called by the natives poisonous winds, or the hot winds of the desert. They are of such extreme heat that no animated body exposed to them can withstand their pernicious influence. During the three days of the southern blast, the streets are deserted; and woe to the[242] traveler whom this wind surprises remote from shelter; when it exceeds three days it is insupportable. Very frequently the inhabitants are almost blinded with drifts of sand, but these evils are in a great measure remedied by the rising and overflowing of the Nile. This occurs annually, and supplies the deficiency of rain, (very little falling in that country,) in producing the vast fertility for which Egypt is so famed. The river begins to rise the last of May, and continues till September. At the height of its flood in Lower Egypt, nothing is to be seen in the plains but the tops of forest and fruit trees; the towns and villages being for that reason built upon eminences, either natural or artificial. When the river is at its proper height, the inhabitants celebrate a kind of jubilee with great festivity. The banks or mounds which confine it, are cut by the Turkish Pasha, attended by his grandees; and after this ceremony, the water is led into what they call the khalix, or grand canal, which runs through Cairo, whence it is distributed into cuts for supplying the fields and gardens. The irrigation is effected by machinery. This being done, and the waters beginning to retire, such is the fertility of the soil that the labor of the husbandman is next to nothing. Nothing can be more charming than the prospect which the face of the country presents in rising corn, vegetables and verdure of every sort. Oranges and lemons perfume the air; dates, grapes, and figs cheer the eye; and palm trees which afford the means of making wine, are blooming and abundant. March and April are the harvest months, and they produce three crops, one of lettuces and cucumbers, (the latter being the ordinary food of the inhabitants,) one of corn, and one of melons. [243] CHAPTER XVI. Sail for London. Arrive at the Downs. Sail for St. Johns. A dense fog. Bay of Fundy. Come to anchor at St. Johns. Proceed to London. Sail for the East Indies. Study Navigation. Arrive at St. Helena. Tomb of Napoleon. Reach Cape Town. Description of the Country. Of the several Tribes. Arrive at Calcutta. Description of the Ganges, and its Religious Rites. Of Calcutta. Sail for Canton. Tiger Island. Straits of Malacca. Preparations for Pirates. Arrive at Canton. Its description. Chinese Floating Town. Manners and Customs. Fourth of July. Sail for England. Misconduct of the Mate. His discharge. Arrival at London.