52 
beyond the fact that they withstand prolonged drought, are 
accessible and have no marked deleterious proprie: The 
principal parts used are the leaves boiled and eaten as a spinach. 
There are numerous berries, and a few bulbs an roots. 
COLONIAL OFFICE to ROYAL GARDENS, KEW. 
SIR, Downing Street, November 25, 1897. 
I AM directed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to 
transmit to you, for your information, the accompanying copy of 
a despatch from the Governor of Zululand, enclosing a list of 
food plants eaten by the natives, which formed the main source 
of food supply during the recent period of scarcity. 
I am, &c., 
(Signed) FRED. GRAHAM. 
The Director, 
Royal Gardens, Kew. 
THE Hon. SIR WALTER HELY-HUTCHINSON to COLONIAL 
Government House, Pietermaritzburg, 
SIR, Natal, October 27, 1897. 
THE scarcity of food in Zululand, due to drought, and to 
the ravages of locusts, in 1896, was particularly severe in the 
Ubombo District. Owing to the remoteness of the district, and 
to the presence = the fece a a s et a ag route thither, 
the difficulties in the transport e great, and the 
an 
demand for “ relief = Teakon leer abun the supply which 
it was possible to provide. Notwithstanding, although there 
was a good deal of suffering, there was not, so far as is known, 
a single death from starvation. Leave was given to the natives 
to kill all the game they could, but the main source of their food 
supply appears to cdi keen the seeds, fruits, leaves, and roots of 
the plants which g wild in the bush. I have té specimens 
of these plants eeriaited, and (as far as has been possible) identi- 
Mr. Medley Wood, A.L.S., the Curator of the Durban 
Botanic Garden. The list which I enclose may be of interest 
to the authorities at Kew 
A Natal T Ht long experience, to ipe I enero this 
matter, said t * So long as there is rain ugh for the 
wild salads aiid pui gs to grow, the disi ved, likoak they 
may suffer from want of food, will never actually starve.” 
It is to be feared, however, that under such circumstances there 
must always be a large increase in infant mortality. 
I have, &e., 
(Signed) WALTER HELY-HUTCHINSON. 
The Right Honourable 
Joseph Chamberlain, M.P., 
&e., LR &c. 
