410 Sir Colin Scott-Moncrieff [Jan. 25, 



brewers told me the other day, that when barley grown in this country 

 was spread in the malting-house, about 3 per cent, of it must be 

 counted on as not sprouting and being dead. If grain two or three 

 years old was used, as much as 20 per cent would be found dead. 

 With Egyptian barley, he said, even after several years, you could count 

 on every grain germinating. The crop once reaped, the fields remain 

 dry, and crack in the fierce summer heat until next flood comes on. 



The tourist who only comes to Egypt to shun " winter and foul 

 weather," knows nothing of the majestic glories of the Nile flood. 

 The ancient Nilometer at the south end of the island of Roda, just 

 above Cairo, is one of the most interesting sights of the place. The 

 water enters from the river by a culvert into a well about 18 feet 

 square, with a graduated stone pillar in the centre. On each side of 

 the well is a recess about 6 feet wide and 3 feet deep, surmounted by 

 a pointed arch, over which is carved in relief a Kufic inscription, and 

 a similar inscription is carried all round the well, consisting of verses 

 of the Koran. A staircase goes down the well, from the steps of 

 which the initiated may read the height of the water on the pillar ; 

 but they are few in number, and the hereditary Sheikh of the 

 Nilometer, whose duty it is to keep the record, is a person of some 

 importance. The Nilometer dates from a.d. 861, and I believe in 

 the archives of Cairo may be found the daily record for 1000 years. 



I need hardly tell you that when our English engineers took the 

 river in hand, we established a number of gauges at Wadi Haifa, 

 Assouan, Cairo, and many other points, on more scientific principles 

 than the venerable Nilometer of the Roda Island. 



After the river has begun to rise, its height is daily chanted through 

 the Cairo streets until it reaches 16 cubits on the gauge. At this 

 point the Khalig el Masri, the old canal that flows through the heart 

 of Cairo, is opened. Up to this point it is dry ; and, full or empty, it is 

 little more than a sanitary abomination at present ; but in former days 

 it occupied an important place, and when the Nile water was high 

 enough to flow down its bed, it was looked on that the flood had fairly 

 set in, and that the kindly fruits of the earth might be duly expected. 



The head of this canal is on the right bank of the river, just south 

 of Cairo. The water enters a channel some 30 feet wide, with a high 

 wall on its left, and a sloping bank on its right or southern flank. The 

 water then flows under the pointed arch of an old stone bridge. The 

 bed of the canal is cleared so that it would flow in at a gauge of about 

 14J cubits, but an earthen bank is thrown across it about 4 feet higher. 



There is no more interesting ceremony in Egypt than the annual 

 cutting of the Khalig, as the opening ceremony is called. It takes 

 place between August 5 and 15. Days before, preparations are being 

 made for the festival. Tents with innumerable lamps are placed 

 along the wall on the one side ; frames for all manner of fireworks 

 are erected on the sand-banks on the other side. All the notables are 

 there in full uniform, or in canonicals — the Khedive himself, or his 

 representative, the Sheikh ul Islam (the highest dignitary of the 



