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124 A BOTANICAL TOUR AMONG THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.
managed to ascend with difficulty. The thickets of scrub, reeds, and climbers,
among tlie latter two species of Smllctx and a Ruhiis,—were often exceedingly
troublesome. Sometimes my guides and myself had to crawl upon our hands
and knees, and, after an hour's work in getting through one of those labyrinths,
tripping and tumbling over the rocks hidden in the long grass, trailers, and
decaying vegetation, a huge mass of rock and scoria cemented perliaps would
present itself. There was no other alternative but to surmount it, or to encounter
the same ordeal of crawling back through the almost impenetrable mass
previously passed. Although those huge walls of rock are often nearly vertical^
yet, from the soft nature of the volcanic matter, a rank vegetation springs from
every projecting ledge, and, but for tlie oft-recurring interstices, by the aid of
which the natives clamber up with the agility of monkeys, it would be utterly
impossible to scale those barriers, which are often more than eighty feet in
height. Amongst tlie thickly-matted vegetation which clothes the mountains
to their summits one meets with many fine species of Ficits, which are often
of gigantic size, and rendered extremely beautifid by a large mass oi Polt/podium
diversifolium in almost every foi'k and upon every branch. Cassia ocei-
dentalis and C. ohtusifoUa, together with several species of Piper, Asclepias
Cttrassavica, Plumbago, Phyllanthns, and Sida liniphylla have spread them-
selves over large tracts along the ridges. 3[orinda citrifolia and laurifoUa,
whose large glossy green foliage often contrast beautifully with the purple
heart-shaped leaves of PariUum purpiirascens, are pleasing objects. Pa-
rifium liliaceum, with its bright green foliage and yellow flowers, is not less
beautiful, and occurs more frequently in the valleys or close to the shore. A
species of Euriia, a Coprosma, a MediniJla, and a Geissois are very abundant
upon one of tlie mountains overlooking the beautiful valley of Livone, in
which place I met with four species of SelagineUa growing so luxuriantly from
the shade and moisture as to measure often five feet in height. Very abundant
were varieties of AspJenitim, Durea, Davallia, Doodia, Nothoclena, Adianlum,
IFtjpoIepis, Pteris, Microhpis, Drynaria, Todea, Litobrochia, Puli/podium,
Nephrolepis, Nephrcdium, Lomaria, a Lygodium, a Marattia, and many other
species of Fem. Davallia Fijietisis and a Tradescantia often clothed the rocks,
and the former with a Aiphoholus, an ^acliynanthus, and a Ramelina, the
stems of many of the larger trees, particularly the Inocarpus edtdis, an EIcbo-
carpus, or a Calophyllum. The stems and branches oi Lumnitzera and Thespesia
pojndnea were often literally hidden by a matting of Niphobolus, whose
pendent ribbon-like fronds, Imnging gracefidly down, gave them a novel but
beautiful appearance. Scarcely less singular and beautiful is the aspect of the
larger trees when covered with a Freycinetia, of which I noticed two species,
whose numerous tufts of lanceolate leaves up the stems and along the branches
would suggest a climbing Pandanus, to which genus it is closely allied.
Two species of Rkaphidophora often occur in the same manner, quite eclipsing
the trunks and branches of the larger trees. The Pandanus is rarely met with
far inland, but is found generally close to the sea. Its strong aerial roots pro-
truding from the stem and descending in succession towards the ground, bear
on their tips a loose, cup-like coating, which preserves their absorbents from
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