I have seen the
thermometer, in a very sheltered part of my house, steadily maintain,
during the night, the same height to which it had arisen in the day,
while I marked it with feelings of incalculably increased oppression,
and this for three successive weeks in August and September, 1822."
At Malta, we were recommended, in consequence of the unsettled state
of affairs between Mehemet Ali and the European powers, to proceed
forthwith to Egypt, and though strongly tempted to prolong my stay in
the island, I thought it advisable to make the best of my way to the
Red Sea, and defer the pleasure, which a more protracted residence
promised, until my return in the ensuing year. Lieut. Goldsmith, our
kind commandant of the _Megara_, called upon us, according to promise,
to conduct us on board the new steamer, the _Volcano_, the vessel
appointed to carry the mails on to Alexandria. This ship was in
quarantine, and it was consequently necessary to take some precautions
in going on board. We proceeded, in the first instance, to a police
station, where we took a second boat in tow, and a _guadiano_, an
official appointed to see that no persons transgress the rules and
regulations of the port instituted for the preservation of health.
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