Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1885-08-12
A Dongola sand storm.


exposed to it; everybody bubbling-pos-
itiyely bubbling-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 SO
into my eyes that cannot 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 60 straw huts and
sheds, while the palm branches wave
and nod like the plumes OF a hearse
caught in gale, or of the helmet of a
Knight at a mad gallOp.
On, on it rolls, that grimy, fast-rid-
ing cloud. Now L cannot see twenty
yards ahead of me. Tie landscape is
suddenly envelOped in a black shroud.
1t bursts upon my hovel. Away, away,
away 90 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, centipedeS and white ants. In
comes a flock of little crimson-hea
bats, anu tumble exhausted. 1 have
IN ha in
and there is no fear of a shower of
broken glass, such as l have seen dur
ing a siroccO on the shores of the Le-
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; and over
goes my only bottle of cognac, kept for
medical purposes.
| put my head out of my window.
was | going to write?-I mean square
hole in one of the four mud walls FORM
ing what is called by courtesy house.
l 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
Af which was a burning spark-every
particle ScIntIllatiOn. 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 elasSically- shaped
red amphora in it. Finding it at length
| cleanse my eyes, smarting with the
fiery dust, and put on pair of huge
green goggles-all glass; these are the
only kind that keep out the sand.
Thus armed l looked forth into the
moving mountain of sand. A burning
blast like unto the breath of fiery
furnace, scorches my face, dries up my
skin, stopping every pore, L look into
the heavens. The sun was bloOd-red
ball of fire floating ''all in aIhot and cop
per sky" while along the horizon hung
a lurid light, such as one sees on the
ocean before a storm. In-the distance
trees, huts and tents were invisible, but
near one could just make out the wind
ing, lead. .colored Nile, lashed into bill
lows. A dense cloud, which envelOped
all, seemed raining tire, the atmosphere
as if seething, boiling, sputtering. And
now waltzing, whirling along the banks
came the devils" (shaytams), as the
Arabs call them, the sand spouts-
aerial giants-each indulging in 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 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 destructive element are
these rolling spiral sand billows-pow-
erfuI agents of disintregation, having a
roughing action on rocks and
stones-as they ride the whirlwind,
accelerating destruction in a country
replete with decaying pedigrees of decay
"a country where all changes are not
Of life, but OF deStruction-where the
of the scenery around
are beaps of rocks breaking into frag-
mentS.
And these gusts of sand penetrate
into clefts and assures OF
stones, eating into and sapping their
and acting with immense
strength, lifting and rolling
rock over rock. There Is a weird and
yhastly dance all around, in a dull and
IurId glare. Now L am enveloped iii
heaving mountain of sand; the air Is
sitting, my mouth is parched, speech is
without wettiDg the lips, the
tongue is swollen. | never before
properly understood ''the darkness of
The Egyptian plague" which could be
felt" Half an hour-the sand tornado
has swept by. 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 came.s, the howl
ing of dogs, and the shrill screaching of
and kites flying before The gale.
All nature groans. Half an hour-the
Dongola carnivel of the wild elements
Of the ''Soudap" is over.
AA y battle belongs to the