164' R; E M A R K S o n t h e
name o f Friendly Ifles, from the peaceable, kind difpofition of
their inhabitants. T h e y are.raifed fo high above the level o f the fea,.
that they can-no longer rank with the Low Iflands ; and being defti-
tute o f mountains, they are equally diftindt from the High
Iflands. Th e y are extremely populous,| their uniform furfacfe
therefore, gives the people an opportunity o f carrying cultivation.
very far; and from one end to the other, they are interfered by.
paths and fences, which divide the plantations. A t firft one m igh t .
be apt to think that this high cultivation, would give the botanift
very fcanty fupplies o f Ipontaneous plants; but it is the peculiar
beauty o f all thefe elegant ifles to join the ufeful to the agreeable in
nature, by which means a variety o f different wild fpecies thrive
among thofe that are cultivated, in that pleafing diforder which is
fo much admired in the gardens o f this kingdom.
N E W H E B R I D E S .
T h e more Weftern ifles named the New Hebrides, appear with -
a very different vegetation. Th e y are high and mountainous; without
plains or reefs, though their hills have gentle Hopes, and
their valleys ‘ are extenfive: they are fertile, and almoft totally
covered with forefts, in which, the plantations o f the natives, are
fo many infulated fpots, efpecially as the number o f inhabitants is.'
but fmall for the fize o f the ifles. Th e Ipontaneous plants there-
. * fore
O R G A N I C B O D I E S. 165
fore, occupying the greatefl fpace, the variety o f fpecies is alfo v e g e -
greater here, than in the more Eafterly iflands, k i n g d o m
N E W C A L E D O N I A .
T h e arid foil o f New Caledonia,5; totally diftindt from all others
in the'South Sea, produces neverthelefs,' a variety o f plants, molt
o f which form genera very diftindt from thofe before known. A
reef o f coral rocks furrounds the Ihores here at a confiderable dif-
tance, in the fame manner as at the Society Ifles, and the only
cultivated parts o f the country, are likewife forrie narrow plains.
But it feems, that though the natives -bellow :gteatlabour on them,’
yet they barely yield them a fcanty fubfiftance, which probably, is ’
the caufe o f their very inconfiderable number’ From the unani~;
mous teftimony o f feveral gentlemen, who made the voyage in the’
Endeavour Bark, as well as this laft in the Refolution, we have the
greatefl: reafon to affert, that the produaions o f this large i fluid,
(the plains excepted) entirely refemble thofe o f the coafts o f New'
Holland, which are not far diftant.
N E W Z E E L A N D .
New Zeeland, which lies in the temperate zone, prelents a very
different aipedt from any o f the tropical countries. ■ Its northern ‘
Me though mountainous, like the other, has however very extenfive