A ROUND-THE-WORLD BOTANICAL EXCURSION 429 



surpassed. For scenic beauty the garden at Melbourne deserves a high 

 rank among the great botanical gardens of the world. 



After a long voyage of twenty-six days, we arrived at Durban, the 

 principal port of South East Africa. Here I was the guest of Dr. J. 

 B. McCord, a medical missionary, and a fellow alumnus of Oberlin 

 College, whose knowledge of South Africa, and especially of Zululand, 

 greatly facilitated my investigations. 



At the botanical garden I met the director. Dr. J. Medley Wood, 

 now an old man, and Mr. J. Wylie, the curator, who is. particularly 

 interested in palms and cycads. Mr. Wylie at once became interested 

 in my woik and not only helped me with my study of the cycads at the 



Fig. 7. A Krall in Zululand. 



garden, where the collection of Encephalartos is the largest and finest 

 in the world, but he accompanied me into the field and sent a Zulu 

 from the garden to be my guide and factotum during my stay in 

 Zululand. 



There are only two genera of cycads in Africa, Encephalarios and 

 Stangeria, and they are found only in South Africa. I found both 

 genera in Zululand and secured an abundance of material for further 

 study. 



The Zulus are a superior race, both physically and mentally, thanks 

 to the practical eugenics of the good old days before the English came, 

 when deformed or sickly babies were promptly killed, and thus pre- 

 vented from propagating their failings. 



