This dismal state of things lasted nearly an hour, after which time
nature seemed to recover herself by a sudden throe, for a brisk breeze,
which was highly refreshing to our senses, and which was attended by the
loud hollow subterranean sound I have before referred to, unexpectedly
sprang up, and swept off, as if by magic, the inertia of nature. What
made the phenomenon more extraordinary, was the total absence of thunder
or lightning. My companions shouted for joy when the hollow moan of the
embryo tempest was heard to move off to the eastward (for, as they
informed me, it told of deliverance from peril); I felt a sensation of
delight I cannot describe, and heartily responded to the noisy
demonstration of satisfaction raised by my companions.
Our horses, apparently participating in our delight, pricked up their
ears, and snorted, fairly prancing with pleasure, tired and jaded as
they were after thirty miles' travel through sand, into which they sank
at every step fetlock deep, often groaning pitifully.
I noticed that, during the impending storm, they hung down their heads
in a listless manner, and sighed heavily, a circumstance that to our
minds presaged calamity, and which, I may add, was altogether unlike the
usual indication of fatigue in animals which have travelled a great
distance.
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