July 20 Baghdad Dearest Father. I shall undoubtedly revert to the weather so I may as well begin with it. We've not had the temp. under 116° by day for a fortnight. At night it drops to 82° just for the dawn hour. My room at the office is 99° all day, by dint of keeping it hermetically shut. Yesterday I went in the evening to one of the big hospitals to see General Gunning, who is done with Mesopotamia and is going to be sent to India. I went into the first ward to ask my way to the officers' ward and found the matron, whom I knew. It happened to be the ward where they treated the acute heatstroke cases, men with a temperature of 109 and 110 - the latter don't often live. You don't consciously suffer with fever like that, but it's awful to see and hear. Today there hasn't been a flicker of air. Mr Philby and I motored a little after sunset; the dust hung in the streets like a dense fog and in the desert it lay in mysterious wreaths, marking, I suppose, the track of some motor or cart. People here say they haven't had such a burst of heat as we had last week since 1882, but now, I imagine, it's normal and we have 6 weeks more of it to wear through. Well -
My mail has missed this week to aggravate things. There came in the other day a tribesman who had been my guide on the last 4 days in to Najaf [Najaf, An] when I came up from Hail. They were the worst days of all the road and he served me well. He is a grave, silent man, well known in the desert. Twice to my knowledge he saved me from being stripped to the skin - on one occasion those accursed of their two parents, the Iraq tribes, had surrounded my caravan and couched the camels before they saw him. On his rebuke they left us. I had sent word to him that I was here and bidden him to come. Besides the usual present from Sir Percy which they all get when they come for the first time I gave him Rs 100 and clothed him. He stood solemnly while I flung round him a thick cloak heavily woven with gold - such wear in this heat! - and draped an orange coloured silk kerchief over his head. I owed him a costume in return for that which remained on my back, thanks to him. Another nice thing happened this week. One of my Damascenes who came down with me to Najd [(Nejd)] has turned up here. He heard I was in Basrah [Basrah, Al (Basra)] "and I came to your service" he said. Sir Percy is delighted to have him, we shall put him to use. - The hot silence has been broken by 20 big gun shots which announce the end of Ramadhan. Even I hear them with thankfulness. It has beeen oppressive to think of people thirsting through these long days.

A mutilated Reuter says (apparently) that Edwin has gone to the India Office. It's splendid - I'm going to telegraph to him. He will be my chief, you realize - won't that be fine. I'm writing to him. We are having a very up hill job here, of which I can't tell you details but the India Office knows. I wish you would some day go and see Sir A. Hirtzel, the Permanent Under Sec. He's a friend of mine and an ally. I'm too dripping to write more. But all the same I'm well and your ever affectionate daughter Gertrude