A pilgrimage to the temples and tombs of Egypt, Nubia, and ...

CLIMATE. 81
deed is a labour of love worthy of the Divine IMas-
ter she serves, and truly may it be said that she
has adopted for the standard of her conduct those
beautiful words of our Saviour : Bring unto me
little children and refuse them not, for of such is
the Kingdom of Heaven.
Have I told you anything yet of the climate
of Egypt at this season of the year ? It is some-
thing of which I had previously no idea—some-
thing almost fabulous — the delightful sunny
warmth of Sicily without its oppressiveness or
the dreadful drawback of the Sirocco. There is
a crystal transparency, an elastic lightness in
the atmosphere here, which renders the act of
inhaling it an absolute enjoyment—mere exist-
ence a blessing ! and
I can now understand that
to the happy influence of such a climate the cha-
racter of the natives of this country owes much
of its joyous light-heartedness and insensibility
to the privation of all the creature-comforts of
life. Here " one day telleth another " in bright
serenity; and to us, natives of a cloudier clime,
it appears perfectly marvellous that we should
have it in our power to make out-of-door projects
for many days to come, without premising those
words of doubtful import, which always accompany
similar arrangements in England, viz. " if the
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