SummaryThe plateaux of Northern Rhodesia have a characteristic pattern of soils which, with variations, covers many thousands of square miles. A representative sequence of soils ranging downslope from red, through yellowish brown to grey is described. The soils are composed of material in an advanced stage of weathering and are shown to be developed more or lessin situfrom biotite gneiss. Redeposition of material once eroded is relatively unimportant. The colour sequence in this instance is attributed to the proportion of free iron oxides in the soil.