A SAND-STORM. 
239 
permanent,, immoveable ; it is invisible, inconceivable, 
and unalterable.” Some of the notions of the Hindoo 
philosophers show that they were scarcely behind the 
ancient Greeks in those sublime conceptions, which 
arose out of the mere superior energies of the human 
mind, uninfluenced by the divine light of revelation. 
And even amidst their most marvellous histories a 
vein of true philosophy may be discovered under the 
crust of all that is besotted and barbarous, and the ore 
has only to be separated from the dross to obtain the 
sterling deposit of fine thoughts and sublime concep- 
tions, both in psychology and natural ethics. 
Upon quitting Delhi, we made the best of our way 
to Anopeshur, a military station of some importance 
upon the Ganges, and there we had an opportunity of 
witnessing one of those singular phenomena, so fre- 
quent in this land of storms and sunshine. We were 
quietly seated under the shadow of a large tree, taking 
our luncheon, while the dandies were dragging our 
budgerow over a long shallow, intending again to 
embark so soon as she should clear the shoal, when 
our attention was arrested by the appearance of a 
moving mass in the distance, which seemed to extend 
laterally as far as the eye could penetrate, and per- 
pendicularly from earth to sky. Its approach was 
gradual, while the effect was at once perplexing and 
awful. The whole surface of the advancing object 
was at first of a dull brassy red, the colour growing 
more vivid as it approached, which it now appeared 
to do with an increasing momentum. It was still un- 
definable ; we could neither tell what it portended nor 
what it was. It continued to approach, gradually 
