The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

CLIJkLlTE OF SOUTH AFEICA. 99Ziiluland the humidity is duo maiulj- to the south-east winds, and as these prevailin summer, here the rainfall is heaviest between the months of December andFebruary.Most of the moisture being supplied by the Indian Ocean, the inlandplateaux, the Karroo, and the Dutch republics also receive their far too scanty rainsin the same season, during the prevalence of the easterly trade winds.*On the Xatal coast the fierce gales are occasionally accompanied by " marinerains," which are almost entirely confined to the neighbourhood of the sea,whereas the ordinary rains are for the most part torrential downpours, occurringon the slopes of the mountains. The regions which receive the least quantity ofmoisture are the jjlain of the Great Karroo, the basin of the Lower Orange, andthe Kalahari Desert. Here the rains are irregular, but when they do fall theyburst like a sudden deluge over the plains.In this Dorst-veld, or " Thirsty land,"vast stretches are covered with sands, which are disposed in dunes rolling awaybeyond the horizon like the ocean waves, and often clothed in A-egetation.Springs are rare, in some districts occurring only at long intervals of fifty or sixtymiles ;but the Bushmen understand how best to utilize the moist bottom lands inorder to procure sufficient water for themselves and their cattle.They bore holesto a depth of about three feet and let down a reed with a sponge attached to itslower end, and in this way are able to suck up enough to fill their calabashes.The wants are thus supplied of the animals, -ohich in the Kalahari are accustomedthrough necessity to drink little, and which are watered by the Bechuana herdsmenonly every two or three days. The goats pass months together withoutquenching their thirst, and certain species of South African antelopes are saidnever to seek the springs.The remark has often been made that Austral Africa is passing through aprocess of desiccation. Most travellers are of accord in stating that the territoryof the Bechuanas and neighboui-ing tribes between the Orange and Lake Ngamihas already lost its regular streams, and that tillage has consequently had to withdrawmore and more towards the mountains.^Nor can there be any doubt thatduring the present geological epoch the quantity of moisture has graduallydiminished throughout the region of South Africa, as abundantly attested by theancient lakes transformed to salines, by the river-beds changed to dry barrenravines. " The land is dead ! lie on high has killed the laud Iexclaim the Bechuanas."'frequentlyAt the same time the observations made in these regions by the resident* Dishibution of rainfall in South ^Vfrica :i.27 inches Eloemfontein .Simon's Tdsii . . .Capetown . . . . 2" ,,PortElizahoth . . . . 21 „Graham's T(j\\-n . . . 29 ,,Graaf Reinet . . . . 25 ,,+ Mackenzie, Ten Years Xorth of the Orange HirerJ Livingstone, Last Journal; Anderson, Zal,e J\^iJournal of Ihc lioijal Geographical Society, 1865.h2