VIII. Some observations on Welwitschia mirabilis, Hooker , f

The field observations on Welwitschia now recorded were made on January 12 and 13, 1904. The plants were found within 5 miles of the German Military Station at Haikamchab, on the south bank of the river Swakop, about 31 miles N. E. from the British station at Walfish Bay. Haikamchab is on the old caravan route from Walfish Bay to the interior. In this locality Baines obtained the first specimens which reached Europe. The journey was undertaken with a view to spending some weeks during which plants could be kept under constant observation, and material illustrating the development of the spores and embryo and the morphology of reproduction collected and fixed. On January 11, before my collecting appliances had arrived, I took the opportunity of accompanying a despatch rider to Haikamchab in order to investigate the possibilities of the place as a centre for work. On my return to the coast on January 14, rumours of the native rising at Okahandya were confirmed, and, after waiting several days in the hope of some improvement in the situation, I found that a return to Haikamchab was, for the time, quite out of the question. An attempt to visit the locality again in 1905 was frustrated by the continuance of the war. At the time of writing the country is still unsettled, and as at least 18 months must elapse before I shall have an opportunity of obtaining stages missing from the first collection, it seems desirable to place on record the results which have been established.