The third set of descendants would at first cover all the land and rocks of the lower hills and valleys near the sea; then as the ice and snow melted and exposed the higher mountain sides, they would climb the hills and eventually reach the exposed summits where they are now living. There they find themselves in an impossible, savage sort of climate, in which they alone are able to exist. Violent storms, drenching mist, scorching sunshine (when the rocks become so hot that it is almost impossible to touch them), rainstorms and months of snow and hard frost, cannot kill Scurvy-grass, Seathrift, or Plantain, but there are few other plants which can stand such conditions. Lower down on the flanks of the hills and in the valleys, they have long since been dispossessed of the rich and fertile lands by plants which can grow more rapidly and luxuriantly. The little Alpine Creeping and Least Willows, for instance, some of which get up to 3980 feet in Breadalbane, are mere dwarfs only a few inches high, and totally different from their allies in the fertile lowlands, which are trees eighty to ninety feet high. Some of the Alpine plants which also occur in the Arctic regions have not even been able to survive by the seaside in Great Britain. Their nearest allies are in the Norwegian mountains. It would be impossible even for shrubs to stand the violent winds and snowstorms of these summits. Alpine plants are generally low-growing mats. They are also often clothed all over in cottonwool, such as the Edelweiss. This probably keeps them from losing too much water during the dry season, when the rocks on which they grow are strongly heated by the sunlight. Yet, like the Arctic plants, they have rich, deep, and brilliant colours. A queer point is that they have got so accustomed to this stormy and perilous existence that it is extremely difficult to grow them in a garden. Like mountaineers, they dwindle and pine away in the richer soil and softer air of the low grounds. To make an Alpine garden, rocks and stones must be arranged with pockets and hollows, like natural crevices and basins, between them. Rich leaf-mould must be placed in these hollows. There must be good drainage, and as much sunlight as one can possibly get. CHAPTER VIII SCRUB Famous countries which were covered by it--Trees which are colonizing the desert--Acacia scrub in East Africa, game and lions--Battle between acacia and camels, etc.--Australian half-deserts--Explorers' fate--Queen Hatasu and the first geographical expedition recorded--Frankincense, myrrh, gums, and odorous resins--Manna--Ladanum--Burning bush--Olives, oranges, and perfume farms--Story of roses--Bulgarian attar of roses--How pomade is made--Cutting down of forests and Mohammed. A scrub or Half-desert does not seem at first sight to be in the least interesting.