HURRICANE. DUST-STORMS. 219 



always occurred in the daytime. They would begin 

 with a moderate gale, gradually increasing in vio- 

 lence until midday, when they would continue to 

 rage like a hurricane till sunset. By degrees the sky 

 assumed a dust colour, growing thicker and thicker 

 until the sun shone dimly, and at length was quite 

 obscured from sight. Sand and small stones were 

 carried through the air like hail or snow. We could 

 neither open our eyes in the face of the wind, nor 

 draw breath, and so charged was the air with fine 

 dust that it could hardly pass into the lungs, and 

 camels let loose to graze would forget their hunger 

 and throw themselves on the ground. 



But while the storm lasted, the thermometer rose 

 to 32° Fahr., or even higher, a phenomenon which 

 may be explained by the rapid passage through the 

 air of the sand and dust previously warmed by the 

 sun. Towards sunset it suddenly became calm, 

 the dust remaining suspended in the atmosphere, 

 often till the following morning, when a light wind 

 had been stirring during the night. 



Our travelling companion and guide in Northern 

 Tibet was a Mongol, by name Chutun-dzamba ; he 

 was a zanghin, or officer of low grade, fifty-eight 

 years of age, and had been nine times to Lhassa 

 with caravans, so that he was well acquainted with 

 the road. He was one of the most intelligent men 

 in Tsaidam, and gave us a good deal of information 

 on the countries through which we were travelling ; 

 and he would probably have imparted more if our 

 interpreter had been better up to his work. 



