Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 8, DIA-England

516 EGYPT.
Egypt remty, and assumes a dark, heavy, and alarming aspect;
even the sun himself lays aside his usual splendour, and
„ becomes of a violet cglour. This terrific appearance seems
not to be occasioned by iy real haze or cloud in the at¬
mosphere at that time, but solely by the vast quantity of
fine sand carried along by these winds, and which is so
excessively subtile that it penetrates everywhere- The
motion of this wind is always rapid, but its heat is not
intolerable till after it has continued for some time. Its
pernicious qualities are evidently occasioned by its ex¬
cessive avidity for moisture. It dries and shrivels up the
skin; and the lungs being also powerfully affected by it,
suffocation and death sometimes ensue. The danger is
greatest to those of a plethoric habit of body, or who have
been exhausted by fatigue; and putrefaction soon takes
place in the bodies of such as have fallen victims of “ the
hot breath of the desert.” Its extreme dryness is such
that water sprinkled on the floor evaporates in a few mi¬
nutes; all the plants are withered and stripped of their
leaves ; and, in the case of human beings, fever is instant¬
ly produced by the suppression of perspiration. It usual¬
ly lasts three days, but is altogether insupportable if it
continue beyond that time. The danger is greatest when
the wind blows in squalls, and when travellers happen to
be exposed to its fury without any shelter. The best
method in this case is to stop the nose and mouth with a
handkerchief. Camels, by a natural instinct, bury their
noses in the sand, and remain in this position until the
gust has passed by. The inhabitants who have an oppor¬
tunity of retiring to their houses, instantly shut them¬
selves up, or descend into pits made in the earth, till the
destructive breath of the desert be overpast.
The description of a blast of this kind which overtook
Bruce in the desert of Nubia is still more striking than
that given by Volney. Pillars of moving sand, raised by
the winds in the desert, were observed by the traveller on
this occasion in all their terrific majesty. Sometimes they
appeared to move slowly; at other times they rushed on
with incredible swiftness, so that they could not have been
avoided by the fleetest horse. Sometimes they approached
so near that they threatened destruction to the whole
company. Frequently the tops, having reached an im¬
mense height, so as to be lost in the clouds, suddenly
separated from the columns, and dispersed themselves in
the air; sometimes the whole column broke oft' near the
middle, as if it had received a cannon shot; and the size
of some of the columns was such that at the distance of
three miles they appeared about ten feet in diameter.
Next day, however, they seemed of a smaller size, but
more numerous, and sometimes approached within two
miles of the party. The sun was now much obscured,
and the transmission of his rays gave the columns of sand
an appearance resembling pillars of fire. This was pro¬
nounced by the guide to be a sign of the approaching Si¬
moom or hot wind ; and he directed, that when it arrived,
the peopleshould fall upon theirfaces andkeep their mouths
on the ground, in order to avoid inhaling this pernici¬
ous blast. On his calling out that the Simoom was com¬
ing, Bruce turned for a moment to the quarter whence it
came, which was the south-east. It appeared like a haze
or fog of a purple colour, but less bright than the purple
part of the rainbow, and seemed about twenty yards in
breadth, and twelve feet above the ground. It moved
with such rapidity, that before he could turn round and
fall prostrate, he felt the vehement heat of its current
upon his face; and even after it had passed over, which
was very quickly, the air that followed was of such a
heat as to threaten suffocation. Bruce had unfortunately
inhaled some portion of the pernicious blast; by which
means he almost entirely lost his voice, and became sub¬
ject to an asthmatic complaint, from which he did not re- e,t
cover for nearly two years. The same phenomenon occur-
red twice afterwards during the journey through this de- '
sert. The second time, the blast came from the south a
little to the east, and seemed to have a shade of blue
blended with the purple, its edges being less perfectly de¬
fined ; and it resembled a thin smoke, having about a yard
in the middle tinged with blue and purple hue. The third
time, it was preceded by an appearance of sandy pillars
more magnificent than any which had yet been observed •
and the sun shone through them in such a manner as to
give to those which were nearest the appearance of being
spangled with stars of gold. The Simoom which followed
had the same blue and purple hue as before, and was fol¬
lowed by a most suffocating wind, which lasted for about
two hours, and reduced our travellers to the lowest de¬
gree of weakness and despondency. This wind always
came from the south-east, whilst the sandy pillars, which
prognosticated its approach, kept to the westward, and
occupied the vast circular space inclosed by the Nile to
the west of the route followed by the travellers, sweeping
round by Chagre towards Dongola. The heaps of sand
left by them when they fell, or raised by the whirlwinds
which carried them up, were twelve or thirteen feet in
height, and exactly conical in shape, tapering to a fine
point, whilst their bases were well proportioned.
Though the climate of Egypt is far from being unhealthy,
yet there are not a few diseases which seem to be pecu¬
liar to that country, and originate either in the constitu¬
tion of the atmosphere, or in the manner of living among
the inhabitants, fill lately the plague was supposed to
be one of these native diseases ; but it is now agreed that
this distemper never originates in the interior parts of
Egypt; it always begins at Alexandria, and passes thence
successively to Rosetta, Cairo, Damietta, and the rest of
the Delta. It is likewise observed that its appearance is
almost invariably preceded by the arrival of some vessel
from Smyrna or Constantinople ; and if it has been very
violent in either of these cities, the danger of Egypt is
just so much the greater. In fact, it is found to be in
reality a native of Constantinople, whence it is exported
by the absurd negligence of the Turks, who refuse to take
any precautions to prevent the spreading of the infection.
As they sell even the clothes of the dead, and as ships
laden with this pernicious commodity used to be sent to
Alexandria, it is no wonder that it should have made its
appearance in the latter place. As soon as it is found to
have reached Cairo, the European merchants shut them¬
selves up with their families in their khans or lodgings,
and take care to have no further communication with the
city. But there is a remarkable difference between the
plague at Constantinople and that which occasionally ap¬
pears in Egypt. In the former place, it is most violent in
summer; but in the latter, winter is the season of danger,
the disease always disappearing in the month of June. It
is also observed, that the water-carriers of Egypt, whose
backs are constantly moist, from the nature of their occu¬
pation, never take the plague. Every fourth or fifth year,
Egypt was till latterly visited with rids dreadful scourge.
A malady which seems to be peculiar to Egypt is blind¬
ness. This is so common at Cairo, that out of a hundred
persons whom Volney accidentally met on the streets he
reckoned twenty quite blind, ten without the sighf of one
eye, and twenty others with their eyes red, purulent, or
blemished. Almost every one wears a fillet, which is a
token of an approaching or convalescent ophthalmia, hi
considering the causes of this disorder, Volney reckons the
sleeping upon terraces as a principal one. The south wind
cannot, according to him, be the cause, otherwise the Be¬
douins would be equally subject to it with the Egyptians