133 CHAP. VIII.

Effects of exposure to the sun — Diseases of the natives — Their insensibility to pain—Stoicism under surgical operations — Mograbin soldiers— A travelled Arab—Tyranny of Mcheniet Ali—Amulets—Foreigners in Egypt—Turkish prejudice. We suffer greatly from the heat ; and it is only in cases of much urgency we stir out, or quit our hut, from noon till four hours after it. When we are summoned by the Pascha,—and to appear before liim, one must at any iiour be ready, — we cover up our heads, in addition to the taghie (takie, under-cap) and tarbush, by a hood or cloth, as we have been warned by sad experience to take every precaution. On our journey up, my brother received a stroke of the sun in spite of his sti-aw hat, and had for two days to struggle with death ; and I only saved him by the desperate remedy of constantly blistering his stomach and the soles of his feet. In spite, of this fearful heat, we still wear our usual woollen clothing ; and even over this, a warm silken scarf (hessahn), which, as it produces perspiration, is much to be preferred to thinner stuffs. The principal care we Germans require is, shading the head ; on tlie march, we keep this rolled up, and so covered, that we often cannot see out of our eyes ; Ave must cut queer figures. But even the Bedouins themselves, in warm sunsliine, carefully cover their heads with their woollen barakan (batanie), although almost all the rest of the body is left exposed or naked ; and, for the same reason, the Turks wear two tarbushes. As far as the present inhabitants of Dongola and the Island are concerned, the sun does not seem to exercise any very hurtful power on their brain-pans. Both races, however, are well protected from his rays, by their well-greased and plaited hair, which, like the woolly hair of the negroes, forms a good sheltering roof, or thatch : but even among them are to be found old bald-headed men, who seem to care as L 2