500 SPRING AT KOLOBENG. 



up even as far as Cabango, and spreads a wintry aspect on all the 

 exposed vegetation. The tender shoots of the evergreen trees 

 on the south side become as if scorched ; the leaves of manioc, 

 pumpkins, and other tender plants are killed ; while the same 

 kinds, in spots sheltered by forests, continue green through the 

 whole year. All the interior of South Africa has a distinct win- 

 ter of cold, varying in intensity with the latitudes. In the cen- 

 tral parts of the Cape Colony the cold in the winter is often severe, 

 and the ground is covered with snow. At Kuruman snow sel- 

 dom falls, but the frost is keen. There is frost even as far as the 

 Chobe, and a partial winter in the Barotse valley, but beyond 

 the Orange River we never have cold and damp combined. In- 

 deed, a shower of rain seldom or never falls during winter, and 

 hence the healthiness of the Bechuana climate. From the 

 Barotse valley northward it is questionable if it ever freezes ; 

 but, during the prevalence of the south wind, the thermome- 

 ter sinks as low as 42°, and conveys the impression of bitter 

 cold. 



Nothing can exceed the beauty of the change from the wintry 

 appearance to that of spring at Kolobeng. Previous to the com- 

 mencement of the rains, an easterly wind blows strongly by day, 

 but dies away at night. The clouds collect in increasing masses, 

 and relieve in some measure the bright glare of the southern sun. 

 The wind dries up every thing, and when at its greatest strength 

 is hot, and raises clouds of dust. The general temperature dur- 

 ing the day rises above 96° : then showers begin to fall ; and if 

 the ground is but once well soaked with a good day's rain, the 

 change produced is marvelous. In a day or two a tinge of green 

 is apparent all over the landscape, and in five or six days the 

 fresh leaves sprouting forth, and the young grass shooting up, give 

 an appearance of spring which it requires weeks of a colder cli- 

 mate to produce. The birds, which in the hot, dry, windy season 

 had been silent, now burst forth into merry twittering songs, and 

 are busy building their nests. Some of them, indeed, hatch sev- 

 eral times a year. The lowering of the temperature, by rains or 

 other causes, has much the same effect as the increasing mildness 

 of our own spring. The earth teems with myriads of young in- 

 sects ; in some parts of the country hundreds of centipedes, myri- 

 apedes, and beetles emerge from their hiding-places, somewhat as 



