commonest in the neighbourhood of Capetown, growing on the hills round the town, and they 
are met with in most parts of the Colony. This is by no means the case with most others of 
this Order, many of which are extremely local. And one of the most striking features that a 
botanist notices in travelling in South Africa is the constant change of species at short distances. 
He frequently passes, in the course of a day’s ride into a vegetation almost totally distinct. I 
speak now, more especially, in reference to the species of Proteas, but the observation applies 
with equal force to many other families of plants. The Heaths—the Geraniums—the 
Mesembryanthema, &c., change in species as we pass from one mountain-chain to another. 
And yet, while the great majority are local, met with but once, never to be encountered in 
another locality, some, like our Protea mellifera, are common throughout the Colony from Cape- 
town to Port Natal. 
