. My Apingi kingdom: with life in the great Sahara, and sketches of the chase of the ostrich, hyena, &c . ld not last long, forthese storms are very unpleasant. Tliey did not mean astorm of rain, Ijut that a strong wind would blow fromthe east or northeast, and, in passing over the Great Des-ert, would raise clouds and columns of sand, so that theatmosphere would be thick with it, as if a fog had spreaditself over the country. I may say I was glad to hear this. Like you, my dearyoung folks, I had heard l)efore of these sand-storms,and that the sand would even be carried far away out tosea and
. My Apingi kingdom: with life in the great Sahara, and sketches of the chase of the ostrich, hyena, &c . ld not last long, forthese storms are very unpleasant. Tliey did not mean astorm of rain, Ijut that a strong wind would blow fromthe east or northeast, and, in passing over the Great Des-ert, would raise clouds and columns of sand, so that theatmosphere would be thick with it, as if a fog had spreaditself over the country. I may say I was glad to hear this. Like you, my dearyoung folks, I had heard l)efore of these sand-storms,and that the sand would even be carried far away out tosea and fall on tlie decks of shijis. I wanted to see oneof these awful storms, which are said to be so violent inthe Great Desert that men, and sometimes caravans, areburied alive beneath the immense masses of sand. The men were not mistaken. Tlie wind, wliic-h liadbeen blowing lightly in an east-northeast direction, beganto increase gradually, till at last it blew a perfect sand began to fly, and the storm increased still air soon became murky with sand, which flew to rX BLOWS IIAIW. 211). SAND-STORM IN TUE DE8EKT. ward the sea like a thick fog. It mms a grand and splen-did sight. The liglit of the day luid become quite dim,because the suns rays could hardly pierce the clouds ofsand. It continued blowing for several hours. Tlie windwas hot; my lips became parched and my eyes sore, as,in spite of my thick veil, the sand penetrated every that I had seen a genuine sand-storm, I hoped thatthe wind w^ould moderate. Little hillocks and moundswere formed here and there, and our wells were filled upwith the drifting sand. The sand got into my clothes through every openingin them. It filled my hair, my nose, my ears, and evenmy mouth. It covered every thing in our camp, andcompletely spoiled our food. But we had to eat it as itwas, as there was no choice. 220 MY AFINOI KIXGDOM. Toward evening the wind gradually calmed down, andby the time tlie sun had set below the
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Keywords: ., bookauthorduchaill, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1912
