12 



The vleis and marshes are filled with a Cyperus-Erianthus asso- 

 ciation (Cyperus latifolius and Erianthus capensis). Along the 

 streams a typical hygrophilous bush develops, in which Eugenia 

 cordata is one of the commonest trees, while conspicuous in the under- 

 growth is a large fern Stenochlaena tenuifolia. The streams are 

 nowhere very large, but they are numerous, so that there is a con- 

 siderable amount of this hygrophilous bush, which, however, never 

 extends any distance away from the water. 



On the banks of the two largest rivers which flow through the 

 sand veld, viz., the Mkuzi and the Mseleni, there has developed a 

 fairly thick bush, extending a mile or two from each bank. Along 

 the river-banks grow fine specimens of the genus Ficus, while away 

 from them grow such trees as Schotia brack ypetala, Sclerocarya 

 caffra, Terminalia sericea, Strychnos spinosum, Strychnos gerrardi, 

 Combretum sp., Voacanga dregei, Gymnosporia buxifolia, Acacia 

 spp., and Trichilia emetica (commoner in Mseleni Bush), Euphorbia 

 ingens (?) (commoner in Mkuzi Bush), and a number of other trees 

 we could not identify. There is not a very rich undergrowth, but 

 lianes and scramblers are fairly common among the latter is 

 Euphorbia tirucalli. Along the right bank of the Mkuzi River, and 

 on the outer edge of the bush lining it, Acacia xanthophloea Benth., 

 which is a lofty, rather handsome tree with a sickly-yellow bark, is 

 not uncommon. It is called by Europeans the "fever tree " (Zulu 

 name, umHlosinga), and its presence is popularly supposed to 

 indicate fever localities. There may be some truth in this, as it never 

 grows but in low-lying, clayey soil. 



(4) Lakes. The three lakes, St. Lucia, Sibayi, and Kosi, occupy 

 areas which otherwise would be occupied by the sand veld, as the 

 spaces between them are. As regards vegetation, all three are similar. 

 Back from their shores extends a narrow strip of bush, in which 

 Eugenia cordata is prominent in the case of St. Lucia, while 

 Terminalia sericea is most prominent along the shores of Lake Sibayi. 

 In the marginal belt between water and dry land there occur 

 numerous Cyperaceae, but the dominant plant here is the cosmopolitan 

 Phragmites communis, which lines the shores of St. Lucia for many 

 a mile, and extends several hundred yards into the water. There 

 are a very fe;v places along St. Lucia Lake where the Zulu I and 

 papyrus (Cyperus papyrus), which is so plentiful along the Umfolosi 

 River, occurs in quantity. 



We did not visit more than the southern end of Kosi Lake, 

 where we found that true forest occurs. 



(5) Forest. In the whole of the region under survey, true forest 

 only occurs, so far as we know, in two places, and these both in the 

 far north. Here there is the " Manguzi Bush " of fairly wide extent, 

 which we did not visit, but from which we obtained fruits of the 

 so-called " Mahogany Bean " (Afzelia quanzensis Welw.), thus 

 indicating that it grows there (in fair abundance, according to 

 report). This tree occurs in Portuguese East Africa (vide Sim's 

 "Forest Flora and Forest Resources of Portuguese East Africa"), 

 and its presence here indicates that the forest in northern Zululand 

 is probably distinctly sub-tropical in its composition, far more so than 

 any farther south. This impression was confirmed when we visited 

 the forest which has developed around the southern end of Kosi Lake, 

 through the centre of which runs the Kosi River. There is a great 

 wealth of varied vegetation, no single species being dominant, 



