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tinge, very distinct from the darker colour of 

 the sea." 



Dr. Clarke, speaking of the same phenomenon, 

 says " One of the Arabs, whom we saw from 

 afar, seemed higher than a tower, and to be 

 moving in the air; at first this was to me a 

 strange appearance, but it was only the 

 effect of refraction. The camel which the Arab 

 was upon, touched the ground like all others." 

 The effects of the atmosphere, however, in 

 causing these appearances, seem to be confined 

 to hot and arid countries, and almost peculiar 

 to the deserts of Africa, particularly those of 

 Arabia and Abyssinia. 



THE SIMOOM, OR HOT WIND OF THE DESERT. 



The effects of this wind are instant suffoca- 

 tion to every living creature that happens to be 

 within the sphere of its activity, and immediate 

 putrefaction of the carcases of the dead. The 

 Arabians (says Niebuhr) discern its approach by 

 an unusual redness in the air ; and they say that 

 they feel a smell of sulphur as it passes. The 

 only means by which any person can preserve 



