THE HEAT BECOMES OPPRESSIVE. 239 



in sun and in shade by day, and the minimum by night, 

 and all gradually tend upwards with occasional varia - 

 tions ; and now that the lowest temperature at night is 

 only 65 we find it more refreshing to have our beds 

 outside the tent, and thus get the full benefit of any 

 movement of air during the early part of the night, when 

 the heat is rather oppressive. The maximum in sun 

 and shade to-day has been respectively 145 and 100 

 Fah. During the past week we have seen frequent 

 thunderstorms over Abyssinia, and this afternoon very 

 dark, ominous-looking clouds have hung directly over 

 our heads, whilst we have had thunder and lightning in 

 the distance on all sides of us. At one time it appeared 

 scarcely possible we could escape a good drenching, 

 but not a drop of rain fell over the camp, and the sky 

 has now returned to its usual cloudless condition. We 

 already feel the effects of the storms in Abyssinia, by a 

 very decided rise in the river ; and if this continues to 

 increase, our fords will soon become impassable on foot. 

 There are few things to mar the pleasure of life on the 

 banks of the Settite, and the threatening approach of 

 the rains tells us but too truly that we must make the 

 most of the time still left us for a safe sojourn here ; but 

 there is one performance, sometimes repeated three or 

 four times a day, which is far from agreeable, and the 

 shorter the individual the more he has cause to object 

 to it. I refer to wading across the river at varying depths, 



