"I must tell you that Souakim has become a place of considerable importance since Egypt acquired it from Turkey, and became its sovereign mistress. There is actually a bakery in it, an inestimable boon in a country where, ten years ago, the Governor alone ate wheaten bread. But, from a moral point of view, the most complete change in Souakim has been brought about by the new aqueduct. The women will no longer be beasts of burden, destined to seek for water outside the town, and the Bedouin will have other things to think of than the capture of some poor slave-girl, to fill the degrading post of water-carrier. You cannot imagine how sad a sight it is to a European to see these old women, often infirm, wearily dragging themselves along the deep and burning sand, with heavy water-bottles on their heads. Nor are the young and pretty spared; their flexible figures, their backs still weak, are bowed, beneath their heavy burden, and remain so. Why, you will say, are not animals employed on this work? For the simple reason that they are more expensive to keep than slaves. "Other customs have also undergone considerable modification since the country has been annexed by Egypt. Our European dress, which formerly would have caused a regular commotion, now scarcely attracts any attention. I do not mean to say by this that the Europeans and Egyptians are in a majority here. In the rainy season, hosts of Bedouins, followed by their flocks and herds, come down from the neighbouring mountains, and pitch their tents to the south of the town. But that is more like a suburb situated on the mainland, because Souakim proper is on an island, and it is in this part alone that any noteworthy buildings are to be seen, such as the custom house, the English postal telegraph office, the divan and a few mosques. Of gardens, both public and private, there is an absolute dearth, and I have only been able to discover one solitary clump of date-palms, maintaining a struggling existence in the courtyard of a former Governor. To make up for this want of attraction, we have enough and to spare of the sun, and the heat is so great that we are longing, I can assure you, to get to the mountains.