A BOTANICAL VISIT TO SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA 1 



By A. S. HITCHCOCK, 

 Custodian, Section of Grasses, U. S. National Museum 



In June, 1929, I started for London on my way to South Africa to 

 attend the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement 

 of Science. The sessions were held partly in Capetown (July 22-27) 

 and partly at Johannesburg (July 30-August 5). Leaving London 

 on the Llandovery Castle the latter part of June we arrived in Cape- 

 town July 19. The passengers included 160 scientists bound for the 

 meetings, and other boats brought their quota. We stopped a few 

 hours each at Teneriffe, Ascension, and St. Helena but did not land at 

 Ascension. Certainly good old St. Helena never saw such a swarming 

 of scientists over her hills and valleys as took place on that day. 



Every effort was made by those in charge of arrangements in South 

 Africa to make the visitors comfortable. Excursions permitted an 

 examination of the local flora. Though it was winter many plants were 

 in bloom. A two-day excursion on a special train through the Karoo 

 allowed botanists to examine the curious xerophytic flora of this arid 

 region. A stop was made at Kimberley to inspect the diamond mines. 

 There the members saw the method of mining, the separating of the 

 diamonds from the pebbles and gravel by means of " grease tables," 

 and great piles of the diamonds themselves worth hundreds of thou- 

 sands of dollars. 



After the conclusion of the meetings I joined an excursion to Vic- 

 toria Falls and other points in Southern Rhodesia. We lived on a 

 special train for 12 days, visiting points of interest to botanists, zoolo- 

 gists, geologists, and archeologists. At Bulawayo motor cars took our 

 party to a cave to inspect Bushmen drawings and to Motopos Hills 

 to see the grave of Cecil Rhodes, for whom Rhodesia was named. On 

 a high round-topped hill overlooking the country for many miles 

 around lies the grave surrounded by huge boulders. 



The Victoria Falls of the Zambesi River are one of the wonders 

 of the world. The river flows through a great lava bed and the surface 

 of the surrounding country is the same above and below the falls. The 



1 Although this trip took place in 1929 the author returned to America so 

 late in the year that his article could not be included in Explorations and 

 Field-Work of the Smithsonian Institution in 1929. — Editor. 



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