While this cause continues to operate in checking the velocity of the inundation in the northern division of the country, the entrance of the river at Philoe is gradually facilitated by the removal of those obstructions which, in ancient times, secured to Nubia the advantages of an annual irrigation such as Egypt now enjoys, and which still partially oppose the motion of the descending flood. The traveller discovers on both sides of the Nubian valley many traces of an extended cultivation which no longer exists. The ridge of rocks which formerly crossed the line of the river, and gave rise to the magnificent falls, the sound of which was heard at the distance of so many leagues and stunned the neighbouring inhabitants, has been insensibly corroded and worn down by the action of the rushing water, and presents in these days only a few tokens of its original extent. A similar effect, which time will produce on the cliffs of Niagara, will be attended with a similar result on the chain of lakes which terminate in Erie, the contents of which will at length find their way to the ocean along the bed of the St. Lawrence. In the remote ages of the future, the immense valleys now occupied by Superior, Michigan, and those other inland seas which form so striking a feature in North America, will be covered with flocks, herds, and an agricultural population, and only watered by a fine river passing through their centre. In this way the interior of every continent is imperceptibly drained, and new tracts of alluvial land are added to its extremities.

That Egypt was raised and augmented in the manner described above is rendered manifest by a variety of considerations. It is particularly deserving of notice, as suggested by Dr. Shaw and confirmed by the French, that whereas the soil of other level countries is usually of the same depth, we find it in Egypt to vary in proportion to its distance from the river,-being in some places near the banks more than thirty feet, while at the extremity of the inundation it does not exceed six inches. Another circum

stance which fortifies the same conclusion is the practice long since become necessary of raising mounds to protect their cities from the violence of the waters. It is not to be imagined that the natives, accustomed to the annual swelling of their river, would build their towns within the limits even of its greatest elevation. On the contrary, it is

believed that they were wont to place their cities on artificial eminences, to guard against the inconvenience of the summer flood, and particularly to exempt from its ravages their temples and public monuments. But it is every where admitted that some of the finest of their ancient towns are at present under the level of the inundation; while the most laborious efforts have in other parts become indispensable to prevent, by embanking, the destruction of their sacred buildings. Memphis, it is presumed, has been covered by the increasing soil, after having been abandoned by its inhabitants, who had found the use of mounds unavailing. Bubastis, when about to fall a prey to the same destroyer, was rebuilt on higher ground; but the beautiful temple, as it could not be removed, was left in its original position, and was accordingly looked down upon from every part of the new city. Heliopolis, in like manner, as we are informed by Strabo, was erected upon an eminence; but at present the land is elevated around it to such a degree that it appears situated in a plain, which, moreover, is inundated every year to the depth of six or eight feet.*

This source of fertility to Egypt depends exclusively, as every reader knows, upon the periodical rains which drench the table-land of Abyssinia and the mountainous country which stretches from it towards the south and west. The ancients, some of whom indeed entertained very absurd notions respecting the cause of this phenomenon, were generally in the right as to its physical origin,-expressing their belief that the annual overflow of the Nile was closely connected with the climate of Ethiopia, that receptacle of clouds and vapour. Plutarch states most distinctly that the increase of the Egyptian river is owing to the rains which fall in Abyssinia. Even the Arabs had arrived at the same conclusion long before any European found his way into the country. More than seven hundred years ago, a failure in the inundation was announced to the farmers of Egypt by a clerical envoy from the chief city of Ethiopia; who, after having stated that the season in the hill country had been unusually dry, advised them to expect and prepare for the unwonted lowness of the Nile, which actually occurred.

*Shaw, vol. ii. p. 229.

↑ History of Egypt by Abdollatiph, quoted by Shaw, vol. ii. p. 215.

bdollatiph,

It is impossible to find any where among terrestrial objects a more striking instance of the stability of the laws of nature than the periodical rise and fall of this mighty river. We know, by the testimony of antiquity, that the inundations of the Nile have been the same with respect to their height and duration for thousands of years; which, as Humboldt remarks, is a proof well worthy of attention, that the mean state of humidity and temperature does not vary in that vast basin.* The rise of the water is so regular that the inhabitants of Lower Egypt look for its arrival with the same degree of confidence as if the blessings which it brings along with it depended upon causes within their own control. The value attached to this gift of nature is esteemed so great as to be made the subject of political regulation, and the main source of public revenue. When it rises to sixteen cubits, the prosperity of the country and the wealth of the exchequer are secure. But, unfortunately, influenced by avaricious motives, the power of a despotic government is employed to mislead their own people in the first instance, and, through that channel, the more scientific nations of Europe, in regard to the actual rise of the inundation. It has been suspected that the notices issued by the guardians of the Mekyas, or Nilometer, have a reference to the taxes which the ruler of Egypt intends to levy, rather than to the real increase of the fertilizing fluid from which they are to be derived. It was first suspected by Niebuhr, and afterward fully ascertained by the French, that the number of cubits announced in the daily proclamation of the height of the river is not to be relied upon. The real state of the inundation is concealed for political purposes; and as a proof of this, it is mentioned by M. Girard, that, in 1801, when the public crier gave notice that the water had attained twenty-three cubits two inches, it stood in reality at only eighteen cubits. Hence the difficulty of obtaining an accurate statement on this head, and the impossibility of comparing with suitable exactness the fluctuations of the river in ancient and modern times.

Considering how much the Egyptians owe to the Nile, it is not surprising that in rude ages they should have been induced to make it an object of worship. Not only does it

Pers. Nar. vol. iv.

supersede the labour of the plough and the necessity of collecting manure, but it also supplies an abundance of that element which is the most necessary to human existence and comfort, and which to a native of Egypt is, at the same time, a medicine and a luxury. The Egyptian, in short, like the Hindoo, finds his chief solace in his beloved river. Its water is preferred to the most costly beverage; he even creates an artificial thirst, that he may enjoy the delight of quenching it; and, when languishing under disease, he looks forward to the approaching inundation as the season of renovated health and vigour. Nor is this predilection to be ascribed to bigotry or ignorance. On the contrary, we find that Europeans are equally loud in their eulogies on the agreeable and salubrious qualities of the Nile. Giovanni Finati, for example, who was no stranger to the limpid streams of other lands, sighed for the opportunity of returning to Cairo, that he might once more drink its delicious water, and breathe its mild atmosphere. Maillet, too, a writer of good credit, remarks, that it is among waters what champaign is among wines. The Mussulmans themselves acknowledge that if their prophet Mohammed had tasted it, he would have supplicated Heaven for a terrestrial immortality, that he might enjoy it for ever.

The Copts, with the feeling natural to Christians of the Greek communion, have fixed upon the 24th of June, the festival of St. John, as the day which affords the first decisive token of the annual flood. Travellers, however, inform us that in ordinary years, it is not till the first week in July the rise can be distinctly marked. It is true, that at a much earlier part of the season there is a temporary swell in the current, occasioned by partial rains which fall within the tropics soon after the vernal equinox; but the real inundation does not commence till the period already mentioned, and even then very imperceptibly. By the middle of August it has reached half its elevation, but it is not at the highest till towards the last days of September. It then continues stationary about two weeks, when it begins gradually to subside. By the 10th of November it has fallen one-half, from which period it diminishes very slowly till the 15th or 16th of the following May, when it is understood to have reached its lowest ebb. During the increase the water first acquires a green colour, sometimes pretty deep; and after

thirty or forty days this is succeeded by a brownish red. These changes are probably owing to the augmentations it receives from different temporary lakes in succession, or from the rains which fall at various distances on the tablelands in the interior of Africa.

The mud of the Nile upon analysis gives nearly one-half of argillaceous earth, with about one-fourth of carbonate of lime; the remainder consisting of water, oxide of iron, and carbonate of magnesia. On the very banks the slime is mixed with much sand, which it loses in proportion as it is carried farther from the river, so that at a certain distance it consists almost entirely of pure argil. This mud is employed in several arts among the Egyptians. It is formed into excellent bricks, as well as into a variety of vessels for domestic use. It enters also into the manufacture of tobaccopipes. Glass-makers employ it in the construction of their furnaces, and the country people cover their houses with it. As it contains principles favourable to vegetation, the cultivators consider it as a sufficient manure for such places as have not been saturated by the overflowing of the river.

Although the Nile is almost without exception the minister of good to Egypt, there are yet cases in which the excess of its waters has occasioned no small loss both of life and property. In September, 1818, Belzoni witnessed a deplorable scene, owing to the river having risen three feet and a half above the highest mark left by the former inundation. Ascending with uncommon rapidity it carried off several villages, and some hundreds of their inhabitants. Expecting an unusual rise, in consequence of the scarcity of water the preceding season, the Arabs had had recourse to their wonted expedient of erecting fences of earth and reeds round the villages, to keep the water from their houses. But on this occasion the pressure of the flood baffled all their efforts. Their cottages, built of earth, could not stand one moment against the current, but were, as soon as the water touched them, levelled with the ground. The rapid stream carried off all that was before it; the inhabitants of all ages, with their corn and cattle, were washed away in an instant. In Upper Egypt, where the villages are not raised above the level even of the ordinary inundations, the natives depend for their safety upon artificial barriers. At Agalta, whither he went to procure the