1851.] On Showers of Sand in China. 193 



spectator and the sun the appearance of a water-spout, owing to the 

 gyratory motions of the impalpable mineral. The sand penetrated the 

 most secluded apartments ; furniture wiped in the morning would be so 

 covered with it in the afternoon, that one could write on it legibly. 

 In the streets it was annoying, entering the eyes, nostrils and mouth, 

 and grating under the teeth. My ophthalmic patients generally suffered 

 a relapse, and an unusual number of new cases soon after presented. 

 Were such heavy sand storms of frequent occurrence, diseases of the 

 visual organs would prevail to a destructive extent. The effect was 

 the same when observed from the Ningpo Tower, and from the summit 

 of the low mountains in the neighbourhood of the city. 



The specimens I gathered fell on a newspaper placed on the roof of 

 a house. The whole quantity which fell was about ten grains to the 

 square foot. It should be remarked, however, that during the four 

 days, the dust seemed suspended in the air for several hours at a time, 

 scarcely an appreciable quantity falling during these intervals. The 

 Chinese call it yellow sand; it is an impalpable powder of that 

 color, and wholly unlike the dust which fell throughout this and 

 the adjoining province of Kiangsii, March 15th, 1846. (See Jour- 

 nal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and Chinese Rep., Vol. XVII. 

 page 521). It was observed at sea, at Hangehau, and at Shang- 

 hai. "Whence did it originate ? The opinion of the Chinese on this 

 subject may, I think, be regarded as correct. They assert that it comes 

 from Peking. We know that the sand of Sahara is sometimes elevated 

 by whirlwinds into the upper currents of the air, and deposited in the 

 Atlantic, twelve hundred miles, sometimes directly opposite to the trade 

 winds. Over against the vast alluvial Plain of Eastern Asia is the 

 ocean of sand — the Desert of Gobi or Shamoh, extending from near 

 the sea westerly 2,300 miles, and 3 to 400 broad — including the con- 

 terminous sandy districts. Like its counterpart in Africa, it is subject 

 to whirlwinds which raise its fine dust like the waves of the sea, and 

 doubtless at times waft it into the upper currents of air, and transport 

 it to distant regions. I have been informed by intelligent natives of 

 Kiangsi and Honan, that the phenomenon occurs in those provinces 

 also. Assuming the Mongolian steppes to be the source whence these 

 showers descend, the amount of sand which is annually conveyed 

 hither must be prodigious to cover such an extensive area. Regarded 



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