The ground, which, perhaps, was parched and dry but a moment ago, is now covered with running water. The grass, which was like dry tinder an hour before, is replaced by the vegetation about it, which now begins to revive under the action of the life-giving bounty of Heaven.
Gathering force from the four quarters of the globe, the clouds have first merged, then burst directly overhead, to let fall a flood of water, which is precipitated to the earth as rain,—a tropical rain!
Man and beast must alike seek shelter from the fury of such a tempest, whether its force is felt on the open savanna or amid a forest of trees groaning under the strain of the gigantic wind and the weight of the mighty flood descending from the sky.
In an hour the clouds have scattered, the hail and the rain have ceased. The gusts of wind grow fainter and fainter. The gentle patter of the drops as they fall from leaf to leaf, the rapid streams, and the shattered boughs are but the few footprints that mark the track of the storm.
The sky is as blue, the sun is as fierce as ever; the thermometer ranges higher and higher; the last solitary trace of the storm cloud vanishes below the horizon, and the storm departs as suddenly as it arrived. Such, then, is a tropical tornado!
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE CONGO FREE STATE.
As Stanley's little fleet puffed its way higher and higher up the stream of the mighty Congo, richer and richer appeared the country through which the expedition was passing.
The soil seemed almost black, so filled was it with decomposed vegetable matter, and its fertile appearance was unparalleled by anything which Stanley had seen in his journeyings.