Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-23
WIND OF SEISTAN.
Long and Violent Blasts in the Coun
try Of Rustum and Khaikobad.

From the Geographical Journal.
Every one who has visited Seistan or writ
ten about Seistan has mentioned its cele-
brated wind. called the "bad-i-sad-o-b Dist
roz," or wind Of 120 days, which blows in
the summer. Few Of these have had the
misfortune to experience 1t, but as we went
through two seasons OF this wind we are
able to say something about 1t. 1t more
than justifies its reputation. It sets in at
the end Of May or the middle of June and
blows with appalling violence, and with
little or no cessation. till about the end of
September. 1t always blows from one direc-
ton, little west of north, and reaches
velocity Of more than seventy miles an
hour. 1t creates pandemonium of noise.
SAND and dust. and for time gets on one 8
nerves. but 1t is in reality blessing in
disguise: for it blows away the insects
which from April to June make life in
seistan a perfect purgatory, mtigates the
awful summer heat, and clears the country
OF typhus. smallpox and other diseases rife
IN the country In May and June. One
would think this To-day wind enough. but
violent winds prevail all through the winter
from December to April, and bfizzardA are
OF constant occurrence. These winds always
come from the same direction. The winter
bizzards are terrible, and the wind attains
| terrific velocity. In a blizzard at the
end Of March, 1905 the thermometers regis
tered maximum OF 120 miles an hour. The
average velocity for a whole sixteen hours
was more than lightweight miles an hour.
The extraordinary frequency and violence
Of the Seistan wind and the regularity
with which it blows from the same quarter
are very remarkable. That 1t has blown
from the same quarter in past ages Is
proved by the fact that all the ruins of
Seistan are built at the same angle with
their front and side walls at the same
angle as the wind. No wind can blow with
such violence and frequency without leav-
ing it's mark on the country. Its effects
are everywhere visible in Seistan. Every
think looks. windswept and windstrlcken
Over the greater part of the country not q
single tree exists.
The present villages and habitations are
all built with their backs presenting lines
OF dead wall on the windward side. The
old ruins are oriented at exactly the same
angle on account Of the wind. The effect
OF wind is everywhere visible on these ruins.
Their bases are undercut by wind as
though by water action. The thickness of
the walls; the excellent quality Of the
burnt bricks made and used by the ancient
inhabitants for the lower courses Of their
buildings, and the extreme hardness and
durability Of the Seistan soil when made
upper portions of the ruins are composed,
have wtthstood the destructive effect Of
the wind in wonderfuf manner. but in
the older ruins we often find that the walls
and only the side walls remain. while in still
older ruins only one or two solitary pin
nacles remain to 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 burying process goes on
all the year and every year and Is covering
up not only valuable lands but Inhabited
villages. In Seistan, as elsewhere, the in
vading army of sand is preceded by lines of
skirmishers in the form Of travelling "burk-
hans" horseshoe-shaped sand hills, which
nd nnf MAJ oh.
stacle which retards them until the re-
serves come up to their support and bury
all before them under hills Of sand.
On our arrival in Seistan we found Kila-
i-Nau, a big and fourishing village, built
on the south side Of a high ridge for pro-
lection from the wind. Before we left the
sand had attacked that ridge. surrounding
it and buried the village. forcing the In
habitants to build a new village elsewhere.
An example Of still greater rapidity was
afforded at the village Of Kila-i-Kohna.
Up to June. 1904. this village had a large
deep pond on Its northern side BY Septem-
Der, that IL. in less than three months. this
deep pond was converted into a sand hill
some ten feet high.
The wind. however. does not confine its
energy to burying only. While 1t covers
some tracts deep in sand, 1t also sweeps
other tracts clear of sand, rendering valu-
able land available for cultivation and ex-
view. These are, however. only the milder
effects Of wind action Seistan wind in its
moro destructive moods has in places re-
moved not only sand from place to place,
but has secured away the whole face of the
country. Everywhere we find the sides and
banks Of the canals which irrigated the
lands on which the jewellers of the old ruins
depended left standing like walls high
above the present surface of the surround
ing land. These banks, having been hard
ened by water, have withstoOd the action
of the wind better than the surface of the
land, which has all been blown away to
depth Of several feet. This depth in places
Is very considerable. and we find the out
lines exposed of 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.