Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1906-12-07
WIND OF sEIselx.



DAYS, which blows in the summer
Few Of these have had the misior-
tune TO experience it, but as we went
through two seasons Of this wind we
are able to say something about it.
It more than justfes its reputation
It sets in at the end OF May or the
middle Of June. and blows with APP
palling violence, and with little OF no
cessation, till about the end Of Sep
tember Il always blows from one
direction, a little west OF north. and
reaches a velocity OF more than sew
snty miles an hour It creates a
pandemonium OF noise, sand and
lust. and for a time gets on ones
neryes; but it Is in reality a blessing
in disguise, for it blows away the fin
sects which from April to June make
life in Seisten a perfect purgatory,
mitigates the awful summer heat, and
clears the country Of typhus, small
pox and other diseases rife in the
country In May and June. One would
think this 120 day wind enough, bat
violent winds prevail all through the
winter from December TO April, and
/ billiards are Of constant occurrence.
4 These winds always come from the
same direction. The winter billiards
are terrible, and the wind attains
4 terrific velocity In a blizzard at the
/ end Of March, 1905. the thermometers
I registered a maximum Of 100 miles
4 an hour. The average velocity for a
,fN,V1 afvfaom hpur= tr-au rr,a~a fhap
lightweight miles an hour
The extraordinary frequency and
giolence Of the Seistan wind and the
regularity with which it blows from
the same quarter are very remark
able. That it has blown from the
same quarter in past ages Is proved
by the fact that all the ruins of Ssis-
tan are built at the same angle. with
their front and back walls at the
same angles as the wind. No wind
.an blow with such violence and FREE
uuency without leaving It's mark on
the country. It's effects are every
where visible in Seistap. Every
thing looks windswept aud wind
stricken. Over the greater part Of
/ the country not a NilEit NNet tEt7tN
! The present villages and habita-
( tions are all built with their backs
1 presenting lines OF dead wall on tho
windward Side. The oia ruins are
oriented at exactly the same angie,
on account of the wind. The effect
of the wind is everywhere visible in
these ruins. Their bases are under.
cut by wind as though by water
action. The thickness of the walls
the excellent quality Of the burnt
bricks made and used by the ancien
Inhabitants for the lower courses o
tnelr buildings. ana the extrem
hardness and durabiisF OF the Seis
tan soil when made into thea4s,g
dried bricks of which the upper nor
tfons of the ruins are composed. hav,
wfthstood the destructive effect o
the wind in a wonderful manner. bul
in the older ruins We often find thai
the walls facing the wind have entire.
ly disappeared, and only the side
walls remain, while in stiII older
ruins only one or two solitary pin
nacles remain 10 mark what were
once large, massive and extensive
buildings
The wind has buried large tracts
of the country under sand Many OF
the old ruined towns are wholly or
partly buried in sand, and this bury
ing process goes on all the year and
every year is covering up not only
valuable lands but inhabited vii
lages. In Seistan, as elsewhere, the
invading army OF sand is preceded by
lines Of skirmishers in the form of
travelling "burkhans, horseshoe
shaped sand hills, which steadily ad-
vance until they meet some obstacle
which retards them until the reserves
come up to their support and bury ali
before them under hills Of sand.
On our arrival in Seistan we found
Kila-i-Nau, big and fiourishing viii
lage, built on the south side OF high
ridge for protection from the wind
Before we left the sand had attacked
that ridge, surmounted 1t and buried
the village. forcing the inhabitants
to build a new village elsewhere. An
example OF still greater rapidity was
afforded at the village of Kila-i-Koh-
ma Up to June. 1904, this village
had a large, deep pond on its north
ern side. BY September. that is, in
less than three months, this deep
1 pond was converted into a sand hill
some ten feet high.
The wind. however, does not CON
fine itself TO burying only. While 1t
covers some tracts deep in SAID. It
alec evraas,e cthn,. t..o 80. eI,.- 90 -a,d
rendering valuable land available for
cultivation and exposing long buried
ruins once more to view. These are
however, only the milder effects Of
wind action The Seistan wind, in
its more destructive moods. has in
places removed not only sand from
place to place, but has secured away
the whole face of the country Every
where we find the sides and banks
of the canals which irrigated the
lands on which the dwellers OF the
old ruins depended left standing like
walls high above the present surface
of the surrounding land These
banks, having been hardened by
water, have withstood the action OF
tAN MiAu beNtet titei ti-N SNt ieNS VI
the land, which has all been blown
away 10 a depth Of several feet. fhis
depth in places is very considerable,
and we hnd the outlines exposed oi
still older canals which existed at
some yet earlier age, and which must
have been buried deep in the ground
when the canals above them, old as
/ they are, were in use.-FTom the
/ Geographical Journal