THE EAIiTH. 241 



Vhirmg the months of March and Apiil, winds arise, that blow 

 with great force, and seem to usher in the heats of summer. 

 These return again, in autumn, with some violence ; without, 

 however, producing any dreadful effects. But during their sum- 

 mer, all along the coasts of the Persian Gulf, a very dangerous 

 wind prevails, which the natives call the Sameyel, still more 

 dreadful and burning than that of Egypt, and attended with 

 instant and fatal effects. This terrible blast, which was, perhaps, 

 the pestilence of the ancients, instantly kills all those that it in- 

 volves in its passage. What its malignity consists in, none can 

 tell, as none have ever survived its effects, to give information.* 

 It frequently, as I am told, assumes a visible form, and darts, in 

 a kind of bluish vapour, along the surface of the countrj'. The 

 natives, not only of Persia, but of Arabia, talk of its effects 

 with terror ; and their poets have not failed to heighten them 

 with the assistance of imagination. They have described it as 

 under the conduct of a minister of vengeance, who governs its 

 terrors, and raises or depresses it, as he thinks proper.' These 

 deadly winds are also known along the coasts of India, at Nega- 

 patam, Masulipatam, and Petapoli. Eut, luckily for mankind, 

 the shortness of their duration diminishes the injuries that might 

 ensue from their malignity. 



The Cape of Good Hope, as well as many islands in the 

 West- Indies, are famous for their hurricanes, and that extraor- 

 dinary kind of cloud which is said to produce them. This cloud, 

 vk^hich is the forerunner of an approaching hurricane, appears, 

 when first seen, like a small black spot, on the verge of the hori- 

 zon ; and is called, by sailors, the bull's eye, from being seen so 

 minute at a vast distance. f All this time a perfect calm 

 reigns over the sea and land, while the cloud grows gradually 

 broader as it approaches. At length, coming to the place where 

 its fury is to fall, it invests the whole horizon with darkness. 



• It ia said of this wind, that if it happens to meet with a shower of rain in 

 tts course, and blows across it, it is at once deprived of its noxious quality, 

 and becomes mild and innocent. It is also said, that it was never known to 

 pass the walls of a city. Its fatal effects probably proceed from a certain 

 portion of extremely putrid vapours wth whicli it is charged, by blowing 

 over gome very putrid and stagnant lake. 



2 Herbelot, Bibliotheque Oriental. 



t The water spout or syphon, is a no less dangerous phenomenon. An ac- 

 c-iiurit of it will be found in the succeeding chapter. 



X 



