The heat becomes insufferable in this stagnant air;

TCD MS 10516 folio 84 verso

TCD MS 10516 folio 84 verso

[12th October 1916] white clouds of moisture scatter over the heavens, the atmosphere grows more humid, the thermometer rises by day to over 120°F. and life seems almost intolerable in the unceasing sweat and gasping heat. This Southerly wind struggles to maintain itself against a growing pressure from the north; at times it flows almost imperceptibly, then rushes onward with renewed force to fade again in an absolute calm which puts all human endurance on its trial. The heat becomes insufferable in this stagnant air; not even the nights give relief; the oppression of the body is only equalled by the depression of the mind*. Every eye scans the heavens for signs of a change when the southerly inflow shall be rolled back. But the increasing and opposing northerly pressure soon prevails. The

*No wonder the Chaldeans of old hung the figures of monstrous demons in their windows to repel the South Westerly wind