Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-05-20
VOL. XXlXIV.,..'


went into the interior the highersFose the
level of the country. Ierossed four noun !
tain. ranges which ran in direction of the |
compass from the northeast to the south 1
east, and, there were still further ranges off
mountains running eastward. In Africa |
as in most tropical countries, there are two
seasonS-the rainy season and the dry or
hot season. The former begins in Septem-
Der and lasts until May !, in the further in
terror, however, / found that it ,rained all
the year round. The dry season commences
about the middle of May in the parts OF the
country lying near the sea and lasts until
September. The dry season progresses as
from the east. North of the equator the
rains appeared to come from the northeastsq
and south of the equator they came almost
always from the eastas The rainfall during
the whole year in Equatorial Africa is 225
inches; but as it rains. as Iobserved before.
more in the interior than on the coast III
have no doubt the rainfall is even greater
than this calculation The, greatest fall of
rain I ever observed in the twenty four
hours was seven and a half inches. Two or
three degrees of latitude make an enormous
difference in the line of the. rainy or dry
season. Longitude also effects the seasons,
although in a less degree. l think these
differences of longitude and latitude have
been rather overlooked in accounting for
the supply of water to the Nile. In the in
terror as said before, there seemed to be
no distinct seasons, as we had rain all
through the dry season, but it wasnot very
heavy, and was unaccompanied by thunder.
The torEadoes generally come. from the
northeast or from the east, and are very
common during the months of February,
March and April. The traveller is warned
beforehand of the approach OF these lorna
does. The sky towards the horizon be-
comes black, and this blackness suddenly
/. ~ \, h1rNxxy
up to that time, suddenly ceases and every
thing is still; the birds fly about as if they
had received some sudden fright; the beasts
of the forest appear uneasy-of a sudden,
under the black clouds arises small white
spot which seems to chase all the dark
clouds before it,! The wind comes with an
Irresistible torce. This lasts for only a
few minutes, and then comes a del
uge of rain, accompanied by light
ming and heavy thunder, which lat
ter seems to shake the very ground under
your feet. Just as. the tornado bursts on
you you can see the magnetic needle VII
brate. In the dry season the winds DloW
very hard for about three or four days at
! the time of the new and full moon in each
month. never saw but twice during my
last Journey, which lasted about two years,
| the Sky entirely clear and free from cloud,
and on these occasions it was not clear long
| er than for the space of an hour, and even
| then all around the lower parts of the hori-
| zon were hazy. The more went into the
Interior the more cloudy became the day,
| and often / had to pass night after night
without being able to take an astronomical
observation. At that time of the year, in
deed, even along the iseacoast, the sky Fer
mains cloudy and yOvercast-that Is, In the
months OF June, July and August. AL
though l was now travelling under the
equator, it did not by any means follow
Gaa% Of fha or nh Nxync .
/ than in other countries more temperately
situated. The cause of this absence of ex-
cessive heat was owing to the great mois-
ture of the country arising from the eXces-
sive rainfall, and also the large forests
which filled nearly its entire extent. The
highest temperature have observed in the
1interior was during the months of May and
iApril, when. Fahrenheit's thermometer
stood at Linety- y-eight degrees, and this, of
course, was in the coolest place-under
! yerandah in one of the villages l passed
Through. At that time made simultaneous
observations of the temperature in the
forest, where, / might say, the sun never
penetrated tosthe ground in consequence Of
the dense foliage, aalthou2h an occasional
/ ray of light might pierce through the leaves
now and then, From ninety eight degrees
Fahrenheit in the village the Thermometer
\ sank to eighty-sPven degrees in the forest
while in the broad, glaring heat of the sur
lit marked 1881 degrees. Unfortun.
ately,@ when, the temperature o
the atmosphere stood at ninety
eight degrees in the shaie 1 had beer
robbed of my sun thermometer; but hav'
no doubt that the power of the suns hea
: would have caused it to rise to los or to 16I
degrees The maximum heat of the
sun was at one o'clock, the maximum
heat of the temperature OF tn
atm osphere at three O'Clock
1 | L Al, Of ko,, M md q
P. M. was nearly the same, and varies iron
! llS to l25 degrees. From one o'clock t
t three O'Clock the heat of the atnlospher
I remained about the same, and did not vary
e under ordinary circumstances, one degree
! The lowest temperature have ever notice
e was in the month of July, when the ther
|, mometer marked only sixty three degree
: to siXtV-four degrees. / also observe
e when I was in the Asbango Land for fey
n days that it never rose higher than seventy
: two degrees. The warmest months of th
e year were December, January, February
: March, April, and especially the latter. l
: May the weather becomes gradually cooler
n and the coldest months were July an
: August. You will probably inquire no
: 1 spent my evenings in a country wher
e tor years I never saw the face of whit
: man. 1 will only say that during my la
It Journey the contemplation of the HEAVIER
d afforded me degree of enjoyment difficu
= TO describe. When every one else ha
't gone TO sleep l often stood alone with
: gun by my side gazing at the e, heave, We,
rs fond love, for they had been my guide
he and consequently my friends in the countl
re travelled. When weary and not know
y ing where I stood they told me where
IN was, and it was always with feeling
< sadness that looked at them for the la
Of time before they disappeared under Il
0,,1 Toltr
lie coined them back with feeling OF pleasuI
Y shall always remember Il
t. matehless beauty of these equat
ye rial nights, for the yhave lett I
e. indellible impression upon my memor
IS, April and May were the months when Il
g atmosphere was the purest, for after e
lie storms the azure of the sky was so intens
ne IL deep, that it made the stars doub
of bright in the vault of heaven. At that p
s. riod the finest consultations of the sout
er ern hemisphere were within view at
rs same time. The constellation of the Sh
IL of the Cross, of the Centaur, the Scorpi
IN and the Belt of Orion. All these includ
n the three brightest stars in the heave,
1y Sirius, Campus and Alpha Centauri.
lis planets Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupit
rt were in sight. The Magellanic clouds, t
er white OK of the Arabs, while little patch
as especially the larger ones, brightly illun
en- mated the heavens as they revolvPd rou
III the starless south pole, contrasting W
he with the well known coal sack adjoini
gh the Southern Cross and the part of
re Milky Way between the fiftieth and eig
ed tieCh parallels, so beautiful and rich
ed crowded nebule; and stars seemed to be
he a perfect blaze between Sirius and the Ce
ch taur, the heavens there appearing br
es, liantly Illuminated. Then. looking nort
la, ward, could see the beautiful constellati
ms of the Great Bear, which was about
his same altitude above the horizon as the cC
lr- steIlation of the Cross and of the Centa
ey which reminded me of my much loI
lily Northern home. Some of the stars in
np arn apd couthorr1 consultations N