All The Makololo Urged Me Strongly To Remain
Till The Ground Should Be Cooled By The Rains; And As It Was Probable
That I Should Get Fever If I Commenced My Journey Now, I Resolved To Wait.
The Parts Of The Country About 17 Deg.
And 18 Deg.
Suffer from drought
and become dusty. It is but the commencement of the humid region
to the north, and partakes occasionally of the character of both
the wet and dry regions. Some idea may be formed of the heat in October
by the fact that the thermometer (protected) stood, in the shade of my wagon,
at 100 Deg. through the day. It rose to 110 Deg. if unprotected
from the wind; at dark it showed 89 Deg.; at 10 o'clock, 80 Deg.;
and then gradually sunk till sunrise, when it was 70 Deg. That is usually
the period of greatest cold in each twenty-four hours in this region.
The natives, during the period of greatest heat, keep in their huts,
which are always pleasantly cool by day, but close and suffocating by night.
Those who are able to afford it sit guzzling beer or boyaloa.
The perspiration produced by copious draughts seems to give enjoyment,
the evaporation causing a feeling of coolness. The attendants of the chief,
on these occasions, keep up a continuous roar of bantering, raillery,
laughing, and swearing. The dance is kept up in the moonlight
till past midnight. The women stand clapping their hands continuously,
and the old men sit admiringly, and say, "It is really very fine." As crowds
came to see me, I employed much of my time in conversation, that being
a good mode of conveying instruction.
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