance,
being literally covered with Dendrohiums, of which there were three species.
The beautiful Sapindus pinnalus, which is closely allied to, and not unhke the