Matarieh to Arabia and grown near Mecca, whence the balsam is now brought to Egypt and Europe, under the name of Balsam of Mecca; and the gardens of Heliopolis no longer produce this valuable plant. A still more profitable article of commerce, namely cotton, one of the most lucrative in Egypt, sprang from some experiments in the culture of this plant at Matarieh in 1820.

A visit to an ostrich farm in the village is usually included in the day's excursion, but unless the visitor has plenty of time at his disposal, he should resist the importunities of the guide and forgo this excursion. An ostrich farm, whether in Algeria, the Cape, New Zealand, or Egypt, does not offer much variety.

The attendant expects a fee of 4 piastres. The excursion to Heliopolis and Matarieh can be easily managed in an afternoon as there is a railway station at Matarieh (fare from Cairo, 1st ret., 4 piastres), where donkeys can be hired for the Virgin's Tree and Heliopolis for a few piastres. The tariff for a cab from Cairo allowing two hours' wait is 40 piastres, but if Matarieh is to be included the driver will expect a few piastres extra.

IV.-HELOUAN-LES-BAINS

HELOUAN-LES-BAINS, which is about sixteen miles from Cairo, on the east side of the Nile, is situated on a desert plateau at the foot of the Tûra hills, and is about two miles from the Nile, to which a carriage road bordered with trees has lately been constructed. Helouan is quite modern, and is, in fact, a kind of artificial oasis in the desert. It was the favourite residence of the late Khedive Thewfik, and it was here that this amiable and enlightened sovereign died.

Though it makes an interesting minor desert excursion, its chief claim to notice is as a health resort.

Now that the concession from the Egyptian Government has been granted to an English company -the contract dating from 1896-a new era of prosperity for this rising winter station is practically assured. Under the previous concession to a German Syndicate, the management of the Bathing Establish

ment in connection with the Sulphur Springs was not carried out in conformity with European ideas, and the Baths of Helouan "hung fire." The new concession (45 years) to the Helouan and Cairo Railway Company is favourably commented upon by Lord Cromer in his last report (1897):-"The whole system, is, I understand to be remodelled and improved. The chief hotel, which has been re-constructed, as well as the baths themselves, have been placed under the charge of a resident English doctor (Dr. Overton Hobson).1 As the waters are said to be specially suited to the alleviation of certain complaints, it is not improbable that the town of Helouan will before long develop into a largely frequented winter resort.”

Route. The railway station for Helouan is at Bab-el-Luk. The railway is not one of the Government lines, but the property of the Helouan Baths Company, and consequently the Zone system of fares adopted for places near Cairo is not in use. Trains hourly; journey takes about half-an-hour. Fare, 1st class, 5 p.; return, 8 p. An omnibus from the chief hotels meets the trains.

Hotels.-There are three good hotels: Grand Hotel Helouan, the Tewfik Place, and Grand Hotel

1 Dr. Page May, who has done so much for the development of Helouan, has recently retired.

des Bains. The former, facing the Casino Gardens, is a large, first-class house. It is fitted with electric light, and has large billiard (English and French), reading, and smoking rooms, also lawn-tennis courts. There is a post and telegraph office in the grounds. The hotel was built in 1891 according to the best European methods, and has been patronised by British and other royalties. It has recently been enlarged, two wings having been added. Tariff from twelve shillings a day. The Tewfik Palace Hotel, opened in 1899, is a large (100 rooms) firstclass house, pleasantly situated outside the town, adjoining the golf-links and race-course. Large garden. Bath-room attached to most bedrooms. "The sanitary arrangements seem to be simple and satisfactory" (The Lancet). Medical director, Dr. Bentley. Terms from twelve shillings a day. The Grand Hotel des Bains is close to the Bathing Establishment, and is intended mainly for invalids and others who come on account of the sulphur and iron baths. The terms are a little more moderate than at the two above-mentioned hotels, the daily pension being only ten shillings. The sanitation has been carefully looked after by sanitary engineers, and approved by the Egyptian Public Health Department.

There are several good Pensions :-English

Winter Hotel (formerly Dahshur House), Pensions Antonio, Loir, and others.

Villas and Apartments.-Unlike Cairo, where villas are notoriously scarce and dear, there are a large number of villas, both furnished and unfurnished, which can be rented at a moderate rent. In fact Helouan, with its excellent train services, resident English doctors and chaplain (Rev. A. J. Jameson), is gradually becoming a kind of residential suburb of Cairo. Nearly all the villas are built in the Oriental style with flat roofs, which are, of course, better adapted for the desert climate than European buildings.

The Baths. The directorate have some ground for their proud boast that they control the oldest health resort in the world, for many historians are of opinion that the springs are those said to be "at the quarries on the east side of the Nile," where, according to the Ptolemian historian, Manetho, King Amenophis (Amen-Hetep I., circa 1600 B.C.) sent the "leprous and other cureless persons, in order to separate them from the rest of the Egyptians."

To the invalid, however, it is of more importance to know that the new Etablissement des Bains has been reconstructed, and a new one (Royal Baths) built, which is equal to any in Europe.

"There are about a dozen thermal springs, which