NATAL AND ITS FLORA., 25 
west by Basutoland, the Free State, and the Transvaal; on 
the north-east by the Transvaal and Zululand (now annexed) ; 
on the east by the Indian Ocean; and on the south and 
south-west by Pondoland and Griqualand East—provinces 
of the Cape Colony. 
The country is mountainous, and is interesting to the 
geologist, since table-mountains are characteristic of the 
formation. It is also well watered, and although the rivers 
are too small and too rapid and shallow for navigation, they 
do much to fertilise the soil. The soil varies according to 
the locality. It is light and sandy on the coast, with a 
more or less rich loam in the midlands, while it is shallow 
and thin on the hills. Great tracts of the country consist 
of “ veldt”—-grassy plains corresponding to the prairies and 
pampas of other countries. From the sea to the Drakens- 
berg — the mighty mountain rampart that guards the 
northern and western frontiers—the land rises gradually in 
a series of terraces. The climate is warm and sub-tropical, 
but owing to the gradual elevation from the sea-board to the 
Berg, it follows that there are several distinct varieties of 
climate. On the coast the air is humid and warm; in the 
midlands it is dry and warm; while in the uplands it is 
cool and comparatively bracing. The average temperature 
on the coast at Durban is 694 degrees, and the extremes 
are 42 and 98. At Pietermaritzburg, 70 miles from the 
coast, at an elevation of 2218 feet, it is 64, and the ex- 
tremes are 28’and 98. On an average the thermometer 
varies about 20 degrees during the 24 hours, sometimes even 
as much as 35. Snow-storms only occur in the high-lands, 
but there is always frost in winter in the midlands, and 
occasionally also on the coast. 
According to the latest botanical computations, there 
are represented in Natal 129 natural orders, 828 genera, 
and 2607 species, of which 391 are still unnamed. Of 
Dicotyledons there are 105 orders, the two most compre- 
hensive being Composite, which has 78 genera (the genus 
Senecio, to which our own groundsel belongs, having about 
70 species), and Leguminose, which has 52 genera. Of 
Gymnosperms there are the two orders, Conifer and 
Cycadacez, each having only two genera. 
