The Penn's Grove record., 1885-08-08
A DongoIa sand Storm.

SETTLING in the sun that happens to be
exposed to it; everybody bubbling-pos.
itiYely babbling-wlth perspiration that
happens to be In the shade; thermome-
ter looks as if it would Durst-I am
afraid to say how high the mercury has
risen-in fact, the perspiratlon pours SC
into my eyes that lcannot see the small
figures. Rock and sand pain the eye by
their glare. A black, dense, mud-col-
ored cloud suddenly appears on the hor-
lion at the south, at first a speck, then
growing larger and larger, rolling rap
idly towards us, now in the distance,
now nearer and nearer. Down go tents,
and up in the air go straw huts and
sheds, while the palm branches wave
and nod like the plumes of a hearse
caught in a gale, OF of the helmet of a
knight at a mad gallOp.
On, on it rolls, that grimy, fast-rid-
ing cloud. Now | cannot see twenty
yards ahead of me. The landscape is
suddenly ~enveloped in a black shroud.
1t bursts upon my howell. Away, away,
away go my half.answered home letters.
Who shall catch them? $50 run after
them; quickly, quickly, boy" l am en-
veloped in sand. Over goes my only
globe lamp-crashl My bottle of seven
days. allowance of limejuice-it totters
and capsizes. Down come the spiders,
and away bolt the rats-whom | en-
courage to run about and eat the scor-
plons, c~entipedes and white ants. In
comes a flock of little crimson-headed
bats, and tumble exhausted. l have
no doors or windows to be blown in,
and there is no fear of a shower of
broken glass, such as l have seen dur
ing a siTocco on the shores of the Lee
want. Books, sketches, writing paper,
manuscript, linen, lie scattered on the
floor, | was going to say-nO, the earth
We have no floors here in EthiOpia-bur-
led in a moment in black dust; andover
goes my only bottle of cognac, kept for
medical purposes
| put my head out of my window.
was | going to write?-I mean a square
hole in one of the four mud walls form
ing what is called by courtesy a house.
[ was blinded as quickly as any inhabi-
tant of the cities of the plain was by the
hand of the angel. My eyes were in
stantly filed with sand, every molecule
of which was a burning spark-every
particle a sclwntlllatIOn. Ii wearied me
to find my way to my washing-stand-l
mean my pile of old wooden cases, on
which was balanced my basin-an old
biscuit tin, with a classically- shaped
red amphora in it, Finding it at length
| cleanse my eyes, smarting with the
fiery dust, and put on a pair of huge
green goggles-all glass; these are the
only kind that keep out the sand.
Thus armed | looked forth into the
moving mountain Of sand. A burning
blast like unto the breath of a fiery
furnace, scorches my face, dries up my
skin, stopping every pore, | look into
the heavens. The u vas a blOod.red
ball of fire floating ''all in aIhot and cop
per sky" while along the horizon hung
a lurid light, such as n sees on the
ocean before a storm. In the distance
trees, huts and tents were invisible, but
neal one could just make out the wind
ing, lead. cOlored Nile, dashed into bill.
lows. A dense cloud, which enveloped
all, seemed raining Ere, the atmosphere
as if seething, boiling, sputtering. And
now waltzing, whirling along the banks
came the devils" (shaytamsl, As the
Arabs call them, the sand spouts-
aerial giants-each INDUCING in a pas
seul, their high, fantastic figures rear
ing their heads from earth to heaven.
One is reminded of the din of the
Arabian Knights" let out of the
casket in which King Solomon had
sealed him up, and rising as a tall col
umn of smoke. How grim and grew
some are they ! No doubt the fanciful
ghouls, efreets and genii of the Arab
folklore drew their origin from such as
these. And a destructive element are
these rolling spiral sand billows-pow-
erful agents of disintregation, having a
grinding, roughing action on rocks and
stones-as they ride the whirlwind,
a~ccelerating destruction in a country
replete with deeaying pedigrees ofdecay
country where all changes are not
of life, but of Observation-Disclosures the
characteristics of the scenery around
are heaps of rocks breaking into frag-
ments.
And these gusts of sand penetrate
everywhere, into clefts and assures of
stones, eating into and sapping their
foundations and acting with immense
mechanical strength, lifting and rolling
rock over rock. There Is a weird and
ghastly dance all around, in a dull and
lurld glare. Now l am enveloped i'll a
heaving mountain Of sand; the air is
sitting, my mouth is parched, speech is
impossible without wetting the lips, the
tongue is swollen. l never before
properly understood "the darkness of
the Egyptian plague'' which ''could be
felt" Half an hour-the sand tornado
has swept by. l can hear the rush of
scared horses, mules, donkeys and cat
tie, as they rush madly by, having
broken loose; the tremendous cultural
roar and grunting of camels, the howl
ing of dogs, and the shrill ~screaching of
vultures and kites flying before the gale.
All nature groans. Half an hour-the
Dongola carnivel of the wild elements
of the ''Soudan" is over.
- o.
AAAAw battle belongs to the
sin news OF war,