192 
SOUTHERN AFRICA. 
The effect of these floods is to clothe the 
whole landscape with the richest vegetation 
that can possibly be imagined; which, with- 
out them, would soon become parched and arid 
beneath the scorching sun of noonday. This 
effect, is not produced however, until some few 
days after the floods have subsided ; while, at 
the time that they exist, a stranger, beholding 
the country, would suppose that nothing but 
devastation and destruction could accrue from 
such a cause. 
The force with which these torrents flow, at 
such times, is certainly astonishing ; sweeping 
before them enormous trees and portions of earth, 
torn from the overhanging banks of their beds ; 
and the water frequently rising, during the flow, 
from six to eight feet. 
As soon, however, as they have subsided, 
and the herbs and flowers begin to appear again 
on the surface of the ground, the cause is for- 
gotten in the effect ; and all nature rejoices in 
the refreshment of the atmosphere, and the 
beauty of the surrounding landscapes. The 
former is so truly bracing, that it at once exhile- 
rates and excites the animal frame ; while it 
also aids in vivifying and rapidly expanding 
the whole vegetable kingdom. 
Within the latter are to be found, in these 
lovely lands, almost every species of plants and 
