A THUNDER-STOKM IN THE TROPICS. 107 



and several species of thorn-trees of the genus acacia, which, 

 during the greater part of the year, assume every shade of 

 green. To the eastward it faces the Swakop, the course of 

 which is conspicuously marked by the handsome black- 

 stemmed mimosa. Beyond this, the view is limited by a 

 noble range of picturesque mountains, rising between six 

 and seven thousand feet above the level of the sea. These 

 receive additional interest from being more or less a continu- 

 ation of those mighty chains which take their rise a very fev.' 

 miles from Cape-Town, thus extending, in a direct line, 

 about one thousand miles. 



Within a stone' s-throw of the missionary house, a turbu- 

 lent mountain stream winds its tortuous course. It flows, 

 however, only during heavy rains, when its great fall and 

 violence prove very destructive to the native gardens. 



About two years from the period of which I am nov,- 

 writing, I happened to be on a visit to Barmen, on which 

 occasion I witnessed one of those extraordinary phenomena 

 only to be seen to perfection in tropical climes. One after- 

 noon^, heavy and threatening clouds suddenly gathered in the 

 eastern horizon, the thunder rolled ominously in the dis- 

 tance, and the sky was rent by vivid lightnings. Knowing, 

 from long experience, its imports, we instantly set about 

 placing every thing under shelter that could be mjured b}' 

 the wet. This was hardly accomplished when large drops 

 of rain began to descend, and in a few seconds the sluice- 

 gates of heaven appeared to have opened. The storm did 

 not last above half an hour, but this short time was sufti- 

 cient to convert the whole country into one sheet of water. 

 The noise, moreover, caused by the river and a number of 

 minor mountain streams, as they rolled down their dark, 

 muddy torrents in waves rising often as high as ten feet, wa.- 

 perfectly deafening. Gigantic trees, recently uprooted, and 

 others in a state of deca}^ were carried away with irresistible 

 fury, and tossed about on the foaming billows like so man} 



