1895.] on The Nile. 407 



considerable size, the surface of whose waters stands about 130 feet 

 below that of the sea. This lake is known as the Birket el Kuriin. 



From the time of the earliest Egyptian records, this province of 

 the Fayum was famed for its fertility, and to the Egyptian taste for 

 its delightful climate. Many of the most precious monuments of 

 antiquity have been found in the Fayiim. The famous Labyrinth is 

 supposed to have stood just at its entrance ; and, what has excited 

 most interest for the engiueer in all times, it is here that Herodotus 

 places that wonderful lake Moeris, which, receiving for half the year 

 the surplus supply of the Nile, rendered it back again in irrigation to 

 Lower Egypt during the other half. Where this lake actually was, 

 has excited discussion since any attention has been paid to ancient 

 Egyptian history. It seems pretty clear that in earlier days the 

 Birket el Kurun was of much greater proportions than it is now, but 

 how it ever could have been large enough to allow of its waters 

 flowing back into the Nile valley when the river was low, without at 

 the same time drowning the whole Fayum, is not very clear. 



Now, what are the functions of a great river, what are the offices 

 which it renders to man ? And first of all, at least in this latitude, 

 we would mention the carrying off to the ocean of the surplus water 

 that descends from the skies. Nobly does the Nile fulfil this duty ; 

 but with this enormous qualification, that it transports the water from 

 tracts where there is too much, and carries it all free of cost, not to 

 waste it in the sea, but to bestow it on tracts where it is of priceless 

 value, more than taking the place of rain in watering the fields. 



The next function of a river is to form a highway through the 

 land, and for most of its course the Nile fulfils this duty well, too. 

 Gordon considered it possible for steamers to ascend the Nile, during 

 the floods, from its mouth to the Fola rapids, a distance of about 

 3040 miles ; but at other seasons, the six cataracts cannot be passed. 

 Leaving out the 1100 miles which they occupy, there is an unbroken 

 750 miles in the lower, and nearly 1200 miles in the upper river. I 

 cannot look on it as probable that it will ever pay to make navigable 

 canals and locks round these cataracts, as it would entail so much 

 hard rock-cutting. 



Another function of a river is to promote industry by the employ- 

 ment of its water power. We know how valuable is this power even 

 in England, and how much more in countries like Switzerland, where 

 it abounds, and on the great rivers of America. Excepting a few very 

 rude wooden wheels in the Fayum, I do not know, through all the 

 annals of the past, of a single water-wheel ever turned by the power 

 of the Nile. But that power exists to an almost unlimited extent. 

 And may we not prophesy that some day in the future, when that 

 long stretch of Nubian cataracts has fallen into civilised hands, and 

 when we know how to transmit electric energy with economy, that 

 then our descendants will draw wealth to Egypt from its chain of 

 barren cataracts ? 



As a drainage outlet to a continent, as a long highway, as a source 



2 f 2 



