34 WANDERINGS OF A 



a pleasure that none appreciate but those who have long been 

 strangers to its genial influence. In consequence of the con- 

 stant shifting of the sand, there are no regular highways in 

 Lower Scinde. About noon, when the west wind sets in, clouds 

 of sand sweep across the country, penetrating through the 

 minutest chinks and crevices. Whirlwinds (or devils, as they 

 are commonly called by Europeans) are of frequent occurrence. 

 At a distance they look like revolving clouds of smoke, shoot- 

 ing upwards fully 200 feet. These cycloidal movements often 

 last for upwards of half-an-hour, and carry with them what- 

 ever light substances they may encounter. After gliding 

 along for some distance they finally disappear. The meeting 

 of two opposite currents of air is no doubt the cause, inasmuch 

 as a whirlwind was always seen to commence at the corners of 

 two ranges of buildings placed at right angles to each other. 



There is a remarkable difference in the temperature of the 

 wind, after it has traversed two miles of the desert. I made 

 the experiment on horseback, in order to avoid as much as 

 possible reflection from the sand, and found, during a hot 

 forenoon in December, that the thermometer stood in the 

 sun at 75° on the sea-shore, while two miles inland it was 90°. 



There are few countries more devoid of natural beauty 

 than Scinde. Pyramids seem only wanting to render its 

 scenery Egyptian, and viewed from any eminence, the neigh- 

 bourhood of Kurrachee is by no means prepossessing. North- 

 wards, as far as the eye can reach, is one vast plain of sand, 

 studded with scrvh, or heaps of shingle. Westward, in the 

 distance, are seen the desolate and sun-burnt mountains of 

 Beloochistan, Looking seaward, we have various lines of 

 building, the European barracks and dwellings,* half-hid 



* I speak of the year 1849 ; since then Kurrachee has risen to a good-sized 

 town. 



