XATAL AND KAFFRARIA. 191 



stems and branches ; a myriad flowers reveal their sparkling colours ; 

 and the country which, a day or two before, had shown to the eye a 

 bare and dreary surface, shines out in a panoply of splendour, as if a 

 magician's spell had suddenly transformed it into a terrestrial para- 

 dise ! But as the days lengthen, and the sun's power increases, the 

 bloom and the beauty vanish, and the curse of fire once more 

 descends upon the gloomy scene. 



In several districts north of the Cape Colony whole years pass 

 by without the sight or sound of running water rejoicing the wistful 

 wanderer. Dr. Livingstone, while residing among the Bakouans, in 

 the Bechuana country, saw the natives excavating the bed of the 

 Kolobeng to extract a few drops of water. A centigrade thermometer, 

 sunk two and a half inches in the earth, at noon, marked 56. 

 Insects placed on the surface of the ground died in a few seconds. 

 The grass was so dry that it crumbled into powder when plucked. 



The coast of Natal is rich in trees and herbage. The Zambesi, 

 and other rivers which descend from the central plateau, refresh the 

 plains of Mozambique and Zanzibar. But from the 4th parallel of 

 north latitude to Cape Guardafui extends an almost continuous 

 desert. The southern extremity of the Lupata chain also presents a 

 vast naked country, where the presence of gold has encouraged the 

 Portuguese to found some establishments. 



The neighbouring zone of Kaffraria consists of great far-spreading, 

 gently-undulating plains, characterized by extreme aridity. The 

 western districts are much ]ess broken than the central, and exhibit 

 no undulations except in the vicinity of the ocean. There an 

 immense level territory exists under the name of the Kalihari Desert, 

 whose southern boundary is marked by the Gariep or Orange River, 

 which drains rather than waters it. To the north this awful wilder- 

 ness stretches as far as the Lake Ngami, thus covering the area com- 

 prised between the 29th and 30th parallels of south latitude. The 

 pastoral country of Namaqua and Damaras bounds it on the west. 

 Eastward it extends to the 24th meridian of west longitude. 



Moisture is not wholly wanting in this vast region. The Kali- 



