1 268 THE SIMOOM.
2 from the extreme heat of the sun, to remain in
3 " them without such a contrivance, though well
4 provided with Jawasa tatties* (khas khas, or the
5 scented grass roots, is very scarce in Peshawr,
6 and people send for it from the Panjab). But,
7 notwithstanding the affirmed mildness of thé
8 season, we heard of two or three instances of
9 travellers being scorched to death in the dry
10 stony plain between Jumrud and Takal, on
11 this side of Khaibar. We were told that a
12 Simoom, or hot wind, prevails for several days
13 in midsummer between Dhaka and Bhati Kot,
14 which quite stops the communication, and
15 many persons are said to have fallen a sacrifice
16 to it. The excess of heat at Peshawr is to be
17 ascribed to its situation in the midst of low
18 and dry hills. In the summer, the natives ge-
19 nerally pass the day in the zerzamuns, or cells,
20 which every one has in his house for the con-
21 venience of his family; and the nights are
22 passed on the roofs of their houses, which are
23 flat. The winter of Peshawr is said to be no
24 * A thorny bush growing in deserts, on'which camels
25 feed, and remarkable for its verdure.