Dr. Jameson was our fellow-passenger to Cape Town, and with him we
travelled up to Bulawayo, and passed five weeks there as the guests of
Major Maurice Heaney.[13] Part of this time we spent on the veldt, far
from civilization, sleeping in tents, and using riding ponies and mule
waggons as transport. I can recommend this life as a splendid cure for
any who are run down or overworked. The climate of Rhodesia in the month
of June is perfection; rain is unknown, except as the accompaniment of
occasional thunderstorms; and it is never too hot to be pleasant. Game
was even then practically non-existent in Matabeleland, but our object
was to inspect the mines of Major Heaney's various companies. The
country was pretty and well wooded, and we crossed many river-beds,
amongst them the wide Umzingwani. This stream is a mighty torrent during
the rains, but, like many others in South Africa, it becomes perfectly
dry during the winter season, a peculiarity of the continent, which
caused a disappointed man to write that South Africa produced "birds
without song, flowers without smell, and rivers without water."
While camped on the banks of this vanished river, we used to hear lions
roaring as evening fell, and could distinguish their soft pads in the
dry sand next morning; but they were so shy that we never caught a
glimpse of one, nor could they be tempted into any ambush.
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