president's address. 779 



The "plains" have much in common, I believe, with the "park 

 lands " of Central Africa. Mr. J. E. S. Moore read a paper on 

 the latter before the Linnean Society of London on 1st November, 

 1900. I have not seen the paper, but the following is an 

 abstract : — 



" These park lands in the Tanganyika have quite the appear- 

 ance of having been formed by the hand of man, but are really 

 natural growths, due to the fact that light surface soil has been 

 laid down over what Mr. Moore takes to have been lake deposits. 

 Any given line of country will show large plantations, with quite 

 a home-like look, separated by grass lands; and, as Tanganyika is 

 approached they dwindle in size till they consist of a few shrubs, 

 overshadowed by giant Euphorbias, cactus-like in appearance. 

 Then come stretches of grass, dotted with Euphorbias, and, last 

 of all, the salt steppes by the Lake, wliich is now held to have 

 had at one time an outlet to the sea. Mr. Moore's explanation 

 is that, at first, only the Euphorbias would grow on the salt 

 steppes; but as these sprang up they afforded a shade and shelter 

 to self-sown shrubs, each of which, as it established a footing, 

 contributed to the natural planting of the area by the distribution 

 of its seeds, till, this process reached its highest development in 

 the large plantations where the shrubs overtopped the Euphorbias 

 to which they owed their growth." 



In passing reference to Central Africa country in comparison 

 with our own. Sir Harry Johnston has a figure and description"^ 

 of a "fine mountain which, like most Central African mountains, 

 presents from below the appearance of a cake that has been cut 

 and is crumbling." This mountain presents remarkable similarity 

 to Mount Lindsay and other mountains in North-eastern New 

 South Wales. 



My personal acquaintance with the Ceylon patanas is of a \ ery 

 limited character, but I have long held the view that the plains 

 of the Dorrigo present somewhat similar problems. Mr. H. H. 



* " British Central Africa." by Sir Harry H. .Johnston (1897), p. 25. 



