128 Plants and their Ways in South Africa 



the oaks which make French Hoek and Stellenbosch so delight- 

 fully shady, and how different the suburbs of Cape Town would 

 look without the European Pines ! 



For draining the fever district what tree could serve better 

 than the Blue Gums ? Their thirsty roots make enormous de- 

 mands on the water supply, while their vertically placed leaves 

 and slender erect habit allow the sun to penetrate to the soil. 

 The Pines or " Firs" and the Blue Gum, which belongs to the 



FIG. 116. Mount Hawakwa, near Wellington. The Australian Eucalyptus 

 softens the treeless landscapes of the Colony. (Photograph by L. Grant.) 



Myrtle family, remind us of the prophecy in Isaiah LV. 11-13 : 

 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth ; it shall 

 not return unto me void, but shall accomplish that which I please. 

 . . . Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead 

 of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree : and it shall be to the 

 Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. 



Along the coast the sands are ever shifting and piling up 

 new dunes. The native plants do their share in staying the 

 sands; the succulent creeping Mesembrianthemum (T"gaukum 

 and Paarde Vijgeri], and Myrica, with its spreading trunk half 

 hidden in the sand, all help to render the sands more stable. 



