CHAPTER IX 



DESCRIPTION OF THE GEOLOGICAL AND GENERAL PHYSICAL 

 FEATURES (continued} 



THE BASALTIC LOWLANDS OF SARAWANGA AND NDREKETI. 



ONE of the most striking features of the north side of the 

 island is the extensive undulating plain that stretches from the 

 Lekutu river to near Sealevu on the head-waters of the Ndreketi, 

 a distance of almost 30 miles. In its western half this plain slopes 

 gradually to the sea-coast, where it is bordered by a broad belt of 

 mangroves. In its eastern half, from the mouth of the Ndreketi 

 eastward, the lofty Nawavi coast range intervenes between it and 

 the sea-shore. Its breadth varies usually between 4 and 6 miles, 

 and its elevation, though it reaches a maximum of about 300 feet, 

 is as a rule between 100 and 200 feet above the sea. 



Over nearly all its area it presents the dried-up and scantily 

 vegetated appearance of the " talasinga " regions. It is an open 

 country mostly clear of forest ; and it is to this character as well as 

 to its peculiar vegetation that it in some measure owes its barren 

 look. Amongst the bracken, grass, and tall reeds (Eulalia 

 japonica) that clothe much of its surface flourish the Pandanus, the 

 Casuarina, and the Cycad, which give a special physiognomy to the 

 whole area ; whilst several sea-side plants, as Ipomea pes caprae, 

 Morinda citrifolia, Cerbera odollam, &c., have spread themselves far 

 and wide over its extent. It is traversed by the rivers Ndreketi, 

 Sarawanga, and Lekutu, the two first named being navigable for 

 several miles, as the tide ascends a long way from the coast. 



In its essential characters this region corresponds with the 

 Mbua and Ndama plains at the west end of the island, which 

 have been previously described. Wherever the rivers have worn 

 channels of any depth, basaltic rocks, sometimes columnar in 

 structure, are exposed ; and over most of its surface the same rocks 



