BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 315 



are not so numerous here, but there are a few Kyllingias, 

 and a small Cyperus, which is very remarkable on account 

 of its bulbous root, very similar to the bulbs of Trichonema. 

 They grow together in a very sandy soil. The partridges 

 and pheasants are very fond of the bulb of this little Cyperus. 

 Some herbaceous species of Hibiscus, Hermannia, Phaseolus, 

 Dolichos, are the next among the Dicotyledones, which take 

 a leading part here with regard to the number of individuals. 

 The country about the neighbourhood of the river is rather 

 hilly, which indeed has very little effect on the distribution 

 of plants ; those hills composed of red sandstone, possess 

 nearly the same plants as the adjacent plains, a few hundred 

 feet lower down, when there is a suitable soil for them. 

 The plains, commencing at the foot of those hills, slope down 

 towards the river, their surface occasionally covered with a 

 reddish kind of sand, apparently the residuum of decomposed 

 red sandstone rocks, of which these hills are formed, and 

 which is carried down over those plains by heavy rains. 

 Several Asclepiadeous plants, the Mathiola torulosa (17). 

 Semonvillea fenestrata, Tkysaniha subulata, Lotononis diversi- 

 folia, L. crumanina, Scabiosa (779), Pharnaccum (624), Limeum 

 (625 & 626), are the favourites of those sandy localities. 

 The banks of the river, which are pleasantly shaded by large 

 willow trees, are backed by a high cliff, rising immediately 

 close to its edge, more than fifty feet high on some places 

 from the level of the water. The average breadth of the 

 Caledon River near to our station may be averaged from 

 forty to fifty yards; but in the rainy season, when it rises 

 considerably, its surface is much wider. The length of its 

 course, it is said, is nearly the same as that of the Nu- 

 Gariep or Orange River, but, running through a country of 

 'ess elevated mountains, it is merely a periodical stream, 

 with only a small run of water in the dry weather ; while on 

 the other hand, the Orange River is constantly supplied, 

 even in the dry season, by numerous streamlets from the 

 extensive Draka Mountain chain, which it joins at its north- 



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