DUST-STORMS ; LATE UNPLEASING SPRING. 119 



ening the sun's rays, which shone dimly as if through 

 smoke ; sometimes they were entirely obscured, and 

 it was twilight at noon. Hills half a mile off were 

 invisible ; and large particles of sand were driven 

 with such force by the wind, that even the camels 

 accustomed to the desert would turn their backs to 

 the storm and wait till its fury had abated. We 

 could not keep our eyes open when facing it ; our 

 heads ached, and there was a singing in our ears as 

 though we were in the throes of suffocation. Every- 

 thing in the tent was thickly covered with dust ; and 

 when it had been blowing hard all night we could 

 hardly open our eyes in the morning for the layer 

 of dirt which covered them. Now and then, in the 

 intervals between the squalls, hail and rain would 

 come in buckets-full, driven into the finest sleet by 

 the force of the crale. After a few minutes of this, 

 there would be a lull for a quarter of an hour, suc- 

 ceeded by another hurricane and another downpour 

 of rain. Although our tent was fastened to the 

 ground with twelve iron pegs, each more than a foot 

 long, it seemed about to be torn up every minute, 

 and we were obliged to secure it to the packs with 

 all the ropes we had. 



The total quantity of rain and snowfall is, how- 

 ever, small ; very little, if any, occurring in March 

 and April. 



The constant frosts and winds on these hicrh 

 plains during the spring delay the flight of birds and 

 retard vegetation. Towards the end of April the 

 young grass certainly begins to shoot up under the 



