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244 THE ATMOSPHERE AND METEOROLOGY.
As to the fearful tempests or tourmentes which occasionally surprise the
traveler on high mountains or in the snowy plains, they may result from
winds blowing from almost any point of the horizon. It is a terrible
thing to be assailed by one of these phenomena. The white masses carried by the gusts of wind hide all surrounding objects. The unhappy
people lost in this storm see neither the neighboring slopes nor the sky
above their heads, nor even the path beneath their feet. Deafened by
the noise ofthe tempest, blinded by the powdery clouds which lash their
faces, frozen by the snow which hangs in stalactites to their hair and
changes their clothes into stiff and heavy masses, the travelers soon lose
their way, and sink stupefied by the cold. Hundreds of corpses of men
and horses, which have fallen here and there in certain passes of the Ka-
rakorum and the Himalayas, recall these terrible snow-storms, which have
prevailed over these mountains. Accidents of the same kind are very
numerous, also, on the paramos of India, Chili, Bolivia, and Peru. Even
in the Pyrenees and the Alps, where the most frequented passes are provided avith hospices, where travelers surprised by the whirlwind of snows
may take refuge, many unfortunate persons perish every year in these
tourmentes.
The countries to the south of France have also to submit to the effects
of a wind, which is a real scourge; it is the wind from the north-west,
to which popular imagination has given the name of " master " (mistral,
magistraou, maestrale). It is caused, like the alternate winds from the
mountains, by the juxtaposition of two surfaces unequally heated. This
aerial current is unhappily well named, for its speed, comparable sometimes
to that of the hurricane, suffices to uproot trees and throw down walls.
"The melamboreas" says Strabo, " is an impetuous and terrible wind,
which displaces rocks, precipitates men from their chariots, and strips
them of their vestments and arms." The Gauls of the valley of the Rhone
saw in it their most dreaded god; they raised altars and offered sacrifices
to it; the Provencals considered it with "Durance," and the "Parliament " as one of their three great calamities. This wind makes itself especially felt in winter and spring, when the Cevennes, covered with snow,
have become relatively very cold, and the sea-shores continue to be heated
daily by the rays of the sun: then the masses of air roll in volumes from
the summit of the mountains, to replace the ascending current of the expanded atmosphere, which is formed above the region of the coast-line.
During the night, it is true, the low lands situated at the base of the
mountains lose their heat by radiation, and the afflux of cold air diminishes, to recommence on the morrow, when the sun warms the atmosphere
of the plains anew. In summer, the difference of temperature is less between the shores and the desert escarpments of the Cevennes. The mistral is very feeble during this season, or it even entirely ceases. In various parts of the coasts of Spain, Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor, winds of
the same kind, known under other names, descend in the same manner
from the summit ofthe bordering mountains.
| Title | The ocean, atmosphere, and life |
| Creator | Reclus, Elisée |
| Publisher | Harper |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1873 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000269 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 244 THE ATMOSPHERE AND METEOROLOGY. As to the fearful tempests or tourmentes which occasionally surprise the traveler on high mountains or in the snowy plains, they may result from winds blowing from almost any point of the horizon. It is a terrible thing to be assailed by one of these phenomena. The white masses carried by the gusts of wind hide all surrounding objects. The unhappy people lost in this storm see neither the neighboring slopes nor the sky above their heads, nor even the path beneath their feet. Deafened by the noise ofthe tempest, blinded by the powdery clouds which lash their faces, frozen by the snow which hangs in stalactites to their hair and changes their clothes into stiff and heavy masses, the travelers soon lose their way, and sink stupefied by the cold. Hundreds of corpses of men and horses, which have fallen here and there in certain passes of the Ka- rakorum and the Himalayas, recall these terrible snow-storms, which have prevailed over these mountains. Accidents of the same kind are very numerous, also, on the paramos of India, Chili, Bolivia, and Peru. Even in the Pyrenees and the Alps, where the most frequented passes are provided avith hospices, where travelers surprised by the whirlwind of snows may take refuge, many unfortunate persons perish every year in these tourmentes. The countries to the south of France have also to submit to the effects of a wind, which is a real scourge; it is the wind from the north-west, to which popular imagination has given the name of " master " (mistral, magistraou, maestrale). It is caused, like the alternate winds from the mountains, by the juxtaposition of two surfaces unequally heated. This aerial current is unhappily well named, for its speed, comparable sometimes to that of the hurricane, suffices to uproot trees and throw down walls. "The melamboreas" says Strabo, " is an impetuous and terrible wind, which displaces rocks, precipitates men from their chariots, and strips them of their vestments and arms." The Gauls of the valley of the Rhone saw in it their most dreaded god; they raised altars and offered sacrifices to it; the Provencals considered it with "Durance," and the "Parliament " as one of their three great calamities. This wind makes itself especially felt in winter and spring, when the Cevennes, covered with snow, have become relatively very cold, and the sea-shores continue to be heated daily by the rays of the sun: then the masses of air roll in volumes from the summit of the mountains, to replace the ascending current of the expanded atmosphere, which is formed above the region of the coast-line. During the night, it is true, the low lands situated at the base of the mountains lose their heat by radiation, and the afflux of cold air diminishes, to recommence on the morrow, when the sun warms the atmosphere of the plains anew. In summer, the difference of temperature is less between the shores and the desert escarpments of the Cevennes. The mistral is very feeble during this season, or it even entirely ceases. In various parts of the coasts of Spain, Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor, winds of the same kind, known under other names, descend in the same manner from the summit ofthe bordering mountains. |
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