Page:Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks.djvu/329

Rh into the country, and sent out a strong tide. Here we found a great variety of plants, several, however, the same as those we ourselves had before seen in the islands between the tropics, and others known to be natives of the East Indies, a sure mark that we were upon the point of leaving the southern temperate zone, and that for the future we must expect to meet with plants some of which, at least, had been before seen by Europeans. The soil in general was very sandy and dry; though it produced a large variety of plants, yet it was never covered with a thick verdure. Fresh water we saw none, but several swamps and bogs of salt water. In these, and upon the sides of the lagoons, grew many mangrove trees, in the branches of which were many nests of ants, of which one sort were quite green. These, when the branches were disturbed, came out in large numbers, and revenged themselves very sufficiently upon their disturbers, biting more sharply than any I have felt in Europe. The mangroves had also another trap which most of us fell into. This was a small kind of caterpillar, green and beset with many hairs, numbers of which sat together upon the leaves, ranged by the side of each other, like soldiers drawn up; twenty or thirty, perhaps, on one leaf. If these wrathful militia were touched ever so gently, they did not fail to make the person offending sensible of their anger, every hair in them stinging much as nettles do, but with a more acute, though less lasting, smart.

Upon the sides of the hills were many of the trees yielding a gum like Sanguis draconis. They differed, however, from those seen on the 1st of May, in having their leaves longer, and hanging down like those of the weeping willow. Notwithstanding that, I believe that they were of the same species. There was, however, much less gum upon them. Only one tree that I saw had any, contrary to all theory which teaches that the hotter a climate is the more gums exude. The same observation, however, held good in the plant yielding the yellow gum, of which, though we saw vast numbers, we did not see any that showed signs of gum