The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1888-09-06
THE SIMEON.
A Whirlwind that Sweeps Over
!. the African Desert.
Its Generation and Incidents m
Its Terrible Career.

Tho most remarkable of the hot
winds 10 tho simeon (sambuli, samun,
shelook, etc.,, the violent whirlwind,
with or without sand, which affects the
deserts OF Africa and southwestern
Asia. The great heat OF
the soil passing into tho at
mosphore causes an appreciablo ex-
pansion and Tightening of the latter,
resulting in the formation of small cy-
clonic disturban ces. The surrounding
atmosphere, in tho never -ceasing natural
struggle to maintain an equilibrium,
rushes in to fill the space vacated by
the expanded air, and in its turn
undergoes the same process, until
at last there is powerful current
drawn into tho vortex, frequently
bringing with it quantities of loose
sand, and the cyclone then becomes Wis
ible-huge columns of sand whirling
round and moving forward at the same
time. The air, already very
dry before tho simeon originated,
now becomes still more so from
the presence of the dense cloud of dust.
Away goes the storm across the desert;
at first it is seen as low haze on tho
horizon, hut quickly spreading the cloud
advances, sometimes slowly, sometimes
rapidly, the tall pillars being visible
long way off darkening the atmosphere.
and bringing with them great destruc-
ton. In the whirl the wind blows with
tho force of hurricane, hills of sand
are taken up, and arc either scattered
or are again gathered into new hills
wherever tho storm chooses to deposit
them, so that the desert is dotted with
frequently shifting sand ranges. Under
these are buried whole caravans of
traders, travellers and even armies. The
simoom Is supposed to have annihilated
the armies of Ssnnacherib and of Cam
byses.
So terribly dry is tho air in these
storms Il a. it is fatal to vegetation,
while tho density of tho dust cloud
makes it almost impossible for human
beings to breathe. This gives rise to
'sidea that the wind contained a
4 ~ ,oison; hence the Ar~';, simeon,
signifying poisonous d '.ut it is
no moro poisonous than any .-4er wind,
its fatal qualities being simply tho ex-
cessive dryncss and the quantity of fac
sand with which it is loaded. The tenn
perature of tho air has been
known to rise to 1873 degrees, and its
desiccating effect is seen in
dried-up mouths and nostrils, in
skin cracking, intense thirst, painful
and difficult breathing and inability to
sleep. The time occupied in passing a
given spot varies between few minutes
and twenty or twcnty-four hours, the
blast leaving behind it unmistakable
evidence of the path it has travelled.
The hot, parching air of the simeon, al
most as soon as the breath is out of the
body and before decomposition has time
to set in, causes the flesh to lose all its
frmness and consistency, so that it
drops or may be taken off the bones
easily.
A party of officers sleeping on the
roof of General Jacobs house at ia
cobabad thus recount their exporience ce
OF the simoom: "They were awakened
by sensation of suffocation, and an ex-
ceedingly hot, oppressive feeling in the
air, while at the same time powerful
smell Of sulphur pervaded the atmos-
phere. Ga the following morning a
number of trees in the garden were
found to be withered in a remarkable
manner. 1t was as if current of fire
about twelve yards in breadth had
passed through the garden in straight
line, sing cing and destl Dying every
green thing in its course. Entering on
one side and passing out on the other,
its path was as defiaed as the course ol
a river"
Palgrave was ovcrtaken by one Of
these scourges in northern Arabia. After
some preliminary remarks on the ad-
vance of the simeon, he proceed: 'Sc
dark was the atmosphere, and so burn
ing the heat, that it seemed tina. hell
had risen from the earth, or descended
from above. But at the moment when
the worst of tho concentrated poison.
blast was coming round we were already
prostrate, one and all within the tent,
with our heads VIII wrapped up, al
most suffocatcd, indeed, but safe; while
our camels lay without like dead, their
long nccks stretched out on the sand,
awaiting the passing of tho gale. We
remained thus for ten minutes,
during which a still heat like that
OF red-hot iroa slowly passing
over us, was alonc to bo felt.
Then the tent walls began
again to flap in the returning gusts,
and announced that the worst of the
simeon has gone by. My comrades ap-
peared moro like corpses than living
men, and so, suppose, did l. How
ever, I could not forbcaI in spite oi
warnings, to step out and look at the
camels; they wcro still lying fiat,
as though they had been dead, and the
air was yet darkish, but before lopg II
frightened up to its usual dazzling
clearness. During the whole time that
the simeon lasted, the atmosphere wa
entirely free from sand or dust; so thai
hardly know how to account for it:
singular obscurity.-[Cornhill Magazine.
Vo~L oxuafInUad 4