the time for turning in. And thus are
rendered grateful those slumbers which are induced by the prevailing
spirit of noon. Of course, under such conditions of existence, there is
no great probability that much risk will be encountered by any one
gifted with the ordinary instinct of self-preservation. Should any one
be foolhardy enough to dare for himself the experiment, he would
scarcely find a _surridgi_ to furnish animals, or a guide willing to
pilot him. And should he even make a start of it, am I not the very man
to know what a lesson he would get in the course of the first six hours
of his march; and to predict that he would, should any brains be then
remaining to him, turn back on the strength of that same sample? It is
only a very young, and somewhat foolish person, who would be at all
likely to be found in this predicament. The dissuasion of the indigenous
is so earnest, and so without exception, that, considering their
knowledge of the facts, a prudent stranger must perceive in them the
substance of reason. The Asiatics, perhaps, carry a little too far the
dread of exposure to the atmospheric influences of summer; for they are
careful to shut out even the cool breezes of night, and dread the odour
of freshness that a shower calls forth from the earth. This delightful
exhalation they affirm to be the producer of fever. But indeed we may
concede to them the entertaining of some whimsies on this subject, as
being the necessary contingencies on their fatal experiences of marsh
_malaria_.

Happy we Englishmen and Scotsmen, who know not what this _malaria_
means! The worst story on the subject that I remember was a personal
adventure of my friend Beard. The scene of this adventure is a little
out of the way of Adalia, but it may serve to illustrate the style of
thing prevailing generally in this direction any where within hail of a
marsh. Beard was engaged in that (to those who like it) delightful, but
occasionally perilous duty of surveying. This involves the being sent
away in the boats for weeks at a stretch, during which time you go
groping along the coast, or threading out-of-the-way channels between
islands. It is easy to conceive that with fine weather, and healthy
shores, this must be a welcome duty to a young officer, full of zeal,
and unaccustomed to command. But sometimes the course will lie along
deadly shores, past which you must creep, and snatch hydrographical
facts from the teeth of death. Beard, poor