82 
THE SEASONS. 
cavities are seen in those boulders ; one contained 
sweet pure water in a basin fifty feet in circumference 
and six to eight feet deep, which had been worn out 
by the crumbling of ages. 
During the months of June, July, August, and twelve 
days of September, we had but one or two slight 
showers of rain (in July), which were preceded by 
dull cloudy weather every night, that prevented our 
seeing a comet in the constellation of Ursa Major. 
The sun rose and set in a haze, which obscured the 
sky for 40°. During the day, unless the regular S.S.E. 
wind blew very hard, a veil of mist lay about. This 
wind from the S.E. was very unhealthy, making every 
one sneeze, and giving hard coughs and colds. It 
generally began about 8 a.m.; but by the 12th of 
September it changed to a more easterly direction, 
and brought with it beautiful clear weather. The 
June mornings were piercingly cold, and at night the 
naked boy who looked after the calves might always 
be seen sleeping with his head pillowed upon them to 
keep himself warm, and our Seedees would lie out for 
the night with a sheet-covering, and a blazing fire at 
their backs. By the end of June the trees had shed 
their leaves. Nothing but evergreens were interesting 
in the forest ; the grasses had been burnt ; the fields 
lay in fallow baked in the sun, or were of powdered 
dust, where cattle had trodden : the aspect was de- 
cidedly wintry. In August the trees began to bud, 
and the grasses, where they had been set on fire, 
were sprouting with fresh leaves. I have alluded to 
the S.E. wind being unhealthy — not a man of us es- 
caped it. Speke suffered most dangerously from its 
effects while separated for three months from me. His 
