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The statement that no winds ‘blow from’ the Nile has been much attacked (e.g. by Sayce), because it has been understood to mean that no breeze is felt on the river; but H. himself tells us of the Etesian winds (20. 2) and of the ‘fresh wind’ (96. 3) up the Nile. He means (cf. c. 27) that there are no breezes down the Nile, i. e. from the south, whence the Nile flows; this is practically right. In five months (from June to October) scientific observation shows that the wind blows from this direction only about one day in twelve (Sourdille, H. E. 111), and from the south (speaking strictly) less than one day in thirty.

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