112 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



the carpet a few steps, will accumulate so much electricity, 

 that when he thrusts his finger at another person, a visible spark 

 will fly off, and he can light gas with it ! But this amusing 

 experiment, not uncommon in the Eastern States, never has 

 been successful here. 



84. Hail. Hail is a rarity ; and instead of falling in 

 July and August, as is usual in the Eastern States and Europe, 

 it is seen in California only between February and May. On 

 the 10th of May, 1856, a storm of hail-stones, some of them 

 weighing twelve pounds each, visited a small district at Butte 

 Creek, in Shasta County. It has several times happened that 

 hail-stones more than an inch in diameter have fallen in the 

 Sacramento Valley. 



The Aurora Borealis is seldom seen in California, perhaps 

 not more than a dozen times within the last twenty years. 

 The aurora of the 28th of August, 1859, seen over a great 

 part of the world, was plainly visible in this State. 



85. Band-Storms. In the Colorado Desert, and in some 

 other districts in the southern part of the State, sand-storms, 

 similar to the simoons of Africa, but not so dangerous, occa- 

 sionally occur. The sand, which forms the greater portion of 

 the soil, unprotected by sod, vegetation, or moisture, is swept 

 away in dense clouds by every high wind, and carried many 

 miles, a terror to man and beast. The storm stops the trav- 

 eler, because he dare not open his eyes to the little flinty par- 

 ticles; nor can he eat, for the dust covers his. food and fills his 

 mouth; and even in the most tightly-built houses the sand 

 penetrates and fills the air. 



A newspaper correspondent speaks thus of a Colorado sand- 

 storm : 



"Should the traveler happen to encounter a sand-storm, 

 however, he may not get along so smoothly. A huge, black 

 cloud, rising from the western horizon, warns him of its ap- 

 proach. Rapidly it spreads over the sky, darkens the sun, 

 and the fine particles of sand are swept before the gale in a 



