14 



there seems to be neither Stinkwood nor Ironwood ; Yellowwood occurs sparingly, but 

 Sneezewood is fairly abundant. The forest has been much cut out in former years by 

 Boers, and more recently by the several garrisons that were stationed at Fort Notting- 

 ham. It appears that large quantities of Sneezewood, which burns readily even when 

 green, have been cut by the latter for fuel. Many portions of the forest have been over- 

 worked and now stand almost irretrievably ruined. Natives are not numerous in the 

 neighbourhood ; the nearest location is that at Impenhla. In consequence, wattle cutting 

 has remained moderate, and mealie gardens have not recently encroached on the forest. 

 Mr. F. E. Shaw, who is paid 12 per annum to supervise this forest, has succeeded in 

 preventing any serious destruction during the last few years. There is evidence that 

 forests have considerably decreased in the neighbourhood. I was informed by Mr. 

 Mackenzie that many Sneezewood stumps had been dug out, to quite eight hundred yards 

 outside his own forest. On Capt. Grantham's map of 1861, forests are marked at Spioen- 

 kop and Kamsberg, where now only a few isolated trees remain to show their former 

 position. The Nottingham settlers, only two in number, are said to exercise a right to cut 

 timber and firewood for their own use free of charge, and it is not certain that any timber 

 could be sold to others, and revenue derived from the forest. Sneezewood might still be 

 worked here profitably. The distance from the railway is only 8 miles, the cost of trans- 

 port to the Nottingham Road Station is about ten shillings a load, and the price of Native 

 labour one pound a month and rations. 



FOKESTS IN WEENEN COUNTY. The High Timber Forests in the County of Weenen 

 were estimated by the Forest Commission of 1880 to cover 6,400 acres on Crown land 

 and a like extent on Native locations. I am of opinion that these estimates reduced 

 by one-half would now be more accurate. Whether it is that the estimate of 1880 

 was too high, or that denudation has been very rapid since, cannot be ascertained 

 definitely. 



Above the farm Meshlynn, there are a few small forests near the sources of the 

 Mooi River, but none of them of great extent, nor easy of access. 



The Hlatikulu Forest is one of the largest in this county. It is situated on a 

 rocky hill of the watershed between the Bushman's River and the Mooi River. The 

 extent is about 600 acres, the altitude 5,500 to 6,000 feet, the aspect south, and the 

 average declivity one in two or three. It forms a level belt in a fan-shaped basia, 

 hollowed in the sandstone of the country, and draining into the Mooi River. 

 The ground is moderately rich and damp ; and rocky in many places, or strewn with large 

 boulders of sandstone. Its steepness would prevent the removal of much timber other- 

 wise than by hand after sawing in the forest itself. The climate is cold, and frosts are 

 prevalent in winter ; thunderstorms come from the east, misty rains from the south, and 

 easterly gales are common. The principal trees are Hard Pear (Cathastrum Capense), 



