CLIMATE. 



15 



nutes ; after which the music stops for a few se- 

 conds, and is then resumed ; this is always re- 

 peated three times. The fondness of the popu- 

 lace for this amusement is excessive; and I have 

 often returned to one of the Ramadas after an 

 interval of several hours, and have found the 

 same people still looking on at the same dance 

 with undiminished pleasure. 



The climate, during these festivities, was ge- 

 nerally agreeable ; for in the day-time the thermo- 

 meter ranged from 62^ to 64^ ; and at night, from 

 59° to 62^ ; between half-past ten and three in 

 the day, however, it was sometimes unpleasantly 

 hot. Whenever the morning broke with a per- 

 fectly clear sky overhead, and the sun rose un- 

 concealed by haze, and when also the horizon in 

 the offing was broken into a tremulous or tum- 

 bling line, as it is called ; a very hard southerly 

 wind was sure to set in about one o'^clock, blowing 

 directly over the high ridge of hills encircling the 

 town. These gusts, forced into eddies and whirl- 

 winds, bore the sand in pyramids along the streets, 

 drove it into the houses, and sometimes even 

 reached the ships, covering every thing with dust. 



