IN THE BAN OF THE DESERT 525 
of ten degrees towards the north. The steep faces of the 
sand-ridges in that part of the desert were turned towards 
the south and the west, the flatter, easier declivities to- 
wards the east and the north — an arrangement which was 
the exact contrary of what we should have preferred. 
Notwithstanding the violent gale, the sky was perfectly 
clear. But then the wind came from the west ; while it 
is only the easterly winds which bring the dust-storms. 
It turned out a hot day, although the air was somewhat 
cooled by the wind. Clouds and columns of sand whirled 
in a mad dance across the desert, so that every now 
and again we became entirely swallowed up in them. 
But, as they seldom exceeded a dozen feet in height, 
the zenith retained all the while its fresh blue colour, 
and the sun’s rays beat down upon us with undiminished 
fierceness. The horizon was veiled in an unbroken 
yellowish - red haze. The fine drift -sand penetrated 
everywhere — into mouth, nose, ears ; even our clothes 
became impregnated with it, so that we experienced 
a disagreeable grittiness of the skin, to which, however, 
we soon grew accustomed. The haze on the horizon 
was very embarrassing ; for we often found it difficult 
to decide which way to go. It would have suited us 
very much better, had things been reversed — namely 
the zenith been clouded, but the horizon clear. Mean- 
while the top of every dune afforded us an opportunity 
to observe how the drift-sand stood over like a plume 
or inverted tassel on the brink that faced the direction 
of the wind ; how one moment the minute grains of 
sand were whirling round and round in a frenzied dance 
on the windward side of the dune, then the next moment 
quietly settled down on the lee side in fine crumpled 
folds, as though some mighty master-hand were weaving 
them together after a tastefully designed pattern. But 
when our heads rose up to the same level as the sand- 
storm, which came whistling between the summits of 
the dunes — the effect absolutely baffles description. We 
shut our eyes and mouth tight ; we lowered our heads 
against the fierce blast, which shrieked and moaned 
