Chap. XXIII. 
SPRING AT KOLOBENG. 
463 
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 tln*ough 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 
tlie Orange Eiver we never have cold and damp combined. 
Indeed a shower of rain seldom or never falls dmdng 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 reheve in some measm^e the bright glare of the southern sun. 
The wind dries up everything; and when at its greatest strengfli 
is hot, and raises clouds of dust. The general temperatoe during 
the day rises above 96°: then showers begin to fall; and if the 
ground is but once well soaked with a good day’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 bu’ds, 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 hidmg-places, somewhat as our 
