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LAWS AND REGULATIONS. 



CONDITIONS TO BE CONSIDERED. 



Eg}'pt was the granaiy of the world tour thousand 3^ears ago, and it 

 is natural to look to such a country for model irrigation laws. Unfortu- 

 nately irrigation in P^gypt has developed under conditions ditt'erent 

 from those of any other country. The character of the Nile flood is 

 such that until perennial irrigation was introduced there was no need 

 of hiws and regulations. Beyond some recent reforms therefore, the 

 irrigation code of Egypt is as inapplical^le to American conditions as 

 are the saki\'eh and the wooden plow. While the present irrigation 

 law of Egypt provides that certain canals, drains, and other improve- 

 ments are the property of the government, the rights of neither the 

 state nor the irrigator in the water of the Nile are deiined. There are 

 no special regulations regarding the use or the distribution of water, 

 and no legal limit is placed on the volume applied to the fields. 

 Measuring flumes and weirs are unknown. A reform is slowly 1)eing 

 brought about through the gradual regulation of the capacit}' of the 

 liftino- devices, but it will be vears before these furnish water in ratio 

 to the area of the land irrigated. When one of these raising devices 

 has to be replaced by a new one, or an altogether new plant is installed, 

 the government prescribes the size of the pump, and in this way limits 

 to some extent the volume of water furnished to the lands. Many 

 large pumping plants have been installed, which will for years con- 

 tinue in use practically as they are to-dav- Nearly all of these furnish 

 water in excess of the quantity actually needed. The native farmer 

 general!}' raises water by some of the ancient devices, and hence it is 

 that he suffers by the introduction of the large pumping plants which 

 rapidly deplete the water supply. 



AUTHORITY OF OFFICIALS. 



To enable the positions of the Egyptian irrigation officers to be 

 understood it will ])e necessary to describe l)riefly the character of the 

 government at the present time, treating only incidentally the com- 

 plex foreign relations which have been entered into during the past 

 thirty years. Egypt is divided into fourteen provinces; six of these are 

 in the delta and eight in Upper Egypt. The Fayum is one of the latter, 

 and includes two oases in the desert. Two oases are also included in 

 the province of Assuit. Egypt, as a whole, may be compared to one 

 of our smaller States, and the provinces with our counties. The 

 accompanying map shows the location of each of these provinces and 

 also the irrigation circles or districts. (PI. I.) 



The chief officer of each province is the governor. Under him is 

 the council, which is made up of the vice-governor, the tax gatherer, 

 a clerk, an accountant, a superintendent of police, a supervisor of 



