Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1906-05-30
WHEN THE DUNES WALK.
sand storm Experience In the
Desert OF sahara.

Desert OF Sahara.
To fee from sand storm in the
midst Of drenchinC rain seems an alb
surl performance. The NO. however.
experienced I'm the ways OF Sahara.
knows that when the rain stops the
dunes are apt TO begin their most ter
rlbe walking" He seeks shelter
while there is yet time.
Our worst experience Of the desert in
one OF its mad fits. says the author OF
I'm the Desert" was on 4 morning
when. luckily FOR us perhaps. we were
nearing the large oasis Of Meta. near
the TuniSian frontier. The tapping OF
the tent and the drumming OF rain
drops upon il awol1e us. and Ahmeda,
in some excitement, hurried our depar-
ture. He explained that so long as the
rain lasted It would keep the sand
quiet and that this was our opportuni-
ty. Accordingly. IN very short time
we had struck tent. loaded camels, sad
died ponies and were under way.
It seemed 10 us 4 somewhat purpose
less proceeding The rain was and had
been heavy. The ground was saturat-
cd. There seemed no prospect of its
drying in n hurry. As Meta was only
half days march away It seemed
unnecessary 10 start in frantic haste in
the middle Of the night I'm 4 pouring
rain. Ahmeda, however, made no an
swer 10 our protests. The other Arabs
seconded his efforts with all their en-
ergy.
Morning broke wan and sickly. As
lftr1tf II, m.
big warm drops became less frequent
and ut last ceased. The dull. OPAQUE
/ sky was paSty white and the air hot
and oppressive, but the wind still blew
rs hard as or harder than ever.
Hardly had the rain stopped when I
tasted between lips and teeth the IA
miliar. gritty texture Of sand. Hardly
had the light increased sufficiently to
/ disclose to view the drifts when all
| their edges and crests could be seen
crawling and pickering in the gale Al
ready there was the dronmg sound in
the air which meant that the dunes
We're walking. We saw 1T last the rea-
son for the hurry The rain cannot hold
the sand for more than the instant It
is falling. As soon as II strikes the
earth it sinks In. One moment you may
be streaming with water like a drown
ed rat. the next you are choking in
clouds of sand
The air grew darker and darker, and
the roar OF the sand as it rushed along
the desert made speech, except by
shouting, impossible. I could just dis
tinguish our tall camels in the gloom,
their ungainly action giving them
something the look OF ships pitching
and tossing in a gale.
Ahmeda led the way by some myS-
terious instinct to us totally incompre-
hensible We followed as best we
might. breathing sand as we went, our
heads bent TO protect our faces. My
recollection OF the next two hours is no
more definite than would be the recol-
lection Of being rolled over and over
| by n huge breaker \ singing and
roaring In the ears, almost total blind
ness, a sense Of suffocation and the
feeling that / was in the hands Of
elements moro powerful than myself
are the vague Impressions that remain.
When we at last got TO Meta we
could not have been more saturated
with sand had we been buried in it
and dug up again. Hair, ears, clothes
were full OF It. Our cheeks were scar
let and sore with the ceaseleSs D.,I,vt.
ing, and on them had formed hard
cruSts Of sand. cemented by the wa
ter that had streamed from our eyes.