Transactions of the Linnean Society of London/Volume 12/Some Account of the Island of Tristan da Cunha and of its Natural Productions
Read December 16, 1817.
The British Government having judged it expedient to take possession of the island of Tristan da Cunha, a military detachment, consisting of about fifty men, with a captain, two subalterns, and a medical officer, was sent to occupy it from the Cape of Good Hope. Motives of curiosity led me to apply for permission to accompany this expedition, which embarked on board His Majesty's ship Falmouth on the 2d of November 1816. A liberal supply of agricultural instruments, with a team of labouring oxen, and some cattle for breeding, was sent on board at the same time. We sailed from Table Bay on the 3d, and two days after encountered a heavy gale, during which, our cattle, standing unsheltered upon deck, were so much injured by the rolling of the ship, and by the sea washing over them, that they all died before we arrived at our destination. The westerly winds, which usually prevail in the high southern latitudes, protracted our voyage to the 28th of November: but we had the good fortune to come to anchor in fine weather, and landed all the stores without loss or damage.
Tristan da Cunha is situated in 37°6' south lat. and in 11°44' west long. The whole island is apparently a solid mass of rock in the form Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/558 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/559 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/560 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/561 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/562 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/563 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/564 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/565 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/566 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/567 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/568 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/569 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/570 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/571 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/572 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/573 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/574 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/581 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/582 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/585 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/586 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/587 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/588 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/589 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/590 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/591 510 Capt. Carmichael's Description of
. AcROSTiCHUM succis^FOLiuM, frondesimpliceoblongaco- riacea utrinque squamosa: squamis peltatis lanceolatis ciliatis. Acrostichum succisaefolium. Aubert op. cit. p. 31. In the wood. . AcROSTiCHiuM CILIARE, frondc simplici elongato-lanceo- lata subacuminata membranacea marginibus costaque squamatis : squamulis subulatis nudis. Acrostichum ciliare. Aiibert op. cit. p. 32 ? Fronds 6 — 12 inches long; fertile ones smaller margined. Grows on the mouldering banks of the ravines. . Acrostichum OBTUSATUMjfrondibus siraplicibus : squamu- lis subulatis sparsis ; sterilibus oblongis; fertilibus ovatis, stipitibus hispidis. On the highest rocks of the table-land. . Grammitis australis. Br. Prodr. 146. On the table-land and rocky borders of the ravines. . Grammitis cheilanthoides. TVilld. Sp. PL v. p. 143. Asplenium filipendulsefolium. Aubert op. cit. p. 34. tab. 4. High on the face of the table-land, and on a detached hill in the middle of the plain. . PoLYPODiuM aquilinum, froudc tripinnatifida deltoidea subtus pubescenti, pinnulis falcatis : inferioribus crenato- incisis, stipite pubescente et paleaceo. Polypodium aquilinum. Aubert op. cit. p. 32. Caudex repens, basibus stipitum induratis muricatus. J'rons
— 4-pedalis, subquadripinnatifida. Stipes rachis costae-
que Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/593 Page:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Volume 12.djvu/594 50. LoMAUiA ANTARCTICA, frondibus pinnatis, pinnis semi-oblongis obtusis integris: terminali breviore, involucris eroso-incisis.
Acrostichum polytrichoides. Aubert op. cit. p. 32. tab. 2.
On the most barren parts of the plain.
51. Pteris vespertilionis (2. Br. Prodr. 154.
Grows in the wood: not common.
52. Adiantum iETiiioPicuM. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 452. Aubert op. cit. p. 34.
In the ravines.
53. ViTTARiA sTRicTA, frondibus linearibus acutis strictis, soris intramarginalibus.
Pteris? vittarioides. Aubert op. cit. p. 31. tab. 1.
Grows in the wood.
54. Trichomanes angcstatum, frondibus elongato-lanceolatis glaberrimis bi-tripinnatifidisve, pinnulis linearibus integer- rimis, involucris alatis turbinatis : ore dilatato.
On the rocks.
55. Hymenophyllum ;ebuginosum, frondibus lanceolatis bi- pinnatifidis hirsutis, pinnulis bifidis linearibus, stipitibus filiformibus.
Trichomanes aeruginosum. Aubert op. cit. p. 34.
On the rocks.
I have nothing to remark regarding the Mosses and Lichens, not having made any memoranda of them.