498 J. VV. BEW8. 



trees, always carefully selecting the more valuable kinds. He 

 has also cut down and carried away much of the bush for 

 firewood. 



The complete destruction of such large areas of forest and 

 the continuous burning of the grass are probably not without 

 an effect on the climate of South Africa. There are certain 

 facts that seem to point to a slow change in the direction of 

 greater dryness. The Karroo formation is extending eastward 

 and gaining on the veld. There seems to be a general 

 opinion that the rivers of South Africa do not now carry so 

 much water as they did within the memory of man, though 

 such vague testimony is, of course, of little scientific value. 

 Actual figures for rainfall have not been recorded long 

 enough or with suflScient regularity to aiford any basis for a 

 very definite conclusion on the matter. 



In Natal the rain-bearing clouds coming in from the Indian 

 Ocean, after they have passed over the coast-belt, deposit 

 moisture chiefly on the south-eastern slopes of the high veld 

 region on each terrace. The natural vegetation of these 

 slopes is bush, though since so much of it has been destroyed, 

 it occurs now only in places. A slope that is covered with 

 bush receives more rain than the same slope when the bush 

 has been replaced by veld, because bush is always cooler and 

 therefore precipitates more of the moisture. In the same way 

 to a less extent a slope that is covered with tall grass will 

 receive more deposition of moisture in the form of mist and 

 dew than after the grass has been burned, leaving the ground 

 bare. 



The general effect therefore of the destruction of bush and 

 burning of veld in Natal is to lessen the rainfall. It may be 

 assumed that the rain-bearing winds tend to carry more of 

 their moisture over Natal and on to the inland plateau, but it 

 does not follow that the rainfall there is increased, for after 

 the Drakensberg is crossed the remaining moisture may easily 

 be retained and carried right across the heated interior. 



The planting of wattle to replace the natural bush has not 

 quite the same result as if the bush had been preserved, for 



