258 J. w. BEWs. 



The soil derived from the Dwyka Conglomerate is also a 

 rich soil cheinically, but it is also very stiff and dry, and, as 

 in the case of the lower valley soils of the Ecca Series, water 

 does not easily percolate through it. 



The Table Mountain Sandstone gives rise to a sandy soil, 

 often mixed with clay from the Dwyka Conglomerate and 

 Kcca Shales, which have locally overlain the Table Mountain 

 beds in ma,ny places. Where basic igneous rock has also 

 contributed its share, the soil is remarkably fertile. Most of 

 the district occupied by the Table Mountain Sandstone is also 

 well watered by springs. 



In the area occupied by the nietamorphic and granitic 

 rocks one would expect the soil to be richer, since the chemical 

 constituents of the rocks include potash, lime, magnesia and 

 phosphates, in addition to silicia and alumina. HoAvever, as has 

 already been stated, this area has been denuded so as to give 

 a most rugged type of country. As a result water di'ains 

 away rapidly from the steep slopes, and the valuable con- 

 stituents of the soil are washed away, leaving a barren quartz 

 sand behind. Soil gathers in the cracks and crevices of the 

 rocks, and in such places various bulbous plants are 

 common. 



Under favourable conditions, where the ground is sufficiently 

 flat for a proper soil to accumulate, it is a rich one, and here 

 and there in this region good mealie crops are raised. The 

 natural grasses are the taller species of A n d r o p o g o n . Horn- 

 blende is a common mineral in these rocks, and by its decom- 

 position gives rise to haematite, so that the soil is again red 

 in colour. 



Along practically the whole coast of Natal there is a line of 

 sand dunes covered with trees (Psammophilous Bush). 

 The sand is brownish in colour, being derived partly from the 

 iron-containing rocks already described, but it is mixed with 

 calcareous shell debris. It is therefore rich in lime, the 

 constituent that is lacking in most Natal soils. On the whole 

 it is rather a moist soil. 



The soils of the Drakensberg are poor, the reason again 



