Fit as Fiddles and as Hard as Nails

ing. At present we are as an island in the midst of a broad flood, and only with the greatest effort have we maintained that island.
The days are hot. Temperature rises to 107° so goodbye to the nineties. I remain in the open air, if possible till midday; sleep and read after lunch in a camp chair. Work is slight and that only in the cool of the morning and evening. To lie down in a small tent during the heat of the day is quite unbearable; I awake in a pool of perspiration, feeling oppressed and irritable. The evening are glorious, the nights cool with the thermometer sinking to 75°F.
The pleasantest event in the day is the evening bathe in the Euphrates; it is the only moment, except in the