The Cairo bulletin., 1904-02-28
DROUGHT NOT KNOWN
FORTUNATE DISTRICT IN EAST.
ERIN CAPE CO.. oNY
',Vsr kIieplast, Fed by the stresgls
Of the Darkensbers Mountains, AZ
forc0 Moi1. re When All ths Plains
ArcuEa Are Scorshsa.

OF the 0arkensbers Mountains, AZ
fordo hoIe..rs When All ths Plains
kroura Ars scorehsa.
During the past season large pat
of Cape Colony has suffered ffom Sc
we're drought The poorly nourished
cattle have locked pinched. the grass
has tutaed yellow and the crops nave
been partial talu.e.
Ia the midst Of the parched re
gions, however there has been long
/ ribbon OF grsen, where oats, wheat
ana tobacco have yielded great crops
aud the farmers are happy though
4 they have not had an inch more rain
/ than their less fortunate neighbors.
4 Their prosperity Is due 70 a very re
marlSable river
( The kiipplaat In Eastern Cape Col
/ ony Is friend in need when all the
1 other streams may be as dry as a
/ bone; and the curious feature about it
I is that the hlipplaat Itself has hope
less aspect most Of the time. with only
a little puddle OF water here and there
in The lower parts OF its bed
Suppose We had stood on the bank
OF the klipplaat In December last, the
summer season in Cape Colony--the
sky was braaen all the days of that
month-and We should have seen only
the dry bottom OF the river. with
mudhole here and there 10 relieve the
monotony.
But II we happened to be there at
the right time we should suddenly
have observed great stir among tho
farmers and have heard excited shouts
from farm To farm carrying the news
that had just come in telegram from
tar up the river. The telegram was
only five words long, but it brought
JOY ana hustle and eager anticipation
to every soul. The message read:
The river is coming down"
1t wuuld be hours before the arrival
Of the travelling waters, but every
minute was full uf work for all hands,
Tue pumps We're to be rugged, every
clod vi dirt In the bitches thai would
impede free flow was to be crushed,
and busy spades were preparing the
land for thorough flooding; and tho
children We're on the hanks pricking
up their ears to catch the first faint
sound announcing the approach OF the
coming food
Al length We could see the river
tumbllng along with rush and roar.
and In twenty minutes the dry channel
would be filed TO the top of the banks;
and soon, where all was dry little be-
fore. the life giving water would be
glstening in all the bitches under the
bright sunshine. All nature rejoiced
under the transformation and the
sheep and cattle We're scarcely less
happy than the men and women.
day later the channel would be
dry again, but all the water that could
be utilized by plant and animal life
for two or three weeks would DO
stored in the soil aud wells Then
would come another torrent and every.
body would bend again to the task of
utilizing it to the utmost,
so Il went on all summer, The
cattle and sheep We're fat, the oats
were waist high and the tobacco leaf
was broad and Of excellent quality.
The phenomenon Is easily explained.
No matter how parcheu and sere South
Africa may be. the Drakensberg noun
tains Of the east, catching the moisture
laden winds from the Indian ocean,
have always plenty OF rain,
The little klipplaat rises among the
foothills OF the higher Drakensberg,
where the largest water supply Is
maintained, Snow frequently falls at
these higher attitudes. and Is melted
by the successive rains, swelling the
water supply
The Klipplaat is the only river that
enjoys these advantages to the full
and the merry torrent II sends down
every few weeks maintains belt of
luxurious verdure no matter how dry
the surrounding country may be 50
the Kipplaat is regarded as an un-
mixed blessing aud the most remark
able river in South Africa.