NATURAL 
channel, between high banks, must 
necessarily rise to a much greater 
height. than nearer the sea, where 
it is divided into two streams, after 
running over so much barren ground, 
and forming so many lakes. The 
branch upon which Rosetta stands, 
is only 650 feet broad; and that by 
Damietta, not more than 100. 
As soon as the Nile begins to 
rise, all the canals intended to con- 
vey the waters through the coun- 
try, are shut and cleansed. They 
are kept shut, however, till the ri- 
ver rise to a certain height, which is 
indicated by the Nilometer in the 
isle of Rhodda. A Schech attends 
for this purpose, by the Mikkias, 
and gives notice, from time to 
time, of the rising of the river, to a 
number of poor persons who wait 
at Fosta for the information, and 
run instantly to publish it in the 
streets of Cairo. They return eve- 
ry day to Fostat, at a certain hour, 
to Jearn from the Schech how ma- 
ny inches the river has risen: and 
its rise is every day proclaimed in 
public, till it reaches the fixed height, 
at which the canals are permitted 
to be unlocked; the usual tax is 
then paid for the waters to the Sul- 
tan, and a good year expected. 
The canal at Cairo is first open- 
ed, and then, successively, al! the 
other great canals down to the sea. 
The inhabitants of no particular dis- 
trict dare draw off any part of the 
water of the Nile, although it have 
risen to the height that best suits the 
inlands ; for this would injure the 
higher grounds; and therefore eve- 
ry body must wait till the public 
order be given out. There are laws 
in Egypt which are strictly observ- 
ed, and which determine the distri- 
bution of the waters, and the time 
when the large and small canals are 
to be opened, 
HISTORY. 307 
Between the dyke of the canal 
of Cairo and the Nile, a pillar of 
earth is raised, nearly of the height 
to which the waters of the rivers 
are expected to rise. This pillar is 
called Anes, or the bride, and 
serves as a sort of Nilometer, for 
the use of the common people. 
When the waters enter the canal, 
this bride is carried away by the 
current. A like custom, which pre- 
vailed among the ancient Egyptians, 
has subjected them to the imputa- 
tion of sacrificing every year a vir- 
gin to the Nile. 
The canal is usually opened with 
great festivity, and a concourse of 
people:—but when we were in 
Cairo, it was opened without any 
parade, for it had been imperfectly 
cleansed, and the water did not en- 
ter it readily. As this ceremony 
has been described by so many au- 
thors, I shall not trouble the reader 
with any account of it. 
A piece of superstition now pre- 
vails in Egypt, of which history 
makes no mention before the con- 
quest of the country by the Arabs. 
Certain women, both Christian and 
Mahometan, pretend to foretell 
what height the Nile will rise to, 
. by means of certain rites which they 
practise. These depend upon the 
popular notion, that, on the night 
of the 17th or 18th of June, there 
falls, in Habbesch, a drop (in Ara- 
bic nokta) into the Nile, which 
causes its waters to ferment and 
swell. To discover the quantity of 
this drop, and the force with which 
it falls, and, of consequence, the 
height of the river and the fertility 
of the lands for the year, those wo- 
men put a bit of paste on the roof 
of the house on the night on which 
the drop is imagined to fall;: and 
they draw their prediction from 
the greater or smaller increase of 
weight 
