period
there are three or four very heavy falls of rain, usually at night, and
occasionally during the day there are heavy storms, which are at times
very grand.

These outbursts are preceded by great sultriness, the whole ground is
hot, everything is burning, even in the shade one dare not touch metal;
then in the east a cloud of dust arises, which indicates the coming
storm; the clouds bank up with astonishing rapidity, and now it is time
for people to make the best of their way home as quickly as they can.
The dust-clouds, lighted up by the evening sun, show the exact direction
of the storm; some are of an inky black, others gray, and in the
distance they can be seen dashing up against one another, and forming,
as it were, a series of hills and valleys; yet there is scarcely a leaf
moving, and all nature seems hushed.

Then the storm-clouds seem to touch the earth, there is a sudden
rustling of the leaves; the distant houses are lost in obscurity, and
now it is time to shut oneself up in one's house. In a few minutes day
has been turned into night, the wind howls round the house, windows and
doors creak and rattle, till one begins to think in another moment the
house will fall about one's ears. Lights are used, for now it is blacker
than the darkest night; the fine dust penetrates everywhere and covers
everything; the heat is overpowering, one perspires at every pore, and
the dust cakes on one's face and hands, giving one the feeling of being
intensely begrimed and dirty; but there is nothing for it but to wait
patiently for the return of daylight, when one rises with one's eyes and
mouth full of dust, and nothing but a complete bath makes one feel in
any degree clean again. These sand-storms are generally followed by
heavy showers, which completely lay the dust.

A tropical thunderstorm is also full of solemn grandeur--deafening peals
of thunder and howling wind, followed by a veritable deluge, which seems
to transform the country into a lake in a few minutes.

These sudden storms are a source of no small danger to Omdurman,
especially in the quarter where the mosque and market are situated. Here
there is no outlet for the water, which overflows into the yards and
houses, and melts the mud-built walls like sugar. During the first year
or two of Omdurman's existence, and before the people had much
experience, several of the huts collapsed during a storm, burying the
inhabitants in their ruins. The intense obscur