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LOUD Howe's island. 301
for this purpose. The stalks are brought rather close together on the
iuside, forming a row of ribs, which has a somewhat neat appearance,
and the feathery spray, or piunas, on the outside, become an outer
covering, of from 7 to 8 inches in thickness, rendering the interior im-
pervious to wet, and cool and comfortable to the inhabitants ; it will
last from eight to ten years. The other Palm, equally abundant, and
iutermixed with the one just noticed, is not used for any special pur-
pose. It is of a more slender habit, having shorter and more arching
fronds, with the pinnae rising from the rachis instead of falling as in
the former, giving it a rather peculiar appearance, from which it is
called by the settlers the Curly Palm. Both of these produce very
large quantities of fruit, the drupe being of an ovate form, about 1
inch in length, and both have simple spadices (the latter having the
longest), produced from among and below the lower fronds. The seeds
of both kinds are eaten with the greatest avidity, and are, indeed, the
principal support of the lai'ge bodies of settlers' pigs, running in most
parts of the island.
At an elevation of about 1500 feet, nearly the limit of the preceding
species, another and vePt"^ beautiful Palm occurs, called the Umbrella
Palm by the settlers. It has large pinnate fronds, with a branching
spadix, bearing a large plum-like fruit, which is of a reddish colour
when ripe. This tree is comparatively rare, and is strictly confined to
the sides of the two high mountains, on the tops of which another and
smaller species of Palm than any of the preceding kinds is said to
grow in very great abundance, the fruit yielding the chief food of the
wild pigs running about in that part. . I
speak of this Palm only from
hearsay, as neither I nor any of the party who visited the island with
me succeeded in reaching either of the mountain tops. The settlers,
who frequently go there to bunt wild pigs, describe it as comparatively
low in stature, and bearing a profusion of roundish-shaped fruit. This
island, tberefore, though very small in extent, produces four distinct
species of Palms, none of which, I think, are described.
Among other endogenons plants, those chiefly remarkable are two
species of Pandanus ; one, found principally near the coast, with a
stout, straight stem, bearing fi'om its sides a small number of the usual
root-like supports ; the other having a much more slender stem, and,
from an early stage, supported by other very nmnerous, slender, stem-
like roots, which are borne to a very considerable height, up to a point