The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1883-05-12
Sea Dust.

People laughed at the man who said that
the fish he had hooked clicked up such
dust IN tie acater" Perhaps they will
laugh at the heading to this article; bnt
there will still be 'sea-dust, nevertheless
We have heard of water-spouts, Of
showers OF fish, of salt rain, and many other
curiosities which present themselves in the
atmosphere, but to assert that there is such
a thing as sea dust is to transcend all reas-
enable bounds. The evidence, however, in
favor of its existence is exceedingly power
-indisputable, in fact-and this is the
story told by eye-witnesses. They say that
in certain parts of the world, notably about
the Cape de Verde Islands, there are con-
stantly met at sea, several hundred miles
away from land, thick, yellowish-red fogs,
not unlike London fogs in November
These fogs obscure the atmosphere, and are
very injurious to navigation, but they have
not the baleful odor of their London pro-
totypes, nor do they affect the breathing
in the same way Whilst sailing through
them it is found that the ship, sails and
rigging are covered with fine, impalpable
powder which falls as dry rain, and covers
the surface on which it falls sometimes to
the depth of two inches. In color, it is Of
"a brick dust hue, sometimes of light
yellow, and it feels between the teeth like
fine grit, such as might be blown into the
mouth on a windy day in March. No
place is free from its presence, its fneness
giving it power to penetrate everywhere.
The sea while the dust is falling, looks as
if it had been peppered, and is discolored
for some distance down. Sometimes the
dust comes in a shower, and passes off
again. The fogs are nothing but vast
quantities of the dust suspended in the air.
1t is not only in the vicinity Of the Cape
de Verde that this wonderful dust is seen.
In the Mediterranean, on the northern
parts of Africa, in the middle of the At
lantic it has been reported. 1t is invari-
ably the same in kind and appearance, and
examination under microscopes has proved
the identity of said Cape de Verde sea-dust
with Mediterranean sea-dust All this is
very remarkable; dust falling in clouds, no
land within some hundred of miles, nothing
visible which could possibly account for
the curious phenomenon. Sand-spouts
there are in sandy deserts, and showers Of
sand taken originally from spots whereon
the carrier wind has left its mark; but there
is no desert from which the sand can be
rapt, and the wind, SO far from being bois-
ferrous, or disposed to play whirlwind
pranks, is light and steady, blowing ships
along at a calm five knots an hour.
In connection with these facts, hear
what Humboldt says Of the sight he saw
in the dry river beds and sandy valleys of
Central America: "When beneath the
vertical rays of the bright and cloudless sun
of the tropics, the parched sward crumbles
into dust, then the indurated soil cracks
and bursts, as if rent asunder by some
mighty earthquake; and if at such a time
two opposite currents Of air, by conflict
moving in rapid gyrations, come in contact
with the earth, singular spectacle presents
itself. Like funnel-shaped clouds, their
apexes touching the earth, the sands rise
in vapory form through the rare6ed air in
the electrically charged centre of the whirl-
ing current, sweeping on like the rushing
water-spouts which strike such terror into
the hearts of the mariner. \ dim and
sallow light CLEANS from the lowering sky
over the dreary plain. The horizon sud
denly contracts, and the heart Of the trav-
eler sinks with dislnay as the wide steppe
seems to close upon him on all sides, The
hot and dusty earth forms a cloudy veil
which shrouds the heavens from view, and
increases the sitting oppression of the at
mosphere.' y
1t is believed by scientific men that these
dust-clouds Of Central America are, in all
probability, closely connected with the
phenomenon of sea-dust.