The Grit-advocate., 1900-04-13

oPOlVN "ibaS0L Tue L. IL mcduS al
interested or thinly forested tract of
land, what cowboys would call
grass country" The higher tracts,
entirely destitute Of timber. are called
the high veldt: areas thinfy covered
with scrub or bush are called the
bush-veldt. The great veldt Of the
Transvaal is the Hooss Of the Draken-
berg range. whose edge attains
height at the summit named Mauch
of s.725 feet.
now nghting for life and English VIC
tory, 10 In the heart Of q veldt upon
which" writes q traveller. there rests
the silence Of horror; where there is
always the desolation Of drought and
excessive hoat." A brief season OF the
year comes vhea this is not SO; when
dry torrent beds fll and brief rains
fall. Wild flowers blossom. the grasses
turn from brown to green, the native
birds chIrrup shrilly as they hutter
from bush to bush. Then the veldt Is
a color picture. plaque Of nature.
upon which the eye settles for rest.
So brief are these periods. though, that
men forget them and remember but
the terror Of the parched veldt when
the clouds come nc. MORE and the wind
Is scorching at midnight. or raw and
cold. and the mirage Of water dances
before the crazed eyes Of the beasts.
There is a saying OF the Arabs that
"the soil is like fire and the wind like
a fame" Thus it seems to the unwary
traveller caught upon the veldt with
out water and no hope but to fight for
life and gain the too distant ranges.
In January the average temperature at
Durham 10 "a; in July g.; at Pieter-
maritzburg the January average tenn
perature IL II and IS In July; at Swell
endam the January temperature is "
and the July So. On the veldt the tenn
perature rises in December and Janu-
ary to 100, los and 10s; in July it falls
to IS. 30 and IS. So the English OBJ
servers have determined. The greater
the heat the less water is there to be
found. Streams that were gorging in
June and July are empty in January
and February. The soil cracks with
the baking 1t receives. The short
grasses lose all vitality and pass
away into powder. Windstorms sweep
over the plain and conceal the trails.
Duststorms form and swallow up men
and animals. These duststorms start
upon apparently the same scientific
basis as do the western cyclones.
They are at first but the size OF the
cooked hat Of clown, turning lazily
upon the level. AS they proceed they
gain power and size. The traveller may
see one first as thin spiral column
reaching from the earth to the sky.
1t leaps fantastically from the ground
and descends again. On the fringe of
its edge there are faint electric sparks
When at full strength |: descends upon
humans with binding force. filing the
mouth, nostrils and ears, choking the
throat, depressing with frightful heat.
The whirlwind is gone almost as quick
as 1t came. Sometimes there is death
in its wake, sometimes only few be-
numbed. dirty people.
The veldt is not uninhabited, for
Africa is the home Of more than 1000
different kinds of insects The ant de-
stroys everything in the shape OF wood,
leather or cloth. 1t will attack dis
abled men or beasts. swarm upon them
and leave them picked to the bone A
fly exists which fatally stings the
horses and cattle. and there are creep
ing things of hideous shape and more