230 Dr. R. Marloth, Ph.D., M.A.—The [Oct. 27, 



down to the coast. This is the source of the splendid water found* 

 close to the shore at Sandwich Harbour and then again at Sandfontein, 

 at the back of Walfish Bay, and this subterranean water enables also 

 our plant to g^vow on the sand hills between these two places. 



No other vegetation can exist on this moving sand under a tropical 

 sun and a continuous drought, for rain is almost as rare there as 

 here for instance an earthquake. The root of the Naras descends deep 

 into the sand until it reaches the hidden moisture. It has sometimes 

 a length of forty feet. A French missionary, Rev. Duparquet, 

 who calls Damaraland Western Caffraria, and whose statements are 

 published by Monsieur Naudin, and taken thence into a recent number 

 of the " Gardener's Chronicle," tells us that the root is occasionally 

 about 350 feet long and descends to unknown depth. Well, the 

 Naras is a curious plant, but a root of 350 feet length and an unknown 

 depth into the bargain is rather a strain on a naturalist's imagination. 



The Naras is a cucurbitaceous plant. It belongs therefore to a 

 family, some members of which are very useful to man. I need 

 mention only the pumpkin, cucumber, watermelon and rolaquint. But 

 its appearance is totally different from all its relatives. 



The root puts forth successively several shoots of a finger's thick- 

 ness. But no leaves are to be seen thereon. The shoots branch out 

 several times and bear two conical spines at each node. As the very 

 slender branches are much entangled and interwoven they cover the 

 sand dunes like a hedge and it is very unpleasant to pass through 

 such a hedge on account of these sharp pointed thorns. 



The prevailing wind on this part of the coast being a southerly 

 one, the sand dunes change almost daily their form and bury conse- 

 quently very often the Naras bushes ; but that does not matter. The 

 more the sand tries to cover it, the longer become its shoots — and 

 always provided that the root has reached the moist region of the 

 sand — the plant remains victorious and always afresh overtops the 

 sand. 



It is a most striking sight, these green bushes on the top of the 

 ever-moving hills, whilst the sand around them is bare and nude, and 

 it has been a puzzle to a good many people why this plant almost 

 always prefers the exposed tops to the valleys between. The truth 

 is the plant does not favour at all these spots, but being attacked by 

 the sand it struggles for existence and whilst the sand is heaped 

 around it and on it, it grows longer and longer, and it is strong enough 

 to succeed in a struggle which would overwhelm any other plant. 



