564 BOTANICAL EXCURSIONS 
and from the lines of stratification visible on their sides, to 
consist of the same sandstone which is so general in the 
southern parts of the colony. [It is easy to distinguish at a 
distance the two prevailing rocks of the country, granite and 
sandstone, by the smooth rounded surfaces and lumpish 
outlines of the former, contrasted with the sharp, abrupt, 
angular, or tabular forms, and strongly marked straight lines 
of the latter. 
The Paarl Hill and Valley are exceedingly rich in curious 
plants, and though less than forty miles distant from Cape 
Town, they produce a great number of peculiar species. 
The most common Profeas of the Cape peninsula are re- 
placed by distinct kinds; Hermannias, with yellow and deep 
orange-coloured flowers are abundant on the sides of the hill, 
together with a very beautiful Diosma, a Drosera with large, 
purple flowers, some delicate little bulbs, and a variety of 
other things. A fine Podalyria, with upright, rod-like stems 
nearly six feet high, and a profusion of large, purple blos- 
som, grows on the banks of the Berg River, amidst thickets 
of Brabeium and Metrosideros angustifolia. The low, sandy 
grounds, in the valley, were covered, at the season when we 
were there, with a vast variety of delicate and pretty little 
annuals, which, as far as their general appearance goes, re- 
minds us much of the spring flowers of our own country, 
though far more numerous and varied. 
The beauty and diversity of the wild flowers of South 
Africa are certainly very striking, and perhaps there is no 
part of the world which offers greater attractions to a bo- 
tanist. Notwithstanding all that has been done, from the 
days of Thunberg’s travels to the present, to illustrate the 
vegetable productions of this country, which have enriched our 
green-houses with so many beauties, it is probable that very 
many plants yet remain to be discovered. Numbers of the 
Cape plants are confined, in:a wild state, within very narrow 
limits, so that you may explore, for a length of time, the 
district in which they grow, and yet not hit on the precise 
spot; others continue in perfection but a very short time; 
