'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎579] (670/905)

CHAP. XXII.]
THE SIMOOM.
579
moment; unless they throw themselves close to the burning
sand, and cover their faces with their clothes.
That Arabia, in common with other inter-tropical coun- Effects of the
tries, should occasionally be subject to storms of great violence 8in)00in -
is to be expected; and that it really is so, those who returned
from the Expedition know too well; but the prevalence and
extent of such calamities appears to be greatly over-rated in
popular works. 1 Even the judicious Niehbuhr pronounces
the effect of the simoom or samm to be instant suffocation
to every living creature that happens to be within the sphere
of its activity; and he adds that, the carcases of the dead
immediately become putrid. 2
But on referring the question of the destruction of caravans Testimony of
to the Arabs themselves, Mr. Werry, then Consul General for ctmt^gk. 00 ' 1
Syria, thus replies, in September 1838 :—" I had a meeting
here of the chief Arghyle, and of the Aenizeh sheikhs who
accompanied the last caravan of 2000 camels from Baghdad,
and though some of them have traversed the desert, in all
directions, for 30 years past, they never heard of a caravan,
nor even of a single animal, or man, being buried alive in the
sand raised by a whirlwind. They stated, that, generally
speaking, the surface soil in the countries which they tra
versed, would not admit of being raised in columns sufficiently
dense to inflict such a calamity, and that whatever may have
occurred in the African desert, nothing of the kind, to their
knowledge, has taken place in Arabia. 3 The simoom, however,
they added, is hot and suffocating, and has frequently caused
the death of persons who have been unable to shelter them-
1 The^Universal History, vol. XXXVI., p. 457 (London, 1779), says that
between the cities of Mekkah and Medina there is an extensive sandy desert,
where the dry sands blown up and down by the winds often overwhelm whole
caravans. At p. 438 of the same volume, speaking of Arabia Deserta, we are
told that there are neither men, beasts, birds, trees, grass, nor pasture to be
seen; nor any thing but great rolling sands and craggy mountains.
See also Precis de la Geographic Universelle, par Malte-Brun, tome VIII.,
p. 247 ; and Crichton's Arabia, vol. 1., pp. 68, 69, 70.
8 Niehbuhr's Travels in Arabia, vol. II., p. 318; translated by Robert
Heron; Edinburgh, 1792.
8 For particulars respecting the storms in this part of the world, see the
account of the Expedition, in vol. IV.
4 E 2