an amusement committee, if the visitors have recourse to them.

Sight-seeing. Close to the village of Luxor and its hotels are the two Luxor Temples, and a pleasant walk along the Avenue of Sphinxes takes us to the well-known wonders of Karnak. On the opposite side of the Nile are the Temples of Rameses I. and II., the Rameseum, the Colossi of the Eighteenth Dynasty, the Temples of Rameses III., Thothmes III., beautifully preserved sculptures, the Tombs of the Kings and other humbler folk, of the Queens, and lastly of hundreds of early Christians. All these remains, and many more of Thebes and its necropolis, contrive to make sunny Luxor a very delightful and interesting winter retreat.

A society, with its head-quarters in London, has just been started for the preservation of ancient monuments in Egypt. An estimate of the cost of the most necessary work, such as clearing away rubbish, strengthening pillars, draining off water, etc., shows that £2055 is wanted for Luxor, £3140 for Karnak, and £3400 for Thebes, Esneh, and Edfu. It is to be hoped that money will soon be forthcoming to preserve all temples from the depredation of time, thieves, and tourists.

K

ASSOUAN.

There is no hotel as yet at the First Cataract, but we ought soon to see one built, for winter residents at Luxor would find it an agreeable change to go now and then to Assouan; and Shellal, opposite the island of Phila, has been recommended as a perfect sanatorium by Dr. Abbate Pasha.

Assouan is 133 miles higher up the river than Luxor that is, 583 miles south of Cairo. The temple of Esneh is only 35 miles from Luxor, and Edfu temple is half-way to Assouan; then, 26 miles further on, we come to the sights of Silsileh, and then the temple of Kom Ombo, a few miles north of Assouan.

Assouan has a varied native population of about 9000, and is well guarded by forts, and by 2000 Egyptian troops under English officers.

Visitors will be interested in the granite quarries, rocks of schist, granite, and basalt, Sir F. Grenfell's tombs, Elephantine Island, the shooting of the cataract, and the lovely temple on the Island of Philæ.

Temperature.-No regular meteorological records have been taken at Assouan, but the Army Medical Staff took a few notes during the Nile expedition

of 1885-6, and the following Table is a précis of

No barometrical readings were taken. The observations were made twice daily at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., and show a temperature record about 5° Fahr. higher than at Luxor. The air is said to be more free of dust-storms than at Luxor, and by some the winter climate is preferred.

Voyage to Second Cataract. It is not now possible to go beyond Wady Halfa, but those who wish to see the forts there and the Temple of Abu Simbel can do so by spending three extra weeks in a dahabiyeh, or one week in a steamer. It is 210 miles from Phila to Wady Halfa.

Defences of Egypt.-Many visitors, chiefly Americans, were deterred from coming to Egypt in the winter of 1888-9, because of the Soudanese raids

outside the town of Suakin. It may therefore be wise to state exactly what is the disposition of the troops which have to defend Egypt and its visitors from any hypothetical hordes of invading dervishes. Suakin is a port on the Red Sea, which by a fastsailing steamer can only be reached in eight days from Cairo. It is well fortified and garrisoned by 3000 Egyptian and black soldiers, officered by the British army, who are well able to repel any advances of the Soudanese, and can, if necessary, be strengthened by English troops.

At Wady Halfa, which is eight hundred miles from Cairo, and separated from it by a distance which can only be traversed in ten days by the fastest steamers, there are more than 3000 Egyptian and black soldiers, again commanded by English

men.

There are also many strong forts, for the English policy is to act entirely on the defensive until the raids of the Soudanese become so impudent that it is absolutely necessary to chastise them, as in August, 1889. At Assouan, I have already said, there are forts manned by 2000 of the Egyptian army. In Cairo and Alexandria there are 3000 English soldiers of all branches of the service, who can be moved to any spot should danger threaten, and can be reinforced from Malta, Gibraltar, Cyprus, or from troops passing through the Suez Canal to or from India. The Soudanese

are likely to remain unsettled, but I hope I have said enough to show that they will not be allowed to do more than occasionally harass the frontier stations of Egypt.

In conclusion, I have only to add that the Egyptian police is recruited from the army, and it again is officered by the English, and ample provision exists for preventing any internal disturbance among one of the most peaceful and least criminal populations of the world.