Characterisation, especially by Letters .">17 



Paris. I am not surprised. I wish my house could be of some use to them, but until Chumley* 

 lias been operated on and is cured, it would be impossible to offer it. I will certainly call on 

 the Miss Homers when I return. I trust Milly and her household have got over their influenzas 

 and that Guy may be finding some opening. I will write to her. In the scanty newspapers 

 I have seen there is no ill news of Bob. It is very gooil and plucky of M.L.'s brother to go out 

 with the yeomanry. I feel very painfully the contrast between my enjoying myself lazily in this 

 glorious climate and the sufferings of our countrymen at the Cape, but cannot think of anything 

 I can iiiiir do usefully, except get thoroughly well. I am very glad that Darwin's cough is not 

 worsened by the horrid weather you are having in England. Ours is sunshine from sunrise to 

 sundown, but it can be bitterly cold on a still and cloudless night. It was so on three occasions at 

 the Petries. I heaped everything on my bed with Eva's assistance, and next morning made 

 a list of what I used. It was necessary to sleep between the blankets because the sheets struck 

 cold; so a sheet was placed on the outside, tucked in at its top round the blankets to keep the 

 fluff off. This was the section of myself lying in bed taken at my feet : 



12 A jlillouJ 



tl ouercott 



lO Ulster «»>t 



9 thin J^ejjer skwul 



8 dressing fepwn 



7 thick morainQ cost 



6 Hie sheet 



5 thick J&eger rug 



2,3.4-. doubled bl&nkets 



1 hot bottle ( (Wjlfb^ -~- My foot in a. sock . 



Besides this I slept in thick socks, in a jersey, drawers and in complete pyjama suit. Thus 

 I felt warm, but by no means stuffy. The air is so nimble that it gets through everything 

 woollen. Here, as in South Africa, skins and furs ought to be the best. I love your letters. 



Ever affectionately, Francis Galton. 



f We have had a very nice queer time in the desert, very healthy! Uncle Frank just a little 

 pleased to give up teetotal ways and have a glass of wine! My best love to you both. E. B. 



Karnak Hotel, Luxor, Egypt. January 22, 1900. 



But address to Hotel Angleterre, Cairo, Egypt, please. 



Dearest Emma and Bessy, Your letters of the 13th arrived, as I had hoped they would, 

 to-day. We an- all right, and have taken a bit of a walk this morning; only four miles, but the 

 roads are very dusty and tiring. Donkey riding is the correct thing, but we wanted exercise. 

 You doubtless got my letter (followed by a post-card) a week ago. Nothing particular has 



happened since. Of the few people here are Professor Macalister the Cambridge anatomist ■ 



he has gone to Petrie — Professor Sayce in his large house-boat (he comes every winter to the 

 Nile on account of his chest), and Lord Northampton. Lady N. was at church; carried there 

 and back in a chair by magnificent sailors in gorgeous dresses and sat in it by the door all the 

 time. It is most piteous, having had fortune, beauty, rank, and high spirits and nice children, 

 and now to be hardly alive except in the brain. >She is powerless to move and her head is 

 continually agitated by a shaking palsy. Her state is said to be hopeless. Sayce is the «reat 

 orientalist and has been a thorn in Max Midler's side (who has been long very ill, but is now 

 better). .Macalister started on Saturday as we did last week, early in the morning, for Baliana 

 and Petrie. His wife and daughter were left behind to join him at Baliana this morning on 

 their return steamer, but a telegram came yesterday to say that the steamer has broken down 

 so they are at sixes and sevens. There is nothing like an hotel at Baliana and Petrie's camp is 

 a good seven miles off. 1 low they will meet, I can't guess. A beautifully ornamental tomb, as fresh 

 as if newly painted, has lately been got at here. It is not yet open to the public, the air inside 



* A maid of many years' service at Rutland Gate. 



t Postscript added by Galton's great-niece, Eva Biggs. 



