N O R F O L K I SLAND' . -
S k u a ,' '
G a n n e t *
T h e Grey Petrel, Latham, vi. 399. Phillip, 161. tab. 25. is of a*
footy brown above, and deep alh beneath. The lohite-breafled,
Latham, vi. 400. The Pintado, vi. 401. Edw:. 90. .is a, third.
The Shear IVater, Br. Zool. ii. N° 258.
T he Diving, vi. 413. duiky above, white beneath, not nine
inches lon g ; fits on the water in vail flocks, croaking like frogs
and cackling like hens ; it dives with amazing agility.
F in a l l y , to this clafs-may be. added the broad-billed, vi. 414..
with diftinft noftrils, fwarming either among the woods in burrows
about the roots o f trees, or in the crevices o f the rocks,,
making an incelTant noife like the former, and at times bulled in ,
its nimble divings in queft o f food. All thefe fpecies are to the
fouthern regions what the Auks are to the northern.
I h a v e o m i t t e d tw o Britijh b i r d s f r e q u e n t in t h e f e r em o te r ."
p a r t s , t h e Skua% a n d t h e v a r i e t y o f t h e Gannet §, w i t h b l a c k f e a t
h e r s in t h e t a i l , k n o w n b y t h e n am e o f Suda Hoieri.
In refpect to quadrupeds there are only two, the Rat and
the Flying Squirrel-, Hiß. iluad. ii. N° 352. the membranes extend
from leg to le g ; the color is g re y ; a black line e-xtends from the ■
nape, along the middle o f the back, to the tail, the farther ha lf:
o f which is black.
T h e r e is little doubt but all the pelagic birds o f thefe Lati—
tudes frequent the coafts, Albatroßes, both the common and the
yellow-no/ed, and various other fpecies. Our navigators o f the
year 1774 were the firft of the human race-who ever landed on:
this ifland. The birds, which bred on ihore, fuch as the Boobies,
J Br. Zool. ii. N° 248. 610, | Phillip, 15. plate; 17:
a n d
N O R F O L K I S "L A N D.
and many others* were fo tame and litupid as to fuffer themfelves
to be taken by the hand.
L i e u t e n a n t King, the hiftorian o f the ifle, enumerates five
fpeeies o f trees which afford good timber, the Pine, live Oak, a
yellow wood, a hard black wood, and one like the Engltjh Beech;
o f thefe we can only afcertain one, the CypreJJus Columnaris*.
This magnificent tree grows to the height o f a hundred and
eighty, and even two hundred and twenty feet, and is from fix
to nine feet in diameter; eighty feet clear of branches, and with
eighty or ninety feet o f found timber t : it is as light as the beft
Norway Deal for malts, and yields a fine turpentine. We are
not to Wonder at the fize, for the foreft o f the ifle had never been
difturbed, but by old Time, fince its creation.
T h e Areca Sapida Solandri% is a ufeful tree, for it yields a
Cabbage like the Areca Oleracea, or eabbage-tree ; but Captain
Cook compares the tafte more to that o f an almond than a cabbage,
and adds, that it proved an excellent refourceas an efculent.
It is the fecond fort mentioned by Hawke/worth^.
A FernFree is mentioned by Captain Phillip, z.Dick/onia? which
grows even as high as twenty feet, and proves good food for
iheep,
A w i l d Mu/a, o r plantane, grows in this ifland; and Mr,
Phillip mentions the Supple Jack o f the Weft Indies, the Paulinia
Pinnata o f Linnaus\\, which is interwoven in all directions, and
greatly impedes the progrefs through the forefts.
* G . Forfter, Flor. Auftr. p. 67. N° 351»
f See Phillip, 92. and the Extracts o f his Letters, 16. % G . Forfter, PI. Efc. 66,
§ Coll. o f Voy. iii, 624. || Brown’ s Jam. 212. Cururuape, Pifo. 250.
Q 2 Blackburnia
T r e e s ,
C y p r e s s u s
C o l u m n a r i s .
A r e c a S a p i d a .
S u p p l e J a c k .