

BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 341 



those trees was the less expected here at a more elevated 

 spot, than their highest limits at the banks of the Orange 

 River. From the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, the graceful 

 tree in question is the chief ornament of the banks of that 

 majestic river for many hundred miles, disappearing a few 

 miles higher up than where we forded, an altitude of more than 

 4000 feet above the level of the sea. Comparing the eleva- 

 tion of our present station with the level of the Caledon 

 river, where it runs between us and the Draka's mountain, in 

 a line due south-east, the altitude of our present station 

 cannot be less than 5000 feet. The appearance of that kind 

 of tree, at an isolated spot of considerable elevation, is very 

 remarkable, and we did not see a similar instance in this 

 part of the country. The sheltered situation cannot be the 

 cause, for there are many places offering the same advantage ; 

 nor can it be the nature of the soil that favours its growth. 

 Whether this tree has been introduced many years ago by 

 the natives who lived about this place, or what has been the 

 original cause of its first transit to this isolated height, is 

 difficult to conjecture. 



The lofty range of the Witteberge mountains had changed 

 its primitive character entirely, and instead of being a 

 continuous barrier, as is the case from its first beginning for 

 a considerable way, it consists here chiefly of detached 

 hills, remarkable for their uniformity. The tops of most of 

 them present a flattened table-like appearance, similar to 

 many within the colony ; and although their height is not 

 considerable, the base on which they rest is already much 

 elevated; for which reason, when standing on the tops of 

 several of these hills, the view, east and south-east, seems 

 unbounded, commanding a vast mountainous country, be- 

 yond which may be seen the far distant, alpine-like chain of 

 fountains, dividing the Natal country and that of various 

 Kaffir tribes, from the interior. Towards the west and north, 

 the eye was only prevented from gazing further, by the scene 

 gradually melting into the far-distant horizon. 



The soil at the base of these hills, chiefly of a loamy nature. 



