Page 45 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

2fi TOR TO SUEZ. [CH.

bells belonging to the convent have been bu­
ried here, has often been repeated to me.
When I visited the Jebel Narkous on
two other occasions the results were much
less satisfactory. The first time the sounds
were barely audible, and, rain having fallen
a short time previous to my second visit, the

surface of the sand was so consolidated by
the moisture, that they could not be produced
at all. I therefore attribute the complete
gratification of my curiosity in this instance
to the sand being perfectly dry, and conse­
quently larger quantities rolling down the
hill. That the explanation of this phenome­
non is intimately connected with the agitation

thus produced can admit of no doubt; but
the precise causes which lead to these results
it seems difficult to explain. It may be
broadly stated that the particles of sand,
when in motion, roll over a harder bed, and
meet in their progress the wind then blowing
directly on the face of the hill at a certain
i
angle. I should mention that the same sounds
are produced when the wind is sufficiently
high to set the sand in motion ; but I reject,
without hesitation, the generally-received opi-