BEGINNING OF THE RAINY SEASON. 95 



with the wondrous crimson glow, and the illuminated 

 branches of some dead trees gave a wonderful effect of 

 distance to the intense deep blue heaven beyond. 



By 6.20 it was quite dark, and all the light faded away. 

 Then came the lovely after-glow, everything again standing 

 out in relief, with a beautiful rosy tint reflected from the 

 west, and in a few minutes that also faded, the shades of 

 night fell, the Southern Cross, Milky Way, Austral Crown, 

 Scorpion, Magellanic Clouds, and all the other brilliant — 

 and, alas ! to me unknown — constellations of the southern 

 hemisphere shone out brightly in the moonless sky, the 

 fitful light of countless fireflies danced over the bushes 

 in the valley, and the silence was broken only by the 

 cheerful chirruping of the grasshoppers and field-crickets, 

 which lasts all night long. Soon a pale glimmer appeared 

 in the south-east, and before long the brilliant queen of 

 the night rose from behind the forest, quenching the paler 

 fires of the stars, and flooding the valley with her astound- 

 ing brightness, while a soft beam of silvery light stole into 

 our tent. 



Insects are becoming more plentiful already, and trees 

 which looked dead sticks are breaking out into wondrous 

 large reddish-green leaves. Even here, where in winter 

 there appears so much foliage, nature seems to be putting 

 on her spring attire after the few days' rain we have 

 had, and the grass, hitherto dried up and withered, is 

 sprouting.* 



The thunderstorms here and elsewhere have cooled the 

 air, and the temperature is at least 30° cooler in the sun- 

 shine, while the cloudy yet lovely weather makes the 



* Many of the trees on the campos are deciduous ; it is only in the valley, 

 near the streams and rivers, at this altitude, that the leaves do not fall in 

 winter. 



