Chap. XXIII. SPRING AT KOLOBENG. 4G3 



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 winter 

 of cold, varying in intensity with the latitudes. In the central 

 parts of the Cape colony, the cold in the winter is often severe, 

 and the ground is covered with snow. At Kuruman snow seldom 

 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. 

 Indeed a shower of rain seldom or never falls during winter, 

 and hence the healthiness of the Bechuana climate. From 

 the Barotse valley northwards, it is questionable if it ever 

 freezes; but during the prevalence of the south wind, the 

 thermometer 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 everything ; and when at its greatest strength 

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

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

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

 produced is marvellous. 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 climate 

 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 several 

 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 insects ; in 

 some parts of the country hundreds of centipedes, myriapedes, 

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



