, although
the peculiar palms, from their longevity and comparative hardiness, have
survived. Mr. Geoffrey Nevill tells us, that at Mahe, and most of the other
islands visited by him, it was only in a few spots near the summits of the
hills that he could perceive any remains of the ancient flora. Pine-apples,
cinnamon, bamboos, and other plants have obtained a firm footing, covering
large tracts of country and killing the more delicate native flowers and
ferns. The pine-apple, especially, grows almost to the tops of the
mountains. Where the timber and shrubs have been destroyed, the water
falling on the surface immediately cuts channels, runs off rapidly, and
causes the land to become dry and arid; and the same effect is largely seen
both in Mauritius and Bourbon, where, originally, dense forest covered the
entire surface, and perennial moisture, with its ever-accompanying
luxuriance of vegetation, prevailed.

_Flora of Madagascar Allied to that of South Africa._--In my _Geographical
Distribution of Animals_ I have remarked on the relation between the
insects of Madagascar and those of south temperate Africa, and have
speculated on a great _southern_ extension of the continent at the time
when Madagascar was united with it. As supporting this view I now quote Mr.
Bentham's remarks on the Compositae. He says: "The connections of the
Mascarene endemic Compositae, especially those of Madagascar itself, are
eminently with the southern and sub-tropical African races; the more
tropical races, Plucheineae, &c., may be rather more of an Asiatic type."
He further says that the Composite flora is almost as strictly endemic as
that of the Sandwich Islands, and that it is much diversified, with
evidences of great antiquity, while it shows insular characteristics in the
tendency to tall shrubby or arborescent forms in several of the endemic or
prevailing genera.

_Preponderance of Ferns in the Mascarene Flora._--A striking character of
the flora of these smaller Mascarene islands is the great preponderance of
ferns, and next to them of orchideae. The following figures are taken from
{446} Mr. Baker's _Flora_ for Mauritius and the Seychelles, and from an
estimate by M. Frappier of the flora of Bourbon given in Maillard's volume
already quoted:--

_Mauritius, &c._ _Bourbon._

Ferns 168 Ferns 240
Orchideae 79 Orchideae 120
Gramineae 69 Gramineae