Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 129 



" The general height of the thermometer in the depth of winter 

 in Lower Egypt, in the afternoon and in the shade, is from 50° to 

 60°; in the hottest season, it is from 90° to 100°, and about 10° 

 higher in the southern parts of Upper Egypt.'" 



"On the coast of the Mediterranean rain is frequent, but. in other 

 parts of Egypt, very unusual. At Cairo, there is generally one 

 heavy storm in the winter, and a shower or two besides. . . . At 

 Thebes, a storm occurs but once in about four years, and light rain 

 almost as rarely. The wind most frequently blows from the N.W., 

 N., or N.E., but particularly from the first direction. . . . The 

 southerly winds are often very violent, and, in the spring and sum- 

 mer, especially in April and May, hot sand-winds sometimes blow 

 from the south, greatly raising the temperature."'^ 



A recent traveller'' states concerning the rainfall between Feb- 

 ruary 1 and April 15, 1889: "My first experience in Egypt was 

 calculated to give the impression that it is a rainy country, for I 

 saw" two showers in three days. In passing through the Suez 

 Canal (January 31st), a heavy shower, lasting half an hour, drove 

 the passengers to shelter, and a brilliant rainbow delighted be- 

 holders. Two days later, rain again fell at night in Cairo, making 

 the dirty streets more nasty still. Of course this experience was 

 e.xceptional, as rain is a rarity in Cairo. Authorities give the rain- 

 fall at Alexandria as about 8 inches per annum, and at Cairo about 

 1.2 inches; while in Upper Egypt the precipitation of moisture is 

 far less ; there are adults living there who say they have never seen 

 rain. 



I noticed, on the other hand, unmistakable signs of recent rains, 

 such as dried mud-puddles, raindrop-prints, etc., at several points 

 near Cairo, east of Thebes (Wadi Bah-el-Molook), and in the penin- 

 sula of Sinai, and I was impressed with the belief that more rain 

 falls in Egypt than is usually supposed. A local shower, passing- 

 over a sandy gravelly region, makes but little impress on it ; and 

 there is no corps of trained observers, outside of Cairo and Alexan- 

 dria, TO record the phenomenon. . . . On February 16th I visited 

 a wild valley west of Thebes, known as Wadi Bab-el-Molook. . . . 

 The valley throughout shows that water has at some time been 

 energetically at work ; the floor resembles a dried-up mountain 



^ Lane, Modern Egyptians, Introd. 



2 R. S. Poole, Encyc. Brit., VII, 703. 



3 Bolton, loc. cit., 113, 117, 118. 



