"n 
123 
bark and timber of the outside trees, e killing outright the young 
seedlings. In exceptionally epe A appears at these fires have 
even E ed some of the pln and reste of giant 
cypre ay prostrate and vied od dide other in all stages of destruc- 
am but puma consumed right through at the base of the tree. I 
ured several of these dead conifers, and one (by no means ies 
6 feet from its base, and with a clear straight stem of 90 feet in — 
The cones of this species of cypress (which may be new to science) are 
ering six 
is of the usual juniper-like descri oium, and the timber is of a dull 
reddish — colour, excellent quality and "T worked. The bark 
n old trees is of great thickness, consisting of layers annually shed 
ne 
t he One 
two other species of sid were met with, but of dwarf aud isasi 
rowth. 
i Tree-ferns attain to a great size in the damp, shady forests of the 
plateau, and one I measured was 30 feet in height and 2 feet in diameter 
at its base. I hope to send home sections of them also. 
Never before have I met with more gorgeous displays of wild 
flowers than those to be seen in some favcured nooks of these highlands. 
There we observel creamy-white and yellow helichrysums, mingling 
with purple and biue orchids and irises, and graceful snow-white 
anemones, all blooming in wild profusion, and rearing their heads from 
a bed of bright green grassy sward —a floral carpet, which Nature alone 
can fashion. Altogether we proeured several thousand specimens of 
dried quod - many species, and which, I trust, will be of benefit to 
scie of the trees had not come into flower, and the ferns had 
not matured ‘their fronds and seeds. The grass lan ds also had been too 
recently burned to permit of many ofthe plants reaching the flowering 
stage. 
The year is pretty equally div aded into wet and dry months, the former 
being from November to May. The other six months are fi 
and bracing, the nina. at night, oceasionally fallin "below 
zing point in the see of May, June, and July. I found the air 
delightfully pure, balmy, and bracing during October, and a good idea 
of the temperature will be got from the register kept on the plateau, a 
i i ountain 
ust be m 
Eliya, in Ceylon, I have known a whole week to pass without a ray of 
sunshine ; mist atid rain, all the w ‘hile, driving ov er the plain. The one 
t , however, coul 
be made, of vd good gradient, vià the Lutshenya v alley, and which 
would also serve as an outlet for She valuable cypress timber, now 
lyin ay od decaying in the fo 
The soil of the ss lands is Ww the same poor description as is 
generally found in tropical countries at a similar elevation, which 
have been subjected to the same impoverishing effects of periodical fires, 
They are, conse sind unsuitable for cultivation, but would be admir- 
ably adapted le cattle or sheep runs, the prevailing grasses being more 
