The natives of British Central Africa

								

strangers, and kept out of sight by day, and the effect of the drums and
flutes on the Carthaginian soothsayers was that desired by the performers.
‘Having speedily set sail, we passed by a burning country full of
incense, and from it huge streams of fire flowed into the sea; and the
land could not be walked upon because of the heat. Being alarmed, we
speedily sailed away thence also, and going along four days, we saw by
night the land full of flame, and in the midst was a lofty fire, greater
than the rest, and seeming to touch the stars. This by day appeared as
a vast mountain, called the Chariot of the Gods. On the third day from
this, sailing by fiery streams, we came to a gulf called the Horn of the
South.’
This, though the uninitiated would think it referred to a volcanic
eruption, is really a very good description of a bush-fire on a large
scale. On a moonless night in September, perhaps, you will see the
black hills seamed with curved and zigzag lines of fire, as the blaze
advances. Here and there a clump of dry scrub, or a dead tree, will burst
into a sheet of flame, lighting up the dense white clouds of smoke. The
heated air within the hollow stalks of grass and reeds expands till
they burst with a sound like the firing of guns, which rises above a
roar loud as that of the traffic of a great city. The smoke, rising
from several points at once, hangs in the air and collects into a dense
canopy of cloud, making the heat still more stifling, till, at last,
sheet-lightnings begin to play about it, followed by low growls of
thunder, and, perhaps, by the blessed relief of a shower. I have seen
this happen more than once, though some writers appear to doubt it.
While these fires are going on, the air is full of black particles, which
come floating down like an unnatural kind of snow, and the ground is
covered with charred, crunching vegetation and grey ashes. The native
name for this burning, or rather burnt stuff, is lupsya, and the early
rains, which wash it away, are called kokalupsya, ‘that which sweeps
away the lupsya.’ These rains are usually expected in October, and are
a kind of prelude to the real rains, which should begin in November,
but are sometimes delayed another month or even longer. While they last
there may be continuous, soaking rains for three days together; but,
more commonly, after a fine morning, the clouds begin to gather about 2
P.M., then a more or less heavy thunderstorm comes up, and the rain which
follows continues into the night. By morning it is fine again, and then
follows a half-day of the most exquisite weather, when you can almost
feel things growing—till the thunderstorm comes up again as before. This
will go on, day after day, till you get one without rain, as a change,
or maybe a spell of steady rain, as aforesaid. There is usually a break
of a few weeks about the end of the year—then the rains begin again, and