both hemispheres. The whole of geographical botany renders the latter hypothesis improbable, I might' almost say impossible, to admit, especially in a genus which is not divided between the two worlds.” I mentioned in the preceding chapter that the kumara, Convolvulus batatas, an American species, was cultivated throughout Polynesia before the European period, though it had not reached the Malay Archipelago. This necessarily implies an intercourse between some portions of the island region and the continent; hence that the Peruvians were in possession of the banana before the European discovery of America is extremely probable, for it would only show that an interchange of products had taken place between them and the Polynesians. It might be asked, Why did this exchange not go further? To this, at present, we can give no reply. Regarding the non-occurrence of the banana in the West-Indies, or on the continent outside Peru, we know that; though' the potato (Solanum tuberosum) had been long cultivated in the latter country, it was unknown in Mexico, or even in Brazil, at the time of the European invasion; thus it may be seen that, though an interchange of products did take place between the ancient civilized portions of the American Continent, the exchange was either very slow or intermittent. To transplant the banana from Polynesia to the shores of America across more than two thousand miles of ocean would overtax the skill and knowledge of any ordinary European gardener; but for a people who have dispersed this species and the breadfruit through the countless islands that form their home it would be a simple undertaking. What we have really to consider here is: Were the rude inhabitants of Polynesia sufficiently acquainted with the arts of navigation and shipbuilding to be able to perform so perilous a voyage? This question will be considered in another place. Cocoanut-Palm (Cocos nucifera).—The most ancient historical notices of the cocoanut are probably those discovered on the walls of the temple at Thebes, erected by Queen Hatasu to commemorate the return of the fleet sent out by her from Port Sais on a voyage of discovery down the Red Sea.* “Ancient Egypt.” Professor G. Rawlinson. This fleet, we are informed, reached the distant land of Punt, from whence cocoanuts and other products of the country were brought back to Egypt. In the bas-reliefs which adorn Queen Hatasu's temple the residences of the inhabitants of Punt are depicted standing upon tall piles and embowered in cocoanut-palms. The products of the country not corresponding with those of the Asiatic coast, it has been conjectured that the land of Punt may have been the Somali