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Description
Near the confluence of the two great rivers of Southern Africa-the Yellow and Orange-behold the camp of the "young yägers!" It stands upon the southern bank of the latter stream, in a grove of Babylonian willows, whose silvery foliage, drooping gracefully to the water's edge, fringes both shores of the noble river as far as the eye can reach. A tree of rare beauty is this Salix Babylonica-in gracefulness of form scarce surpassed even by the palms, the "princes of the forest." In our land, as we look upon it, a tinge of sadness steals over our reflections. We have grown to regard it as the emblem of sorrow. We have named it the "weeping willow," and draped the tomb with its soft pale fronds, as with a winding-sheet of silver. Far different are the feelings inspired by the sight of this beautiful tree amid the karoos of Southern Africa. That is a land where springs and streams are "few and far between;" and the weeping willow-sure sign of the presence of water-is no longer the emblem of sorrow, but the symbol of joy.
Near the confluence of the two great rivers of Southern Africa-the Yellow and Orange-behold the camp of the "young yägers!" It stands upon the southern bank of the latter stream, in a grove of Babylonian willows, whose silvery foliage, drooping gracefully to the water's edge, fringes both shores of the noble river as far as the eye can reach. A tree of rare beauty is this Salix Babylonica-in gracefulness of form scarce surpassed even by the palms, the "princes of the forest." In our land, as we look upon it, a tinge of sadness steals over our reflections. We have grown to regard it as the emblem of sorrow. We have named it the "weeping willow," and draped the tomb with its soft pale fronds, as with a winding-sheet of silver. Far different are the feelings inspired by the sight of this beautiful tree amid the karoos of Southern Africa. That is a land where springs and streams are "few and far between;" and the weeping willow-sure sign of the presence of water-is no longer the emblem of sorrow, but the symbol of joy.
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