The morning call., 1894-08-21
THE DESERT STORM,
Graphic Description of the Famous
Samum of Sahara.

Writing of the misconceptions that exist
abouT the almost unknown land of the desert. a
traveller says: And now TO the sandstorms! Is
the samum. as 1t is called. really poison that
brings destruction TO man and beast? just as
we discriminate between wind aud storm,
Just so the Sahara has sandwlnds aud sand
storms. Nachtgtl the great explorer, relates
that during visit at Mursuk the air was so
filled with sand and dust That everything on
the oasis, the green in the gardens. the palms,
ETC., was changed to a dirty. grayish color, and
such a veil OF dust covered the heavens that the
sun appeared as a mere white speck, whose
rays were so broken that the entire surround.
ings were IN constant twilight
This was the result of a saudwind. The
samum, or sandstone. makes its appearance
In quite different manner. About an hour or
even more, before ii reaches you, heavy ye How
clouds of sand appear on the horizon. The
atmosphere is heavy and charged with cleo
tricity. A tired feeling betalls man and beast
and the camels become unruly. They are forced
TO lie down with their heads with the wind.
Men and women cover themselves with their
clothes, doing their pest 10 nave their faces
well concealed.
The samum generally lasts from ten TO thirty
minutes, and Is frequently accompanied by a
very heavy rainfall. samum with such
dOwnpOur was encountered by ROhlts on Eas-
leaden. The wind changed TO a terrible hurri-
cane. RohltS had his tent, which was the
largest of the caravan, taken down and crawIed
underneath the canvas. awaiting the ''bride of
the desert" as the Bedouin calls the samum.
TIE storm became ferceT and tiereer. thick
clouds, OF which you could not tell whether
they were sand or masses OF steam. cIrcled with
terrific velocity over the heads of The travellers:
a cannOnade OF thunder vlbTated the earth.
Once In while you neaTa The cracking of
palm, as the storm broke IL In two. Then the
storm lifted The tent like balloon, and to
make the confusion perfect the rain came
down in such volume That few seconds
sutficed to dTench 10 the skin. Then, as II by
magic. il became wonderfully still and the
glorious sun appeared again IN the purest ana
Dluest OF etners, aud It's powerful tropical rays
soon dried everything.
Without a doubt the samum is one of til e
worst plaques OF the desert; it weakens man
and beast, aud the sand and dust that is drive u
before IL forces its way through the smallest
crevices and thickeSt covers aud permeates
mouth. nose and eyes, but not IN such quaint
Ties that IL cannot be got rid OF with the greatest
ease. The very finest sand even forces It's way
into watches; but none OF II will suffOcate man
or animal though one sometimes fears that IL
may.
A samum ever so severe might cover a
whole caravan with a heavy pail OF dust and
sand, but IL would never throw up such
mountains of sand as 10 bury a whole cara
van This is only one OF the many fables Of
the desert. These sandstorms may, &c Is true
become dangerous 10 travellers. but in quite
different manner. The stock Of water for a
caravan Is generally carried in gOatskins
They are not particularly good reservoirs
however, for they soon ALLOW an enormous
quantity of their contents TO evapOrate, re-
suit of the extraordinary heat that a sand.
storm brings with IL. This evaporation now
ana then. takes such proportions that whole
caravan might die OF lhlrsi, especially when
the hot sandstone has dried up all the springs
and nOOis tla WaV.-PlilaQeluhfa Times