They Are
Extremely Populous, And Their Uniform Surface, Therefore, Gives The
People An Opportunity Of Carrying Cultivation Very Far; And From One
End To The Other, They Are Intersected By Paths And Fences, Which
Divide The Plantations.
At first, one might be apt to think that this
high cultivation would give the botanist very scanty supplies
Of
spontaneous plants; but it is the peculiar beauty of these elegant
isles to join the useful to the agreeable in nature, by which means a
variety of different wild species thrive among more that are
cultivated in that pleasing disorder, which is so much admired in the
gardens of this kingdom." - F.
[3] Much of the difference betwixt the Society and Friendly Isles,
seems to depend on the greater abundance of water in the former. This
is noticed very judiciously by Mr G.F., as will be seen in a following
note. His father too was well aware of it. "The Friendly Isles," says
he, "seem to be destitute of springs; for though on some of them, as
Eaoowhe and Anamocka, there are small hills and rising grounds; they
are, however, far from being so high as to attract the clouds, or to
cause, from their perpetual moisture, a continual flood of spring
water. The natives have ponds, some of which are large, wherein they
collect the rain water, but it is sometimes brackish from the vicinity
of the sea." He speaks, it may be added, of a large lagoon of salt
water in Anamocka, about three miles long, full of small isles,
ornamented with clusters of trees, and surrounded by bushes of man-
groves and hills, so as altogether to form a romantic landscape.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 372 of 885
Words from 100384 to 100665
of 239428
