236 FERNS. 



boughs, sounding, with his bill, the rotten portions of 

 the tree, for there he knows he is sure to find choice 

 morsels. For the botanist, there are many objects to 

 attract the eye, even immediately after landing. 



The Plumbago Capensis ornaments every cultivated 

 patch of Land at Simon's Town, relieving, by its lively 

 blue corollas, the sombre hue of the dry and arid soil ; 

 and numerous feathery Acacias spring up in the centre of 

 the town, delicate, graceful, and refreshing. The Mesem- 

 bryanthemum edule covers the sterile grounds, and adorns 

 the parched and sandy earth with verdure, where no 

 other plant will grow; and the bare rocks are orna- 

 mented with moss, and variegated with a thousand diffe- 

 rent Lichens. The Ferns I gathered were most beautiful. 

 Not very far from Simon's Town, there is a wild and 

 rugged chasm, with a stream tumbling down the middle, 

 rolling hurriedly in its headlong course, and scattering a 

 refreshing moisture on everything around, where these 

 delicate and lovely Cryptogamia grow in great profusion. 

 Here the minute and fragile fronds of the Hymenophyllum, 

 the curious foliage of the Pieris, the narrow-leaved 

 Blechnum, the elegant Adiantum, and a rare and singular 

 species of Asplenium, either with the fronds laden with 

 sporules, or with the fructification pretty far advanced, 

 are seen springing from the damp surface of the rocks, or 

 waving gracefully from the fissures, like so many emerald 

 plumes. In the immediate vicinity of the town, the 

 silvery catkins of Cunonia Capensis glitter in the sun- 

 beams, and the huge downy blossoms of the Silver tree 

 (Protect argented) attract numerous sun-birds and honey- 

 suckers. The rich orange bells of the Leonotus Leonora, 



