190 DROUGHT. 



as usual before a thunder-shower. They rise slowly, and 

 sometimes, though but seldom, a slight rumbling of thun- 

 der may be heard at a distance. As they ascend above the 

 horizon, their substance becomes perceptibly thinner and 

 more transparent : the fragments that are broken off from 

 their summits dissolve into air, and the clouds will have 

 entirely disappeared before they have risen twenty degrees 

 into the heavens. Not unfrequently a cloud continues to 

 ascend during the prevalence of a strong wind that bears 

 it along so rapidly as to give it no time to dissolve. As 

 we watch its progress with gladness and expectation, we 

 soon observe beneath its dark mass a gleam as bright as 

 gold. The trees and herbs are bent by a brisk and sud- 

 den gale ; a storm of dust conceals the landscape from 

 sight ; a few heavy drops, amidst the din of the elements, 

 splash on the dusty streets, and all is over. 



The weather during a period of drought in summer is 

 always even and warm. Any sudden or extreme changes 

 of temperature must necessarily produce rain. Hence 

 fair and serene days are the usual accompaniments of 

 drought. But vegetation is so greatly seared and de- 

 prived of its verdure, and all animated things are so list- 

 less and silent, that there is but little pleasure in a prospect, 

 except of the ocean and the heavens. It is then delight- 

 ful to witness the movements of the water-birds, that 

 seem not to share the afflictions of other creatures ; and 

 it is refreshing to observe the luxuriance of the marine 

 plants, and to feel the damp and invigorating influence 

 of the- sea-breezes that come laden with moisture, and 

 afford a pleasing anticipation of the blessing that must 

 erelong spring from this great reservoir of waters and 

 ultimate source of all the terrestrial gifts of Nature. 



