CLIMATE OF UNYAMWEZI. 



11 



wind gives place to the kaskazi, or north-east, about 

 April, a little later than at Zanzibar. The cold gales 

 and the fervid suns then affect the outspread waters ; 

 the rivers, having swollen during the weeks of violent 

 downfall that usher in the end of the rains, begin to 

 shrink, and miry morasses and swamps of black vege- 

 table mud line the low -lands whose central depths are 

 still under water. The winds, cooled by excessive 

 evaporation and set in motion by the heat, howl over 

 the country by night and day, dispersing through the 

 population colds and catarrhs, agues and rheumatisms, 

 dysenteries and deadly fevers. It must, however, be 

 remarked that many cases which in India and Sindh 

 would be despaired of, survived in Eastern Africa. 



The hot season, or summer, lasting from the end of 

 June till nearly the middle of November, forms the 

 complement of the year. The air now becomes healthy 

 and temperate ; the cold, raw winds rarely blow, and 

 the people recover from their transition diseases. At 

 long intervals, during these months, but a few grateful 

 and refreshing showers, accompanied by low thunder- 

 ings, cool the air and give life to the earth. These 

 phenomena are expected after the change of the moon, 

 and not, as in Zanzibar, during her last quarter. The 

 Arabs declare that here, as in the island, rain sometimes 

 falls from a clear sky — a phenomenon not unknown to 

 African travellers. The drought affects the country 

 severely, a curious exception to the rule in the zone of 

 perpetual rain ; and after August whirlwinds of dust 

 become frequent. At this time the climate is most 

 agreeable to the senses ; even in the hottest nights a 

 blanket is welcome, especially about dawn, and it is 

 possible to dine at 3 or 4 p.m., when in India the exer- 

 tion would be impracticable. During the day a ring- 



