be bought in Cairo. Pugries may be twisted around them, but it is of no use to wear streaming tails of coloured calico to protect the neck. If a helmet is objected to-and indeed few ladies look well in it-a Terai hat is the best substitute; but straw hats may be worn during the colder months. Flannel suits are always comfortable, and brown leather boots and shoes are commended to both sexes. Wire gauze goggles should be bought in England to protect delicate eyes from the glare of the sun and from sandstorms. Ladies who desire to ride must bring their habits, and will be more independent if they bring a saddle. Warm cloaks and rugs are wanted in December and January, and on the river always at night. Keating's powder or Persian powder is wanted for insects. Patent English or foreign medicines should be brought by the invalid if required, though the local druggists provide the public with the most commonly asked-for specialities. White umbrellas and all common requisites can be bought in Cairo.

Ladies may be glad of the hint that silk or silk and wool combination garments are preferable to underlinen.

Routes to Egypt.-Those who are not afraid of the sea can leave London by P. and O. steamers, or British India or Orient Line, and they will reach Ismailia in twelve days by paying £20.

Robust people who are not dependent upon the presence of a doctor and stewardess can economize by travelling from Liverpool to Alexandria by the Moss or Papayanni lines. For those who are not martyrs to sea-sickness, and to the general discomfort of life on board ship, there is no doubt that the sea-voyage is very healthy, very restful, and useful in gradually accustoming patients to change of climate.

Visitors who desire as little of the sea as possible must make their way to Brindisi, and then on to Alexandria by P. and O. or Austrian Lloyd; or from Trieste to Alexandria by Austrian Lloyd; or from Genoa or Naples by Rubattino to Alexandria ; or from Marseilles to Alexandria by the Messageries steamers.

The passage from Brindisi to Alexandria takes three days and a half, and the whole journey from London to Cairo can be done any week in less than six days, at about the same expense as the long sea routes. Generally, it may be said, an English-speaking invalid is more comfortable on an English steamer, and it must be remembered that the large vessels which go on to India, China, and Australia, are often more luxurious than the smaller steamers which run only between Europe and Egypt. On the other hand, invalids must be warned that it is easier for them to land at

Alexandria than at Ismailia, because they may be obliged to traverse the Suez Canal by night, and then be put ashore uncomfortably in a boat in the early morning. Moreover, two trains run from Alexandria to Cairo in three and three-quarter hours, while from Ismailia to Cairo there is only one passenger train in the day, occupying four and three-quarter hours. At neither port is there any custom-house difficulty for personal baggage, and no passport is necessary.

Proposed itinerary.-Delicate patients should leave Europe at the middle or end of October, so as to arrive in Cairo early in November. Some remain in Cairo all the winter; others go up the Nile to Luxor in December or January, and return to Cairo at the end of February. In April they should go to Ramleh, and thence perhaps to Italy and the south of France, arranging not to reach England or other cold climates till the very end of May.

CHAPTER II.

SUEZ CANAL.

PORT SAID.

THE visitor is not recommended to stay in any of the three towns on the Suez Canal, but he must pass through one of them unless he arrives from Europe by way of Alexandria. Port Said, with a population of about 10,500 natives and 6000 Europeans, is an impromptu insanitary town which originated in 1859 with the huts of the Canal workmen. It stands on a narrow strip of sand two hundred to three hundred yards wide, between Lake Meuzaleh and the sea, its site having been formed by dredgings from the harbour thrown into the shallow lake. The surface of the town is perfectly flat, and only about four feet above the sea-level, and the sandy soil is permeated by uncemented cesspools and underground reservoirs used by some of the inhabitants. It is dependent on Cairo for a water-supply viâ Ismailia.

It ought, of course, to be connected with Cairo by the railway, but this is strenuously objected to by those interested in the welfare of Alexandria. Visitors must either go half through the Canal and disembark at Ismailia, or alight from their steamer at Port Said into a small postal boat, which will carry them and their luggage to Ismailia in time to catch the train for Cairo. Port Said has a very small English colony, but possesses two English doctors, one in charge of the native hospital, the other living at the English hospital founded by Lady Strangford. The three hotels are not first class, but the traveller must often be dependent on one of them in making the journey from Cairo to the Holy Land. Meteorological observations are made at Port Said, Ismailia, and Suez by the Canal Company for transmission to Paris, but, as none of the towns can be considered a health-resort, it is unnecessary to quote them here.

ISMAILIA.

There is no prettier spot in Egypt than this little wayside town of 3500 inhabitants, most of whom are French and natives, and connected with the Canal Company and its works. There are two hotels, sometimes quite empty, and at other times,