48 
Natural Stone Pavements, 
the valley forestation an uncommonly lovely and varied colour. Soon 
afterwards the savannah became mlore stony, the scattered quartz anrl 
granite boulders jiradually increased in hei^ht and circumference, and 
developed finally into regular rocks until intersected by Muruwit, the 
small mountain chain, -with turret-like or columnar craggy tops that rises 
independently in the savannah. The most westerly of this chain, ovei' 
which our road led, is a solid piece of granite from 4 to 500 feet high : 
the Wapisianas called it, like all bare mountain^tops, Kui])aiti. The gigan- 
tic crag, with perpendicular cliffs on its three sides, and a quantity of 
Ccreiis, Mclocactiis, AgctfG, TiUaiidsia and OrcJiidca, especially Epklev- 
drinn, Monnclianthus, Ci/rtopoduiin- And( rsonii and individual (Jcsncria, 
which found sufficient nourishment in the rocky clefts, constituted a truly 
marvellous picture : owing to a regularly encircling palisade of huge grey 
Ge>-(;iis surrounding the l)ase of the dai'k stony mass it assum,ed an ex- 
tremely characteristic appearance. Tliis barricade only beautified itself 
at might in holiday attire with its lovely fairy-like white blossoms, often 
a foot long, but which then filled the eulire atmosphere with their scent, 
only 1o close and never again to open before the sun had completed the 
first quarter of its course. It was solely the beautiful red apple-like 
fruit that l)roke S(unewliat the som|bre monotony of this aljatis, and offered 
our parched palates the relief that otherwise one might have sought the 
neighbourhood in vain for. because its presence is considered the surest 
sign of a completely waterless surrounding. As my brother was anxious 
to cliudi the top from the only accessible side for the purpose of some 
measurements, we others hurried on beforehand in the direction of a 
thick scrub rising out of the open plain on the horizon : Avater must be 
there. The scorching heat had so increased our longing for a drop of the 
fluid element, that the prospect of its discovery in that dark bush, hardly 
jierm'itted my taWing note of the lovely blue carpet which the dainty 
Tiris americana Aubl. in this and that spot spread over the savannah: 
here and there was a change of white patches in the luxuriant blue flats 
which almost promised us with certainty the fulfilment of our hopes, al- 
though it was several times upset by other tracts that were regularly plas- 
tered over with a-half to two-foot high granite slabs. Although the 
Jin's could not make m|e stop in the race for the tempting bush, I never- 
theless remained standing astonished at the first of these curious natural 
pavements, which s]U'ead ovei- an area about 200 feet wide. Without one 
piece lying over another, the eye gazed upon a complete stone floor, 
Avhere slali was laid to slab, in between wdiich here luxuriant Rhexia and 
MeJmtoiiia, and there Glusia, Euphorhia, Pepcromia, Gesncria or Til- 
Jandsia form(ed a regular, though in their mesh, an irregular, network. 
"S^'here tliese inteiTals happened to be somewhat larger we were faced 
by innumerable Melocactits with their fearful long "pimiplers" and ashen 
grey upper surfaces, surrounded by their innumerable progeny : and yet 
our burning thii'st irresistibly drove us on to the dark scrub, and I was 
moreover suffering from a raging attack of fever. It Avas no good staying 
here. Ruled by this one thought, I was paying no attention to the path- 
way, when a pain in the sole of my foot, that seemed to pierce the very 
