2o6 Voyage of the Novara. 



pioneers of all other plants, which do not thrive before the 

 sandy soil has been prepared for them. Nay, singularly 

 enough, some of these (as for instance the Hottentot fig), be- 

 come extinct as soon as others make their appearance, just in 

 the same way as the pioneer of civilization, the backwoodsman 

 in the west of the United States, leaves his lonely blockhouse and 

 hurries on as soon as overtaken by the peaceful settler. The 

 wax-berry shrub is also otherwise useful to the inhabitants ; 

 from its berries a substance is prepared well suited for making 

 candles. Accordino- to a treatise on its culture two workmen 

 are able to realize with a defecator daily 100 lbs. of white 

 wax from the berries gathered by six persons. The expense 

 of labour, &c., does not exceed I85. per 100 lbs., or about 

 2d. per pound. A large quantity of this vegetable substance 

 has lately been sent to London, where it is said to have met 

 with a profitable market. In the Botanical Garden of Cape 

 Town we first met the two celebrated grasses known as 

 Holcus Caffrorum and Holcus saccharatum^ which, by their 

 usefulness in domestic life, have more extensively, and per- 

 haps quickly, than any other plant, spread over the world. 

 We are indebted to the Secretary of the Board of Public 

 Roads, W. De Smidt, Esq., for some seeds of these and 

 other plants, as also to Mr. McGibbon, manager of the Bo- 

 tanical Gardens, for similar favours. 



Considering the deficiency of labour, and the large sections 

 of fertile land as yet uncultivated in the colony. Sir George 

 Grey has directed great attention to the immigration of German 



