518 MERGE TO GYRENE.

at all times an abundant supply. The corn was all cut, and the high grass and luxuriant vegetation, which we had found it so difficult to wade through on former occasions, had been eaten down to the roots by the cattle : the whole face of the country was parched by the sun, and had assumed a deep brown and yellow tint instead of the rich green which it had worn on our first arrival ; a hot wind was blowing, which had all the character of a sirocco, though coming from a north-west quarter, and the thermometer stood constantly at 97° in the shade, a degree of heat we had not before experienced at Cyrene.

The scorching quality of the north-westerly gale may probably be attributed to the heat of the ground in the hollows about the place, for we did not experience any great degree of heat at Apollonia (we mean, not from the wind, for the sun was very powerful) where the same breeze Came to us immediately from the sea. The excessive dryness of the atmosphere of Cyrene at this time may be readily conjectured from the indication of a very good hygrometer which we had with us, which showed 55 during the period in question, an extreme which we had never before seen it mark.

We found afterwards that at Malta, on the same days, they had experienced a strong sirocco wind, and had had the thermometer at 95°. It may be remarked generally of the heat of northern Africa that it has not often that oppressive quality so much complained of in other hot latitudes ; and it does not appear to be at all unhealthy, as we often find it to be in damp climates. The sun, however, is uncommonly powerful, and it is necessary for those not accustomed