VEGETATION. I/ 



found a spot which for variety and beauty of 

 vegetation could compete with this. Foliage is 

 certainly not profuse ; and the style of vegeta- 

 tion is nearly allied to that which obtains at the 

 Cape of Good Hope ; but the abundance and 

 beauty of its flowering plants, the novel forms 

 of growth they often assume, and above all, the 

 active juices and rich aroma possessed by almost 

 every herb and tree, present a perfect picture of 

 tropical botany. I could not but ask, if such 

 was the desert the mere land's end the beach 

 of the country what must be the botanical 

 productions of the inland and more fertile 

 districts ? Truly we might say to this spot 



"Thy very weeds are beautiful, thy waste 

 More rich than other climes' fertility." 



That any vegetation should exist on a plain 

 of parched and dusty sand is remarkable ; yet 

 not only do trees of respectable height and 

 girth, and often of luxuriant foliage, flourish on 

 this tract, and a dense brushwood occupy the 

 intervening space, but even the lowly and 

 moisture-loving mushroom occurs in more than 

 one spot, rearing its head, in full and juicy flesh, 

 above the arid soil. On the whole it was 

 evident that, notwithstanding the dryness of 

 their surface, the sands had absorbed a great 



VOL. II. C 



