COMMENCEMENT OF THE RAINY SEASON. 15 



receded farther and farther from our gaze. The flames had 

 devom-ed the short grass of the hillock, but had not found suf- 

 ficient nourishment for our destruction. Whole swarms of 

 voracious vultures followed in circling flight the fiery column, 

 like so many hungry jackals, and pounced upon the snakes and 

 lizards which the blaze had stifled and half-calcined in its mur- 

 derous embrace. When, with the rapidity of lightning, they 

 darted upon their prey and disappeared in the clouds of smoke, 

 it almost seemed as if they were voluntarily devoting them- 

 selves to a fiery death. Soon the deafening noise of the con- 

 flagration ceased, and the dense black clouds in the distance 

 were the only signs that the fire was still proceeding on its 

 devastating path over the wide wastes of the savannah.' 



At length, after a long drought, when all Nature seems about 

 to expire under the want of moisture, various signs announce 

 the approach of the rainy season. The sky, instead of its bril- 

 liant blue, assumes a leaden tint, from the vapours which are 

 beginning to condense. The black spot of the ' Southern 

 Cross,' that most beautiful of constellations, in which, as the 

 Indians poetically fancy, the Spirit of the savannah resides, 

 becomes more indistinct as the transparency of the atmosphere 

 diminishes. The mild phosphoric gleam of the Magellanic 

 clouds expires. The fixed stars, which shone with a quiet 

 planetary light, now twinkle even in the zenith. Like distant 

 mountain-chains, banks of clouds begin to rise over the horizon, 

 and accumulating in masses of increasing density, ascend higher 

 and higher, until at length the lightning flashes from their dark 

 bosom, and with the loud crash of thunder, the first rains burst in 

 torrents over the thirsty land. Scarce have the showers had 

 time to moisten the earth, when the dormant powers of vegeta- 

 tion begin to awaken with almost miraculous rapidity. The 

 dull, tawny surface of the parched savannah changes as if by 

 magic into a carpet of the liveliest green, enamelled with 

 thousands of flowers of every colour. Stimulated by the light 

 of early day, the mimosas expand their delicate foliage, and 

 the fronds of the beautiful mauritias sprout forth with all the 

 luxuriance of youthful energy. 



And now, also, the animal life of the savannah awakens to 

 the full enjoyment of existence. The horse and the ox rejoice 

 in the grasses, under whose covert the jaguar frequently lurks. 



