With Mashli*'ht and Ritic •^ 



several years of c]roui{ht, is to be foiiiicl in oreat 

 abuntlance. 



In the \\ika one constantly comes across large white- 

 ant lieaps, s(;\cral teet high and of considerable width. 

 During the night the tin\ l)iiilders arc; untiringly acti\e 

 in raising and Ijuilding their fortresses, which are very 

 strongly put together. At th(; approac-h of the rain\- season 

 the ants, which 1)\ this time are wingc 1, arisen from the 

 ground in sw<u"ms to set out on their long wedding journey 

 in the air to la\- the foundations of new colonics ('ls(;where. 

 Most ot them know pertectlv how to use their little white- 

 pinions, although it is the first and only time in their lives- 

 that they rise from the dark depths ot the ground in the 

 damp evening atn.osphere. Some, howexcr, flutter to 

 the ground in a piteous ])light, with their wings broken. 

 They will ne\-er undertake the striven-for journey. lUit 

 what does it matter, since there are myriads left to fulfil 

 their vocation ? 



Here and there the steppes are adorned with the 

 well-known monkey-l)read tree {. Id/a/isoiini di<^i/ii/e). 

 Covered with a shining bright grey l)ark, this tree often' 

 attains a circumference of manv yards, and, in spite of 

 its grotes(|ueness, charms us with Us primcwal appear- 

 ance. 1 he trax'eller soon learns to \ ahie it. for often 

 rich stores of water lie hi<lden in the hollow Hunk— stores 

 that ha\-e Ijeen supplied by the rainy season — which 

 ma\- be the onl\- water to be found in the district for 

 se\eral da\s' iournev,'. 



.Sometimes one comes across deep raxdnc^s and gullies 

 that cut lhr(!ugh tlu; landscape. For months and \ ears 



54 



