With endless sights of antiquarian interest, and a gay cosmopolitan society, there is little chance of boredom for either the studious or frivolous, and with the possible exception of California, no climate affords a better combination of warmth and sunlight, with a clean, stimulating atmosphere. It owes this to its peculiar geographical characters, for although it includes on the map a large area, the actually inhabited portion consists of only a narrow strip, a few miles wide, on either side of the Nile; as all the land beyond the reach of the annual overflow of the river, which is at its maximum in September, and lowest in June, is absolute desert, the intense dryness of which is necessarily fatal to all forms of vegetable life, including the organic germs of disease. On this account, even in the middle of the cultivated strip, the air has never been fouled by passing over any considerable extent of habitations and cultivation, with their inevitable emanations, but must always come, almost fresh and germ-free, from the illimitable expanse of sand and rock that immediately succeeds the narrow band of river alluvium.

Dr. Dalrymple, one of the earliest writers on the subject, remarks, “It is scarcely possible to imagine anything more invigorating and life-giving than the air of the desert; there is a dryness and elasticity about it like nothing else, and the sense of renovation when breathing it is, to the languid invalid, like a new lease of life.”

Both he and Dr. Sandwith, from whose excellent “Egypt as a Winter Resort” the following tables are taken, seem agreed as to its suitability for all cases of chest disease that have not gone too far to be amendable to climatic treatment of any sort, and Dr. Sandwith finds it also suitable for such cases of heart and kidney affections as are unfavourably affected by cold; while the sulphur baths of Helouan have been found remarkably useful in the chronic forms of rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatism and gout.

The main characteristic of the climate is its intense dryness. Even on the coast at Alexandria, the rainfall is but trifling, and above Cairo it may almost be neglected; but in spite of this even during the hottest months the climate is quite bearable. “Northern rooms, if closed in good time, need never exceed 83° in the hot weather, or fall below 52° in the cold season, provided the sun-warmed air be allowed free entry.” The prevailing wind is a gentle breeze from the north, but both at Cairo and Alexandria, during the fifty days about Easter-time, a peculiar dust-laden wind, highly charged with electricity, and known as “the Khamseen,” blows at intervals. It is very disagreeable while it lasts, the dust sometimes obscuring the sun almost as completely as a London fog, but it rarely persists more than two days at a time, and does not usually occur more than three or four times in a season. The following tables will give a good general idea of the climate:—

Alexandria. Lat. 31° 13′ N.;Long. 26° 53′ E. E.F., 66 ft.
MonthTemperature, F.Relative
Humidity
%		Rain in
Inches		Clouds,
0-10		Winds
MeanMean
Maxima		Mean
Minima		Direc-
tion		Force,
0-10
January58·164·053·267  2·334  N.2·5
February58·664·254·065  1·434  N.W.2·5
March61·668·056·065  ·783  N.W.2·7
April66·073·060·666  ·122  N.2·5
May70·075·465·670  ·032  N.2·2
June75·079·671·272  —1  N.2·3
July77·681·274·875  —1  N.N.W.2·4
August79·082·476·173  —1  N.2·0
September77·481·274·369  ·112  N.2·3
October74·679·270·668  ·332  N.2·1
November68·273·464·067  1·323  N.2·2
December62·067·857·067  1·794  N.2·4
Annual69·074·164·868·68·242·4N.2·3
Cairo. Lat. 30° 4′ N.;Long. 31° 15′ E. E.F., 108.
MonthTemperature, F.Relative
Humidity
%		Rain in
Inches		Clouds,
0-10		Wind
MeanMean
Maxima		Mean
Minima		Direc-
tion		Force,
0-10
January53·661·446·669·7 ·194·1S.W.2·2
February57·065·348·866·2 ·244·2N.1·4
March62·873·253·056·2 ·033·4N.2·5
April70·481·259·947·8 ·123·4N.2·6
May75·286·863·448·4 ·222·3N.2·8
June82·694·770·244·0 ·021·0N.3·0
July83·893·072·249·0 —1·2N.4·3
August82·292·971·455·3 —1·6N.4·1
September77·887·568·062·1 —1·8N.4·3
October74·384·064·865·8 —2·5N.3·2
November64·474·256·367·5 ·213·0N.2·1
December58·467·750·469·6 ·193·7N.2·2
Year70·280·160·458·461·222·6N.2·9
Luxor. Lat. 25° 40′ N.;Long. 32° 35′ E. E.F., 292.
Winter Climate.
MonthTemperature, F.Relative
Humidity		Rain in
Inches		Clouds,
0-10		Wind
MeanMean of
Maxima		Mean of
Minima		%Direc-
tion		Force
November—78·9962·1—N
i
l
.		— S.W. 1·0
December—70·0 53·6——N.E.1·8
January56·765·1 41·353·22·9N.W.1·0
February62·670·6 42·451·01·9N.W.1·1
March66·980·1 47·645·02·1- N.W. -0·7
N.E.
Assouan

, 133 miles further up the Nile, has a winter climate which is said to be almost 5° F. higher than Luxor, and to be freer from dust-storms. The building of the great dam and the large artificial lake which has been thus formed can hardly fail to modify the climate, so that it is hardly worth while reproducing Dr. Sandwith’s table.

For the rest, the whole of Egypt up to this latitude may be said to be very healthy for Europeans, there being much less malaria than one would be inclined to expect as a consequence of the annual overflowing of the Nile; a circumstance which may, I believe, be attributed to the generally neat character of the cultivation, and the care with which every square yard of cultivable soil is utilised. Internal worms are, however, extremely common amongst the natives, but care in the matter of drinking water will render the risk run by the European very trifling.

Another terribly common disease amongst the natives is granular ophthalmia, a disease easily acquired by contact, or indirectly through the agency of flies, but Dr. Sandwith finds that it is extremely rarely taken by Europeans, though soreness of the eyes from dust and glare is not uncommon, for which he recommends the daily use of a little boracic solution as a toilet wash. It might, however, be perhaps advisable to protect young children by means of a veil when abroad, especially when entrusted to the care of a native attendant.