,8,3. NOTES AND COMMENTS. 485 



principal stream, flows." The main peaks of the mountain rise 

 directly from this river valley, which runs parallel with the southern 

 base; the height of one of the two peaks has been calculated at 

 9,300 feet above sea-level. " Across the table-land in the distance is 

 the somewhat isolated and precipitous Tshambi range, which, with 

 its own smaller plateau, is separated from the Milanji table-land by 

 the rocky valley and gorge of the Likabula River. To the front and 

 left we have a continuation of the rolling grassy hills which encircle 

 the plateau and are capped with rugged cliffs of scarped granite and 

 gneiss rocks." Two weeks were spent on the plateau, working from 

 three sites separated by from five to seven miles. 



The flora proved a most interesting one. The most striking 

 botanical feature was a fine cypress-like Conifer, apparently a new 

 species of Widvingtonia. This, however, seems to be rapidly 

 disappearing before the annual bush fires. It was deplorable to 

 witness the devastating effects of these fires, which, in the dry 

 months of August and Sepember, originating from the villages 

 on the lower slopes, creep up the precipitous cliffs from tuft to 

 tuft of grass till the plateau is reached. Spreading quickly over 

 the grassy table-land, the destroyer makes its way along the edges 

 of the forests, burning or scorching the outside trees and killing the 

 seedlings, sometimes even penetrating the interior where hundreds of 

 giant trees lay prostrate and piled on each other in all stages of 

 destruction. One of these, by no means the largest, measured 

 140 feet in length, with a clear straight stem of 90 feet, and 5! feet in 

 diameter at 6 feet from the base. We are glad to hear that Com- 

 missioner Johnston has taken steps for their preservation. 



Tree-ferns attain a great size in the damp shady forests of the 

 plateau, while favoured nooks showed a gorgeous display of white 

 and yellow helichrysums, purple and blue orchids and irises, and snow- 

 white anemones. Several thousand specimens were collected and 

 dried. 



The fauna of the plateau and mountain-top, and of the surround- 

 ing plains, proved as interesting as the flora. It was, of course, more 

 difficult to obtain representative collections of animals, birds, &c., in 

 so short a time. The birds found in the " terai " of the mountain 

 were largely identical with the species of the Zomba district (Zomba, 

 in the Shire Highlands, is the place of residence of the Commis- 

 sioner) ; but those collected on and above the plateau differed widely, 

 and many quite new forms were met with. The almost total absence 

 of raptorial birds on the mountain was very noticeable, but Mr. Whyte 

 suggests an explanation in the comparative paucity of animal life at 

 so great an elevation, and the abundance of prey on the surrounding 

 extensive plains. The birds on t}ie plateau are, with very few excep- 

 tions, arboreal in habit, finding a safe retreat amid the dense foliage 

 of the forest. Very few were found on the grass-lands — a small, dark 

 brown quail, a pipit, two grass warblers, a snipe (rare), and the ubiqui- 



