190 MOZAMBIQUE 



ranean reservoirs, the function of rain being to 

 sink in and replenish those reservoirs, repairing 

 the loss caused by the sun continually pumping 

 water out through the leaves of plants, which 

 of course utilize this water by feeding upon the 

 salts it has collected from the soil and carries in 

 solution. When the soil has no depth, that is, 

 when there is a stratum of rock or gravel within 

 a few inches of the surface, water cannot be 

 soaked up from below, and the little moisture 

 contained in the shallow surface layer being 

 soon dissipated plants wither. 



Not only the weight of rain and latitude of the 

 country, but the distribution must be studied if 

 a correct idea of the meteorological conditions of 

 a country is to be formed. It is obvious that 

 if the rain falls as torrential downpours within 

 the space of a few weeks, a large portion of it 

 must be lost as storm-water carried out to sea 

 in swollen rivers. Yet it is a feature of tropical 

 rain that it falls in great volume within defined 

 seasons, and though this gives rise to a great 

 wastage in storm-water, yet we can see that in 

 a hot country only by obscuring the face of the 

 sun, and checking his evaporating power con- 

 tinuously for a period, and deluging the parched 

 earth can Nature ensure an adequate supply of 

 water soaking through to raise the subterranean 



