SIMOOM. ARAB., a hurtful hot wind. One prevails in the hot season on the Dasht or plain of Battekotee between Ilazar-nao and Jalalabad, where the mountains on both sides arc covered with perpetual snow. It is said to be generally fatal to ail men, horses, and cattle who encounter it, and as severe in its effects in the night as in the day. The simoom, samiel, or samin of Arabia, the kharnsin of Egypt, and the harmattan of tile coast of Guinea, is described as being hot and pestiferous, sweeping over the country with such speed, that travellers might be stifled in a moment, unless they throw themselves close to the burning sand and cover their faces with their cloths. Mr. Werry, Consul-General for Syria in 1838, had a meeting of the chief Ag,hel and of the Anazelt Shaiklis, who stated that the BiM00111 iS 110t and suffocating, and has frequently caused the death of persons who liave been unable to shelter them selves from its deleterious influence. Ferrier says this hot blast, called Sirocco in the south of Europe, is the Sharkia or East Wind of Scripture. In Egypt, Damascus, Arabia, and Baghdad, it blows by sudden squalls, the approach of which is indicated by a certain perturbed state of the atmosphere. The real mum or simoom, if it rtctually occur, seetns a current of air, probably electric, of rare occurrence, and causing instant death, and peculiar to the deserts. It has no injurious effect on vegetation, perhaps because it does not come in contact with it, as it rarely approaches within bue or two feet of the ground. The camel, being aware of its approach, instinct ively kneels down, and laya its head close to the ground, thus escaping its effects. Where the hot winds or simoom blow, they often become, above Schwan, dangerous in their effects. The natives,
aware of their power, avoid travelling at the season of their occurrence. There is probably great exaggeration. — Col. Chesney, Euphrates, p. 578 Ferrier's Jonrn. ; Postan.
SIM UhG, PEas., a fabulous bird of the Persians.
Cnisr. The gods. Among existing relinions of Japan, the Sin-tu (Sin, the gods, and Tu,afaith) and the Buddhist are the most extended. The Sin-tu embraces a cosmogony hero-worship, the Ten-sio-dai-siu, the Sin goddess, being the principal object of worship. The religion has a trace of Buddhism. See Japan.
SIN. Five great sins in the Hindu code are,—stertling gold, drinking spirituous liquors., murder of a Brahman, adultery with the wife of a spiritual teacher, and association with a person guilty of any of these crimes. To kill a Brahman is one of their greatest sins ; to kill a cow is also very heinous, as also to kill a woman or an infant. Most of the sins of the Brahtnanical Hindus are, however, breaches of ceremonial observances.— Hindoo Theatre, p. 30.
SIN or Aba-Sin, a name of the river Indus. Sin is a Scythic word for river, BO applied by the Hindus. Aba-Sin is the river Indus, and h and s being interchangeable along the line of the Indu.s, the Hafta Hindu are the seven rivers, Siit-sind of the Panjab. In classical Pers:an litemture, (black) is synonymous with hind, and Hindu is identical with siah-fam, dark - complexioned. Thus hind-hanna is the equivalent of sialti-banna, the darkening colour of hanna. Sadi of Shiraz sang that he would give Sarnarcaud and Bokhara for the black (Hindu) mole on a Turkish girl's cheek.