ive weeks; the last, which commenced on the 26th
March, and continued four days, being the heaviest. The wind during
the time varied from north-east to north-west, the breeze interrupted
by occasional calms. No rain had fallen for six weeks; and though, as
the doctor observes, 'neither cloud, fog, nor mist obscured the
heavens, yet the sun and moon were scarcely visible; the orb of day
appeared as if viewed through a smoked glass, the whole sky presenting
a uniform rusty hue. At times, this sameness was disturbed, exhibiting
between the spectator and the sun the appearance of a water-spout,
owing to the gyratory motions of the impalpable mineral. The sand
penetrated the most secluded apartments; furniture wiped in the
morning, would be so covered with it in the afternoon, that one could
write on it legibly. In the streets, it was annoying--entering the
eyes, nostrils, and mouth, and grating under the teeth. My ophthalmic
patients generally suffered a relapse, and an unusual number of new
cases soon after presented themselves. Were such heavy sand-storms of
frequent occurrence, diseases of the visual organs would prevail to a
destructive extent.'

These showers sometimes spread over several provinces at once, and far
out to sea. The Chinese call them yellow-sand. Their source is the
great desert of Gobi, or Sand-Ocean, more than 2000 miles long, and
from 300 to 400 broad, in the interior of Asia. Dr M'Gowan states,
that the fall amounted to ten grains per square foot, but without
specifying whether this quantity includes the whole duration of the
shower. During calms, it remains suspended. The dust thus raised from
the Mongolian steppes gives the peculiar tinge to the Yellow Sea.

Notwithstanding the annoyance of these dust-showers, they have a
valuable compensation. The Chinese, whose closeness of observation in
agricultural matters is well known, assert that they are always
followed by a fruitful season--not, it is true, as cause, but as
effect. The explanation is, that the soil of the provinces most
subject to the visitation, being of a compact character, is loosened
and lightened by the sand borne on the wind from the Tatarian plains,
and at the same time, the lighter fertilising matters carried away by
the great rivers are replaced; and thus, that which at first sight
appears an unmitigated evil, becomes the cause of good harvests, for
they invariably follow a fall of sand.

THE CITY INQUEST FOR THE POOR.