tions be c»: be nice to their customs as regards freed and 
domesti They enjoyed the run of the forest for planting 
d more c ath as the crops in a ii forest clearings were mo: 
or less safe from the trespass, during the night, of the landlord's 
tle. - 
* The natives everywhere are viewed as the natural antagonists of 
the forests. In the construetion of each of their ordinary huts from 
500 to 1000 saplings are required. In the palisading of their kraals 
for their cattle, "T proportion is even greater than that required for 
their huts.” (p. 
The natives ^x creep slowly, it may be, but withal E —(— = 
the forests, destroying trees that may each contain timber to the 
of 50/., and be the growth of over two hundred years. This deseiaetion 
is effected simply by the native women removing the bark from a very 
short section of each tree, ns near the ground as may be convenient, and 
shortly thereafter, with a brushwood fire it is felled, crushing many a 
beautiful and promising sapling in its descent." (p. 
In Newcastle county “fuel is abundant from fhe coal giat 
19. 
S d nce as any permanent deterioration of the climate is 
conflicting. The ge énéral belief is that there has been a decrease in the 
rainfall. Rivers have become dry for lengthened periods, which how- 
ever does not imply necessarily a diminished rainfall. ‘The Commission 
recommended that the services of a forest officer should be — but 
the Government did not seem disposed to take any immediate action 
 OCCCXXXIIL—NEW ORCHIDS. DECADE 12. 
oT ‘Cryptophoranthus minutus, Rolfe; planta minuta, caule 
pse v. subnullo, foliis orbicularibus apiculatis basi in 
brevem attenuatis, floribus breviter pedicellatis, bracteis ovatis rice 
sepalis puberulis in tubum oblongum connatis lateribus f tis 
petalis spathulatis, labello cordato - hastato | obtuso | 
denticulato bicarinato, columna clavata apice alata. _ 
HaB.—Not known. 
Folia 5 lin. longa, 2} lin. lata. Pedunculi 3 lin. longi. Bractee 
l lin. longe. Sepala 2} lin. longa; fenestre 1 lin. a Petala 
Labellum 14 lin. Columna 1 
1 lin. lo Bec im d 
aM minute species, which flowered with Mr. J. O'Brien i in Novettiber 
“1891. is far smaller than any other yet known in the genus, being 
little mr “half an inch high, and the flowers very large for the size of 
the plant. Their colour is deep maroon-purple. It seems most allied to 
C. punctatus, Rodr. (Gen. et Sp. Ore h. Nov., IL, p. , of which 
the dimensions are not given, but die colour of the flowers is very 
soe 
ASH a We pner oblongifolius, Zo lfe ; caulibus teretibus 
folii brevioribus vaginis infundibulifor mi-tabulosis -striatis apice 
obliquis aeutis, foliis elliptico-oblongis subobtusis vir ridibus, peduneulis 
brevibus erectis, bracteis tubulosis apice obliquis neutis, floribus pendulis, 
ovario 9-angulato angulis subalatis, sepalo postico Janceolato- oblongo 
acuto leviter carinato lateralibus alato-carinatis, petalis quadrato- 
oblongis apice retusis apieulatis v. subtridentatis trinerviis, labello 
