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Verbena officinalis, and a few others grow in great profusion, but they grew from cuttings obtained from a French vessel of war.
   Ferns of many varieties are common, and grow in profusion in the craters of the volcanoes. Except in a few exposed places, the slopes of the hills and the valleys are covered with a perennial grass. It strongly resembles the Jamaica grass (Paspalum) and grows in bunches or tufts, which in the dry season become so slippery as to make the walking both difficult and dangerous. This natural growth supplies ample pasturage for the numerous cattle and sheep owned by Messrs. Salmon and Brander.
   To avoid the depredations of the sheep that wander over the island without restraint, the natives are compelled to protect their cultivated patches by stone walls. The volcanic stones furnish the only available material for these barriers, and are thrown loosely together to a height of 5 or 6 feet, and inclose gardens from a few feet square to several acres. The deeply rooted prejudice existing in the native mind against physical exertion that might be avoided, has developed a happy expedient to save labor and at the same time to escape the ravages of the animals lately imported by the foreign residents. Ruins of houses, cairns, platforms, and tombs are thickly scattered over the island; many of the standing walls are sufficiently well preserved and others require but little repair. Within these ancient foundation walls are raised their limited crops of fruit and vegetables; the only disadvantage being the contracted area available for each plot.

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