REVIEW 
AN OECOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE MIDLANDS OF NATAL, 
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE PIETERMARITZBURG 
DISTRICT. By J. W. Bews, M.A., D.Sc. (Edin.). (Reprinted from 
Annals of the Natal Museum, Vol. II. Part 4. August, 1913.) 
In his analysis of the vegetation of the Midlands of Natal, Professor Bews 
brings out strikingly the difference between the various vegetational com- 
ponents, and makes a number of extremely interesting observations. 
His disentanglement of the different factors influencing the vegetation, 
and particularly the influence of man upon it, is most illuminating. 
The region dealt with is divisible into two main portions, High and 
Low Veld, which are edaphically and climatically quite distinct. The 
High Veld has a deeper, lighter soil and a heavier rainfall than the 
Low Veld, the soil of which tends to be shallow and baked. 
The Low Veld is particularly adapted for the cultivation of maize, while 
on the High Veld, Wattle ( Acacia mollissima ) is grown, the bark being used 
for tanning and the timber for mine props. 
Both the High and Low Veld bear grass-lands characterised by the 
dominance of the grass Anthistiria imberhis, but the form of the plant in the 
two regions is very distinct. It is interesting to note that in the transitional 
region between High and Low Veld, the Anthistiria is replaced by species of 
Andropogon. 
The woodland of the High and Low Veld is quite distinct. In the 
High Veld it is a close bush, intermediate in character between Sclero- 
phyllous Woodland and Tropical Rain Forest, with a slight tendency to 
become deciduous. 
The Low Veld is characterised by a very open scrub called “ Thorn Veld.’ 
The factor which keeps the Thorn Veld thus open seems to be the constant 
recurrence of bush fires. 
Besides the types Veld, Bush and Thorn Veld, already alluded to, 
Professor Bews also distinguishes special Rocky Hillside, Alpine Vlei, and 
Stream formations. 
The distinctions he draws seem to be perfectly just, but it is with his 
basis of classification that the reviewer has fault to find. 
