which they pour a decoction of garra,[51] and then insert the pipe into the anus, compressing the gut until the whole of the contents pass into the abdomen. If to the want of medical men, and scarcity of remedies, we add the state of uncleanliness in which these people live, we may form some slight idea of the sufferings they endure in sickness. It is, in fact, impossible to form a conception of the misery to be met with in their hovels, which are sometimes crowded with patients; nursing and all attention is out of the question; every man is left to himself, hence many of course perish, who, with but slight care, might easily have been saved, but—Allah Kerim! There are no prophylactics against all these diseases, and I know of no better advice to give to Europeans travelling in this country than to caution them against drinking new milk or water; the latter they should always boil, and ought moreover to be careful to keep themselves, and more especially their feet, warm during the rainy season; they should further use a large quantity of pepper with their food, and rather eat too little than too much. In cases of dysentery, for which rice and gum-water are generally prescribed in Egypt, the traveller should by all means avoid these same remedies, for he would only debilitate his digestive organs the more. For my own part I resorted latterly to the shells of the pomegranate steeped for a few hours in cold water, and found this remedy very successful. It is quite a mistake to imagine the use of spirituous liquors pernicious in tropical climates, for I convinced myself, but unfortunately too late, of the contrary. On my own personal experience I can assert that a moderate quantity of brandy (in defect of wine) or Merissa taken daily is an excellent prophylactic. All those natives, moreover, who possess the means of procuring it, enjoy health, and are not so easily attacked with fever or dysentery; it will of course be understood that every excess is hurtful. CHAPTER XII. THE TROOPS.