go have

are likely to happen; and those who do often sufficient fortitude to keep moving till the storm has subsided, whether they think themselves in the right road or not; for they know that it is certain death to lie down. Some travellers say that caravans are suddenly overwhelmed by the sands. I doubt this; for it seemed always to me, that the sand was removed too slowly to cover any but those who stood still. It is at such times that men fully feel the value of such an animal as the camel. His long neck, raised straight up, keeps his head high above the ground and the thickest part of the floating sand. His eyes are well defended by thick eyelids, largely provided with hair, and which, on such occasions, he keeps half shut. The broad and cushion-like form of his feet prevents him from sinking deep into the sand; while his long legs enable him to pass the same distance with only half the number of steps made by most other animals, and therefore with only half the fatigue. These advantages give the camel a firm and easy gait on ground where all other animals walk with slow, short, and uncertain steps, and in a tottering manner. Thus the camel, which seems specially framed for such

circumstances, compels us to admire the wisdom and bounty of Providence, which has equally given this animal to the shifting sands of the burning south, and the rein-deer to the firm ice of the frozen north. This is the Camseen. The Whirlwind is but

J. Don't you wish you were going to bed, uncle ?

U. O. No: but if you do, go. On future evenings we shall perhaps come to something that will amuse you better. Always remember, that I am not giving you a lesson, but am endeavouring to please you; and that you may go away when you please, or even stay away altogether. Ring for Mary, Frank.

[The bell having been rung, Mary entered,

and after Jane had kissed her uncle and brothers, she went away with the servant.]

U. O. Really, Jane has given us a good hint, for I see that it is getting rather late; but we shall soon have done now. The Whirlwinds, also, are seen in their grandest form in the sandy deserts, and occur at all times of the year, but particularly at the season of the camseen. Often, while they prevail, and at some other times, a quantity

of sand and small stones gradually ascends to a great height, and forms a column sixty or seventy feet in diameter, and so thick that, if it were steady in one spot, it would appear like a solid and gigantic pillar. But it not only whirls round in its own circumference, but runs in a circular direction over a great extent of ground. It sometimes remains thus in motion for half an hour, and makes a hill of sand where it falls. "God help the poor traveller who is caught under it!" says Belzoni. I never saw whirlwinds on this grand scale in Persia, though it sometimes comes very near it in the sandy districts. But in the plains of the very central parts of Persia, and indeed nearly through its extent, partial and strong currents of air arise when there is a perfect calm, or at the time when the wind changes, and form whirlwinds, which carry away in their vortex sand, branches of trees, stubble, with which they form moving columns that appear to communicate between the clouds and the earth. They vary very much in strength. Sometimes they overthrow the largest and strongest tents with great violence, while at other times they only put them a little out of order.

It only now remains to mention the Cold