98 The Great World's Farm 



comes, suddenly, without warning of any kind, a sound 

 as of distant thunder, a continuous roll and roar, which 

 means that the river has arrived! 



There, where there was only sand the day before, it 

 flows five hundred yards wide, a mighty flood, and already 

 fifteen to twenty feet deep ; for the rain is pouring down 

 upon the great table-land of Abyssinia, and it will con- 

 tinue to pour for two or three months to come. 



And the change in all the bare and withered trees and 

 shrubs, how rapid and how marvellous it is! In two 

 days' time they show signs of bursting into leaf, having 

 previously looked as dead as they do with us in winter; 

 and as for the mimosas — their light, feathery foliage is 

 already beginning to afford shade. 



Yet there has not been a drop of rain, or even of dew. 

 The air no doubt is moister, for evaporation from this 

 wide expanse of water must go on at a tremendous rate. 

 But at present it is too hot and dry to part with a single 

 drop; and it is from the soil that the trees have received 

 their fresh supplies, so quickly does the water soak 

 through the sand. But this is not all that they will get. 

 All nature seems to expect a change, for the wind is blow- 

 ing from the south, and rain is surely coming! 



The natives of South Africa say that the wind "smells 

 of green grass" when the wind blows from a quarter 

 where rain has fallen, though this may be hundreds of 

 miles away; and thousands of cattle will start off some- 

 times and travel immense distances, in the endeavor to 

 reach the fresh pastures of which the wind tells them. 

 So keen is the scent of men and animals in lands which 

 suffer from long drought. 



