COL. GRANT—BOTANY OF THE 5РЕКЕ AND GRANT EXPEDITION. 3 
The soils were also very different; but bright red clay and black loam prevailed. At two 
places on the hill-side we walked over beds of kunker, which is so much used in India for 
metalling roads. ' 
In this hilly region we found, amongst other plants, Mærua Grantii, Ochna macro- 
calyx, Tephrosia reptans, Cassia Grantii, Brachystegia tamarindoides, Welw. 
THE 37TH TO THE 52ND STAGE, ALT. 2498 то 3465 FEET, COMPRISING THE DISTRICT OF 
Ucoco :— | 
Though of considerable altitude and adjoining the east eoast range, this country Ваз по 
valleys; it is filled with sand drifted by winds from the north and west; and the track 
may be said to be upon the tops of the mountains. Тһе rocks which appear above the 
plain of sand ате igneous and are remarkable for the forms they have assumed: some 
look like chimney-stacks ; and others lie in huge masses опе on the top of the other. The 
quartz which partly composes them is cube-shaped and the size of dice. In a dry desert 
like this there is no good water procurable; it sinks through the sand; the barrier of 
mountains to the east prevents its flow; it therefore stagnates, becomes brackish, and, 
percolating through the sand, renders other waters impure. The vegetation of such a 
country is poor; low-growing acacias, other scrubby thorny trees, euphorbias, and bush- 
jungle cover the plain. Such plants as Vernonia, sp., Erigeron, n. sp., are burnt by the 
people; and the ashes, with water, are converted into a bitter salt, which is one of the 
articles of commerce in the country. 
THE 52ND TO THE 98TH STAGE, ALT. 8181 то 4090 FEET, INCLUDING M'GuNDA M’ Katt, 
UNYAMEZI, AND PART OF UZINZA :— 
Here we have the same peculiarity of sand filling up a country to its mountain-tops, 
and this in addition :—Between the latitudes of 4° and 5° south the country has distinct 
parallel waves of sand, a mile or so apart, running northwards and disappearing in the 
forest. Though the subsoil is of sand, we have a fine undulating country, covered with 
forest of considerable value, and of such variety that in one hour’s walk I have gathered 
twenty different species of plants. The rocks are igneous, and exhibit extraordinary 
dimensions in single water-worn masses; or the granite is in platforms upon the ground, 
forming reservoirs for water and dry places on which the natives thrash and winnow 
their grain. | 
Some of the hills ате of тей elay, and upon them the natural grass attains а height of 
8 feet; while in the lower ground and in the dips of the forest the richer soils accumulate, 
and yield ample erops of grains, plantain, Arachis hypogaea, and various roots. 
The following species were gathered in this region :—Cleome hirta; Crotalaria nigri- 
cans; Smithia capitulifera, Welw.; Afzelia cuanzensis, Welw. ; Lefeburia, n. sp.; Myro- 
thamnus flabellifolia, Welw.; Hypoxis, sp.; Smilax Kraussiana. 
We never once experienced the want of water here, though there were no wells; the 
many outcropping rocks were generally an indication that water was not far away. A 
village was often by their side. Pools of water accumulated in the depressions of the 
country; or the granite, when presenting a large surface, formed natural cisterns for its 
collection. ` . 
One other remark I would make. I had seen quieksands in abundance in the channels 
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