What they said. Things they did.

1578

‘The woods of St Helena are very thick and full of ebony trees ….. the soil, even of itself, bringeth forth very excellent fruits ….. huge wild woods of oranges, limes, lemons and other such fruits, that all year long, do carry flowers and fruits’.

Edward Lopez – Portuguese traveller

1588

‘There are on this island thousands of goats which are very wild. You shall see one or two hundreds of them together, and sometimes you may see them go in a flock almost a mile long. Some of them are as big as an ass with a mane like a horse and a beard hanging down to the ground’.

Thomas Cavendish – English naval adventurer

1649

‘There are quantities of lemon trees and a few oranges, planted originally by the Portuguese. For these people have one thing to their credit, that wherever they go they attempt to improve the place for those that come after. The Dutch do just the reverse and destroy everything, so that those that follow after them shall have nothing left’.

J B Tavernier – French traveller

1710

‘The island in 20 years time will be utterly ruined for want of wood, for no man can say there is one tree in the Great Wood, or other wood less than 20 years old. Consequently it will die with age’.

Report from the Governor and Council

1709

‘The Redwood and Ebony trees are most of them destroyed by the tanners that for laziness never took the pains to bark the whole tree but only the bodies. We find that ebony wood will burn lime and being informed that there is huge quantities of the wood which lies dead on the hills near Sandy Bay’

Report from the Governor and Council

1701

‘Our main intention is to prevent the distilling trade, which is grown very ripe in the island to the great destruction of the wood’.

The East India Company levies a tax on firewood.

1701

‘Our main intention is to prevent the distilling trade, which is grown very ripe in the island to the great destruction of the wood’.

The East India Company levies a tax on firewood.

1938

‘On both sides of the Ridge the ruthless and rapacious flax growers have hacked down and grubbed up wild olive, tree ferns, cabbage trees, lobelia and everything else which God planted there, in order to grow their flax which could grow just as well in many other parts of the island’.

Philip Gosse – historian