The age-herald., 1900-02-28
AN AFRICAN NIGHT
 INTHE TRANSVAAL


 South Africa sixty-odd years ago, in one of his stories graphically describes the ap- palling savagery and beauty of an African night. Those who have travelled at all know that the night takes on a different aspect in different climes. The hue of the stars as one point is not the color of the stars at another. The moonlight which falls upon Honduranian forests is not the moonlight sweeping the cold waves of Ber- ing Sea. The voice of the wind at IIilo is not the voice of the wind about the erags of Pikes Peak The elements have a lang uage for every cline, and in South Africa this tongue is weirdly strange. willoughby passed through what is now known as the Transvaal and into much of the country where Englishman and Boer are now tug ging at each others throats.
 
 The temperature of the day had been 105 The small water courses were dry. A heavy, sometimes yellow and sometimes gray dust, rose form the plainland. The grasses were parched and turned to powder when trod upon. No cooling winds came from off tho Drakenberg range. The flowers that in moist weather seemed to set the land afiame hung their heads and closed their petals. The wild beasts either hid in their lairs of buried themselves in infrequent mud wallows. The call of bird might be occasionally heard. but it was a cry for water. Cattle stumbled over the indistinct trails with distended tongues and blood shot eyes. The unaccimated horse felt the beat of hot air on his nostris and refused to move. He lay down in his tracks and vultures circled about him. Here and there in hollows or by the grasses were the bones Of adventurers or Boer pioneers picked clean by the birds. A deadly calm rested upon everything and noise would have been relief This was the day which it was hoped night would end with blessed coolness and sleep. It was but little different day from many through which the English sol diery have passed since last October
 The night came. The sun went out of sight like a bah of fire. The stars came out, but their light was blurred. The phenomen- al atmospheric clearness of the day was gone. A veil seemed to have been stretch ed between the heavens and the watching men on earth. The first sensation felt by the travellers was that of an indescribable chill The skin became clammy, the blood which had been thick enough, thickened more, and the parched lips grew dryer. Strange aches attacked the joints and a stiffness settled upon the limbs. From the plainland rose a heavy mist and from the sky came some- thing that seemed like heavy dew. It was cold and penetrating, going to the very vitals of those who were seeking sleep. The clothing was speedily saturated and the wearers advanced to a greater stage of mis- cry than they had been in before The moon rose like a great white wratth born from sea of skoops. Her face was watery, her outlines indistnct. Her illumination was but faint imitation of her brilliancy in northern climes. She made the shades in the deep places darker and in the open she covered the way with a deception that be- wildered aGl who tried to move There was silence for long time-until after o'clock. A camp fire had been started, but it burned feebly. The air was surcharged with the germs of fever and chills. Moistness was upon everything.
 Suddenly from far away in the distance came the uncanny cry of night bird. -Ihls was taken up by responding cry, and then the beasts, starting upon their nocturnal prowls, joined in. There was screach and boot and howl until bedlam seemed to have settled upon that very spot. The mists grew heavier. The stars drew farther away from the earth. The moon now ap- peafed to be garbed in long, trailing robes that curled about her, and then unfolded and spread out until they covered all but their mistress. The grasses so recently dry were now running with sticky, poisonous water. This dripped too, from the trees and ran down the trunks in little rivulets. The dust on the trails became mucky. One could put his finger upon the hides CT the tame animals and gather up the moisture as if it were a cream. It came upon the lips with unpleasant odor and foul taste When it reached the throat, that contracted as it does when diphtheria is prevalent. The hands swelled and became sore. At mid night the travellers felt as if they were pass, ing through such a bath as mortal had never experienced before. Heavy blankets could not resist it's influence. The temper ature fell to 60 and then 50 degrees of tenn perature in six hours. And still no sweet, cool wind came to relieve the suffering. Nature in her primal savagery was at play.
 By o'clock in the morning the tempera- ture was 45 above, drop of 60 dgerees in nine hours. The vapors were now thick that a knife could almost have been used upon them. The travellers were rocking with wetness, while the cattle moaned un- easily and constantly moved in the effort to get warmth. The cries of the night an- imals grew more noisy, for they were on the last hunt for prey before the dawn. This dawn came in Its own good time with wonderful fushings of the east, mass upon mass of marvellous color, one short thrush of a strong clearing wind which swept the mists away, and then, behold, the sun. The same sun that had disappeared twelve hours before. A blazing scorching sun. Up went the temperature to 70, 80, 90, hundred degrees On came the day. with stifng heat, and the dust that rose In clouds and fell upon everything. In what seemed the twinkling of an eye the excessive moisture of the night was gone and the earth barred it's bosom for new torture.
 USEFUL PRESENT
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