"The 'simum.' which is a very violent, hot, and al- most Bdffocating wind, is of re rare occurrence thau
the khamsin winds, and of shorter duration; it- con- tinuance being more brief in proportion to the Intensity of it- parchiug beat ami the Impetuosity of its coarse. Its direction is generally from the s mth-east,
south-east. It is commonly preceded by a fearful calm.
As it approaches, the atmosphere assumes a yellowish
i with red; the Ban appears of a deep blood
color, and gradually becomes quite coi cealed before the
hot blast is felt in its full violence. The sand and dtlst
raised by the wind add to the gloom, and increase the painful effect.- oi the heal and rarity of the air. Respira- tion becomes uneasy, perspiration seems to be entirely stopped; the tongue & dry, the skin parched, and a prick- ing sensation i- experienced, a.- if caused by electric sparks. It is sometimes impossible for a person to re- main erect, on account of the force of the w ind ; and the sand and dust oblige all who are exposed to it to keep their eyes closed. It is, however, mosl distressing when it overtakes travellers in the desert. My brother encoun- tered at Kus, in Upper Egypt, a simum which was said to be one of the most violent ever witnessed. It lasted less than half an hour, and a very violent BimUm continues longer. My brother i.- of opinion that, although it is extremely distressing, it can never prove fatal, un- less to person's already brought almost to the point of death by disease, fatiirue, thirst, or some other cause. The poor camel seems to Buffer from it equally with his master; and will often lie down with his hack to the wind, close bis eyes, stretch out hi- long neck upon the ground, and so remain until the storm has passed over" {Englishwoman in Egypt, i, 96, 97).
The hot wind of the khamsin usually blows for three days and nights, and carries so much sand with it that it produce- the appearance of a yellow fog. It thus resembles the simum. though far less powerful and far less distressing in its effects. It is not known to can-.' actual darkness; at least residents in Egypl mention no example either on experience or hearsay evidence. By a confu-ion of the simum and the khamsin wind it has even been supposed that a simum in its utmost violence usually lasts three days (Kalisch, ( on Exod. p. 17oi. but this is an error. The plague may. however, have been an extremely severe sand- storm, miraculous in its violence and iis duration, for the length of three days does not make it natural, since the severe storms are always very brief. Perhaps the three days was the limit, as about the longest period that the people could exist without leaving their houses. Ii has been supposed that this plague rather caused a su- pernatural terror than actual Buffering and loss, hut this is by no means certain. The impossibility of moving about, and the natural fear of darkness which affects beasts and birds as well as men. as in a total eclipse, would have caused Buffering; and if the plague were a sandstorm of unequalled severity, it would have pro- duced the conditions of fever by its parching heat, be- sides causing much distress of Other kind-. An evi- dence in favor of the wholly supernatural character of this plague is its preceding the last judgment of all, the death of the tirst-born. as if it were a terrible foreshad- ow in-' of that great calamity. See SiarfJM.
(10.) The Death <;/' ///, First-born.— Before the tenth plague Moses went to warn Pharaoh: "And Moses said. Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go ,.iit into the midst of Egypt! and till the first-born in the land of Egypl shall die. from the tit'st-born of Pha- raoh that sitteth ii| ids throne, even unto the tirst- born Of the maidservant that [is] behind the mill, and all the tirst-born of beasts. Ami there shall be a great cry throughout all the laud of Egypt, Such as there was none like it. nor -ball be like it any more" He then foretold that Pharaoh's servants would pray him to go forth. Positive a- i- this declaration, ii seems to have been a conditional warning, for we read, -And be went out from Pharaoh in heat of anger," and it. is added
that God said that Pharaoh would nol hearken to Mo-
Bes, and thai the king of Egypt still refused to lei ferae! go (Exod.xi, 1. 1 in. The Passover was then instituted, and the houses ofthe Israelites Bprinkled with the blood of the victims. The first-born ofthe Egyptians were -milieu ai midnight, as Moses had forewarned Pharaoh. -And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he. and all his ser- vants, and all the Egyptians; and then was a greai crj inEgypt; for [there was] not a house where [there was i n-i .'ue dead" i xii. 80). The clearly miraculous
nature of this plague, in its severity, ii- falling u]
man and beast, and the BUlgling out of the tir.-t-hoiti,
PLAGUES
263
PLAGUES
puts it wholly beyond comparison with any natural pes- tilence, even the severest, recorded in history, whether of the peculiar Egyptian plague, or other like epidemics. The Bible affords a parallel in the smiting of Sennach- erib's army, and still more closely in some of the pun- ishments of murmurers in the wilderness. The pre- vailing customs of Egypt furnish a curious illustra- tion of the narrative of this plague. It is well known that many ancient Egyptian customs are yet observed. Among these one of the most prominent is the wailing for the dead by the women of the household, a&well as those hired to mourn. It was thus in the great cholera of 1848 at Cairo. This pestilence, as we all know, fre- quently follows the course of rivers. Tims, on that oc- casion, it ascended the Nile, and showed itself in great strength at Bulak, the port of Cairo, distant from the city about a mile and a half to the westward. For some days it did not traverse this space. Every evening at sunset it is the custom to go up to the terrace on the roof of the house. There, in that calm, still time, might be heard each night the wail of the women of Bulak for their dead borne along in a great wave of sound a distance of two miles, the lamentation of a city stricken with pestilence. So, when the first-born were smitten, " there was a great cry in Egypt." See Fihst-born.