Travels into the Levant, 
Part I. 
CHAP. LXXX. 
Of the Inconveniencies and Ordinary JJiflem- 
fers at Caire. 
Ordinary In- rTp H E firft Inconvenience to be felt at Caire, is the exceflive Heat, which 
conveniencks jg intolerable, that one can fcarcely do any thing, and what is worfe, 
ata/r?^^" there is no fleeping hardly there in Summer. For when you go to Bed, you'll 
UtidLtin E^)ft. find the Sheets full of Sand, and fo hot, that 1 think they could not be more. 
Drink in after long warming with a Warming-pan. What you drink there,is commonly 
-E<?F' as hot as your Blood, for you muft noc think of Ice, Snow, or a Well there ; 
all that can be done, is to put the Water into certain Pons of a white Earth, 
that Tranfpires much, and leave them abroad in the Night-time, having done 
fo, the Water is indeed pretty cold in the Morning -, but in the Day-time 
they put thofe Pots in Windows, which receive any little breeze,and there the 
Water cools a little, or at leaft lofes fomewhat of its heat ; and it is a great 
happinefs in that Country, to have a Window that lies well for a breeze, and 
a Bardaque^ or Pot, that is Tranfpirable. Befides thefe Inconveniencies, 
there is that of little Flies, or Musketto's, which I reckon the greateft of all. 
No Man can believe but he who hath felt it by Experience, how uneafie and 
troublefome thefe Infeds are in R^iyft ; there are always fwarms of them buz- 
zing about People, and continually pricking of them , fo that they make 
themfelves fat and plump with Man's Blood. There is no other remedy 
againft thefe Gnats, but to have a very fine Cloth all round your Bed, which 
Ihuts very clofe; and for all that, fome always gee in, when you go to lie 
down. 
A pain in the Stomach is very common in that Country, and all New-comers 
are fubjed unto it, who finding themfelves in a hot Countrey, leave their 
Breaft and Stomach open, and will not take Counfel. Neverthelefs, the Air 
(which is fubtile and penetrating; chills their Bowels, and caufes dangerous 
Fevers and Bloody-Fluxes, efpecially in Autumn when the A'/Zt overflows, and 
therefore one muft always keep the Stomach warm .^nd v^^ell covered. There 
is another Diftemper that reigns there alfo, and that is a fwelling of the 
Scrotum, and to feme (I may fpeak without Exaggerating ) their Codsfwelï 
bigger than their Head, which is occafioncd by the Water of tht Nik- 
and I my felf was troubled a little with it, for the fpace of eight days, buc 
then it went away of it felf. To cure this Diftemper, they make Incifioa 
with a Lancet in the fwelled Scrotum, and let out the Water that is got into 
it. Sore Eyes are very common there, and vei^ dangerous in the Summer- 
time -, that is caufed by the burning heat of the Sun, which refleds from the 
Ground upon the Eyes, and fcorches them, as alfo from the Duft, which is 
very fubtile and fait, and is blown into the Eyes by the Wind, which is the 
reafon that there are many blind in that Country. Whilft I w^as in Mgypt, a 
French Merchant loft an Eye fo, and I have known other French troubled with 
that Diftemper, who for a fortnight or three Weeks could not fleep, becaufe 
of the fharp pain they felt, which made them cry out and roar both Night 
and Day. In the Summer-time you hardly fee any abroad in the Streets, but 
who are afflided with that evil, and carry pieces of blew Staff before their 
Eyes, and certainly, you (hall find nine of ten whom you meet, with fuch de- 
fenfives before their Eyes : Every one threatned me with that Diftemper, and 
yet ( thanks be to God ) I never had the leaft touch of it ; perhaps, I took 
care to prevent it, becaufe in that bad Seafon, every Morning and Evening 
I walhed my Eyes with fair Water, and when I returned . from Abroad I did 
the like, to wafti out any Sand that might have got into them. Pains in the 
Legs are very bad at Caire, and a great many have their Legs fwollen to a 
prodigious bignefs. There is alfo another l3iftemper, or rather inconveni- 
ence, 
