The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-29

Long and vi0lent Blasts IN the Count,
% Rustum M KhaikObad.
From the GeO0ra phicnI Jonrr,I

From the GsOord phicdi Joprr.l
Every one Wit has visited Seistan or writ
ten about selatan has mentIoned lts celsbra,Sa
wind. called the -bAd-i-sad-o-bist roz" q,
wind Of 10 days. which blowsi in the sunmsr
Few OF these nave had the misfortune h
experience II. bat ~ we went through two
seasons Of this wind We are able 10 say som..
thing about IL. j. more than iustiass h,
reputation. 10 sets In at the end Of MAY !,
the middle OF June. and blows with appohhs
violence. and with little or no cessation. IN
about the end Of September. II alNays blovs
from one direction. q little est Of north. ana
reaches a velocity Of more than seventy mills
an hour. II creates a pandemonium Of nolss
sand and dust. and for q time gets on one,
nerves: but Il is In reality a blessing In Dis.
gulse. for IL blows away the insects which
from April to June make life In Seistan ,
perfect purgatoFy. mitikates the awful sum.
msr heat, and clears the country Of typhu,
smallpox and other diseases rife in the eoun.
try In May and June. One would think hi.
100 day wind enough. but violent " inds prs-
vail ali through the winter from December IA
April, and blixEards are Of constant occur.
renee. These winds always come from the
same direction. The winter billiards ar,
terrible, and the wind attains a terrific We.
Iocity. In a blizzard at the end Of March.
1905, the thermometers registered a maximum
Oh IN IuAcB al AouhH AhN " nv NNlOfNY
for q whole sixteen hours was more than
eIGhty-elEht miles an hour.
The extraordinary frequency and violence
OF the seistan wind and the regularity with
which II blows from the same quarter are
very remarkable. That II has blown from
the same quarter in past ares II proved bv
the fact that all the ruins Of Seistan are buiit
at the same angle. with their front and back
walls at q right angle to che Wind. and their
n a -. l. "
wind can blow with such violence and fire.
auency without leaving its mark on The
country, Its effects are everywhere visible
in Seistan. Everything looks windsw ept and
windstrtcken. over the greater part Of the
country not . ain elc tree exists.
The present villa 9es and hahitations are ali
hnilt with their bsckr presenting lines oi
dead wall or the wiDdvard side. The old
ruins are oriented at eXactIy the same angie,
is everywhere Visible on these ruins. ThsS
bases are nndercut by wind a. though by
water action. The thickness OF the walls, r..
snd used BY the ancient inhs5itantsH fo %i he
lower courses Of their buildings, and the
s sstissMe soii Whsn made into nv sun |" d, iss
bricks Of which the upper portions ~ rhs
ruins are compoeed, have, ,withstood the
manner. but in the older ruins We often ard
that the walls facing the wind have entirely
disappeared; and only the side walls remain.
WhlIC " WIN Vto9 AulAhH VtiN WV w NNN Nlls
ono large. messive and extensive building.
The wind has buried large trsGt. Of =,
in sand. and this 6uTyins process GOES
on Ov. al the so yS nSt S and s y.15s n, yef sDa and ~ y
inhabited. villages. In Seistsn, as elsewhere.
the invading army OF sand Is preceded by
Ing "Surkhans. horseshoe SHAPED sand bills,
which steadily advance until they meet some
obstacle which retsrds them until the r..
before them under hills Of sand.
On our arrived tn Setstan W, found Eila-i-
Ma :o a pig ts IND y hsq H1ss p;dT village, toS or built on
from the wind. Before we left the sand had
attacked that ridge. surmounted il and buried
a new VILLAGE elsewhere. An essmple Of siHi
greater rapidity was afforded At the village
Of KIaI-Kohna. Up TO June, 1904. this vii.
sids. BY sseptenlber. that e. in less han tRrss
months, this deep pond was converted into
a ,rsnd hill some ten feet high:
energy IN buryinR only. White il covers some
tracts deep In sand. IL ato eweeps other
tract: Slea r., o. ssnd; TsndeII rim valuable lsDS
buried ruins once more to view. These are,
however, only the milder effects Of wind
structive moods. has in places removed not
away the whole face Of the country. Every.
canals which irrigated the lands on which
the dMellers OF the old, ruins depended ley
surface Of the surrounding land These
banks. having been hardened nv water. have
withstOod the action Of the wind better than
the surface OF the land, which has all been
blown away to a depth OF several feet. This
depth in places In very considerable, and We
find the outlines 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 n
they are. were In use.