six hours, during which the armies were intermixed with
one another and fighting desperately. When the darkness dispersed they
separated, and the consternation of both parties was so great at the
events of the day that both made a precipitate retreat. In 1844 this
battle was still spoken of with wonder. (_J. Bomb. Br. R. A. S._ I. 423.)

Major St. John has given a note on his own experience of these curious
Kerman fogs (see _Ocean Highways_, 1872, p. 286): "Not a breath of air was
stirring, and the whole effect was most curious, and utterly unlike any
other fog I have seen. No deposit of dust followed, and the feeling of the
air was decidedly damp. I unfortunately could not get my hygrometer till
the fog had cleared away."

[_General Houtum-Schindler_, l.c. p. 493, writes: "The magical darkness
might, as Colonel Yule supposes, be explained by the curious dry fogs or
dust storms, often occurring in the neighbourhood of Kerman, but it must
be remarked that Marco Polo was caught in one of these storms down in
Jiruft, where, according to the people I questioned, such storms now never
occur. On the 29th of September, 1879, at Kerman, a high wind began to
blow from S.S.W. at about 5 P.M. First there came thick heavy clouds of
dust with a few drops of rain. The heavy dust then settled down, the
lighter particles remained in the air, forming a dry fog of such density
that large objects, like houses, trees, etc., could not even faintly be
distinguished at a distance of a hundred paces. The barometers suffered no
change, the three I had with me remained in _statu quo_." "The heat is
over by the middle of September, and after the autumnal equinox, there are
a few days of what is best described as a dense dry fog. This was
undoubtedly the haze referred to by Marco Polo." (_Major Sykes_, ch. iv.)
--H. C.]

Richthofen's remarkable exposition of the phenomena of the _loess_ in
North China, and of the sub-aerial deposits of the steppes and of Central
Asia throws some light on this. But this hardly applies to St John's
experience of "no deposit of dust." (See Richthofen, _China_, pp. 96-97 s.
_MS. Note_, H. Y.)

The belief that such opportune phenomena were produced by enchantment was
a thoroughly Tartar one. D'Herbelot relates (art. _Giagathai_) that in an
action with a rebel called Mahomed Tarabi, the Mongols were encompassed by
a dust storm which they attributed to enchantment on the part of the
enemy, and it so discouraged them t