TO IMPERIAL VALLEY 293 



until It had approached to half a mile could I see 

 the whirling of the sand on its crest. From the mo- 

 ment when it was at that distance until it struck 

 the house cannot have been half a minute. With 

 shriek and swoop it fell upon us In a blast of sand 

 and fine gravel, with the momentum of terrific speed 

 and semi-solidity. For five minutes it raged and 

 howled In extremity of fury: then almost as sud- 

 denly the sand passed and there came a torrent of 

 rain that lashed and swirled with equal violence. 

 This lasted for half an hour or so, then came to an 

 abrupt stop; and In a few minutes the sun was at 

 work again, lapping up the moisture like a thirsty 

 dog. The rest of the day and the succeeding night 

 we were favored with a free-for-all Turkish bath. 



This particular hurricane, bom somewhere down 

 in Sonora or possibly on the torrid waters of the 

 Gulf of .California, after sweeping the desert from 

 southeast to northwest, jumped the mountains and 

 landed among the orange groves of the coast, where 

 it played havoc with the crop of late Valencias : then 

 after wrecking the boats of the San Pedro fishermen, 

 it finally worried itself into quiet amid the solitudes 

 of the Pacific. 



