of Saint Helena. The Forsters' Resolution voyage with Captain James Cook was motivated to discover a connection between nature and human development. At first, they believed that nature must have some sort of effect on human development which could answer why there are different levels of development throughout the world. However, their discoveries on Saint Helena Island were to the contrary, they found that man has more effect on nature than they originally believed. After allowing human destructive power to reach Saint Helena, the Forsters noticed flooding from the removal of vegetation and mass slaughter of the turtle population. The consequence of the imperial destruction was a fundamental understanding of the importance of vegetal cover in the tropical environment. Other writers, such as Peter Kalm who wrote about deforestation and draught in North America without connecting the two phenomena, influenced the Forsters' theories on the importance of vegetation. The Forster expedition started the ecological study of Saint Helena, but others have been studying the island since then. Because the island has been extremely affected by human interaction and destruction, scientists have attempted to discern the original vegetal makeup of the island. A scientific study is the only way to determine the original vegetation because there is no direct evidence of plant life from when the island was discovered. One study determined that because the island is volcanic in nature, any plant life existing on the island would have travelled there from elsewhere. It is most likely that the original plant life would have travelled from southern Africa because of the south-easterly prevailing winds and currents. References Notes Gosse, Philip Saint Helena, 1502–1938 Smallman, David L., Quincentenary, a Story of St Helena, 1502–2002 Jackson, E. L. St Helena: The Historic Island, Ward, Lock & Co, London, 1903 Cannan, Edward Churches of the South Atlantic Islands 1502–1991 George, Barbara B. St Helena – the Chinese Connection Cross, Tony St Helena including Ascension Island and Tristan Da Cunha Brooke, T. H., A History of the Island of St Helena from its Discovery by the Portuguese to the Year 1806, Printed for Black, Parry and Kingsbury, London, 1808 Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations Voyages Traffiques & Discoveries of the English Nation, from the Prosperous Voyage of M. Thomas Candish esquire into the South Sea, and so around about the circumference of the whole earth, begun in the yere 1586, and finished 1588, 1598–1600, Volume XI.