168 



THE SEASONS. 



the water is cooled by the prodigious evapora- 

 tion. Books and papers curl up and crack, and 

 strangers are apt to suffer from nausea and 

 fainting fits. 



3. The Kipupwe, first winter or cold season 

 — July and early August. The bright azure of 

 the sky, the surpassing clearness of the water, 

 and the lively green colours of the land, are 

 not what we associate with the idea of the 

 c disease of the year.' The Kausi or S.W. mon- 

 soon still blows, but in this second or post- 

 pluvial phase its strength is diminished. As 

 on the western coast the mornings are misty, 

 the effect of condensation and of excessive 

 evaporation, the sun pumping up vapour from 

 the rapidly desiccating ground ; but about four 

 hours after sunrise a strong sea-breeze sets in, 

 giving a little life and elasticity to the ex- 

 hausted frame. "When the 6 doctor ' fails the 

 heat is oppressive, and the sunsets are often 

 accompanied by an unpleasant closeness. The 

 beginning of the Kipupwe is held to be univer- 

 sally sickly. The Hindus, who declare that all 

 cold coming from the south is bad, suffer from 

 attacks of rheumatism and pneumonia. The 

 charms of the season induce Europeans to de- 

 spise the insidious attacks of malaria : they 



