244 AFRICA 



The Karroos are also treeless waste lands, mostly stony 

 and semi-desert, likewise the homes of dwarf rounded 

 shrubs, with tiny, heath- like leaves: in some years the 

 rainfall may reach the minimum of one inch. A very 

 large number of tubers and bulbs is characteristic of 

 the Karroos, which are thus divided into deserts of 

 bulbs and succulents and deserts of dwarf shrubs, 

 and end where continuous grass begins. In the dry 

 river-beds is loose scrub of the horrid tusk-thorn 

 acacia, the giraffe acacia, the olive-like capparis, a 

 sumac, the karreeboom, and a herb with fleshy leaves, 

 in addition to numerous pelargoniums and oxalids. 

 Few oases occur among those deserts and semi-deserts, 

 human settlements are, of necessity, confined to river- 

 banks : animal life cannot be plentiful on such a 

 meagre fare, and agriculture and grazing are out of the 

 question. There remains only the ostrich, the specific 

 bird of the desert which is bred for its feathers on 

 regular ostrich farms. Natives who have been driven 

 there by more powerful tribes and by white men live 

 permanently on the verge of starvation and at the 

 lowest stage of destitution, and are fast disappearing. 



Southern Belt of South Africa. The Cape Region 

 receives the benefit of the winter rains due to the 

 westerly winds, and by reason of its position enjoys 

 a climate very similar to that of the Mediterranean. 

 On that account it exhibits a vegetation which stands in 

 close relation to that of extreme North- West Africa: 

 a wealth of evergreen, small- and hard-leaf shrubs and 

 small trees of spare vegetative habit but profuse 

 flowering. Forest growths similar to those of the 

 mediterranean oaks and pines have disappeared ; the 

 woody formations are reduced to the condition of 

 maquis, with a small, leathery, and simple foliage, among 



