Book I. AGRICULTURE IN AFRICA. 171 



rishing fruit- The country also produces many other plants and fruits, that are adapted 

 both for domestic and medicinal uses. Here is plenty of cotton, which grows on 

 shrubs, like the Indian. Their forests abound with trees of various descriptions, parti- 

 cularly the rock, baobab, cedar, sycamore, &c. 



1043. The live stock of Abyssinia includes horses, some of which are of a very fine 

 breed; mules, asses, camels, dromedaries, oxen of different kinds, [Jig. 167.) cows, 

 sheep, and goats ; and these constitute the 

 principal wealth of the inhabitants. Amongst 

 the wild animals, we may reckon the ante- 

 lope, the buffalo, the wild boar, the jack- 

 al, the elephant, the rhinoceros, the lion, , 

 the leopard, the hyaena, the lynx, ape, and ' 

 baboon, which are very destructive to the 

 fields of millet, as well as the common rat ; 

 the zecora, or wild mule, and the wild ass ; 

 the jerboa, the fennic, ashkoko, hare, &c. 

 The liare, as well as the wild boar, is deemed 

 unclean, and not used as food. Bruce saw 

 no sparrows, magpies, nor bats ; nor many 

 water-fowl, nor any geese, except the golden 

 goose, or goose of the Nile, which is com- 

 mon in every part of Africa ; but there are snipes in the marshes. The locusts of this- 

 country are very destructive; they have also a species of ants, tliat are injurious; but 

 from their bees they derive a rich supply. 



1 044. The agriculture of Abyssinia is of far less use to the inhabitants than it might be 

 for want of application and exertion. There are two, and often three harvests in the 

 year ; and where they have a supply of water, they may sow in all seasons ; many of 

 their trees and plants retain their verdure, and yield fruit or flowers throughout the year; 

 the west side of a tree blossoms first, and bears fruit, then the south side, next the north 

 side, and last of all the east side goes through the same process towards the beginning of 

 the rainy seasons. Their pastures are covered with flocks and herds. They have grass in 

 abundance, but they neglect to make hay of it ; and therefore they are obliged to supply 

 this defect by feeding their cattle with barley, or some other grain. Notwithstanding 

 the plenty, and frequent return of their crops, they are sometimes reduced almost to> 

 famine, either by the devastations of the locusts or grasshoppers which intest the country, 

 or by the more destructive ravages of tJieir own armies, and those of their enemies. 



SuBSECT. 2. Present State of Agriculture in Egypt. 



1045. The climate of Egypt has a peculiar character from the circumstance of rain being 

 very uncommon. The heat is also extreme, particularly from March to November; 

 while the cool season, or a kind of spring, extends through the other months. 



1046. The surface of the country is varied in some regions, but is otherwise flat anti 

 uniform. Far the greater part presents a narrow fertile vale, pervaded by the Nile, and 

 bounded on either side by barren rocks and mountains. Tlie soil of Egypt has been 

 variously described by difierent travellers, some representing it as barren sand, only 

 rendered fertile by watering, and others as "a pure black mould, free from stones, of a 

 very tenacious and unctuous nature, and so rich as to require no manure." The latter 

 appears to prevail only in the Delta. 



1047. The fertility of Egypt has been generally ascribed to the inundations of the Nile, 

 but this is applicable in a strict sense only to parts of the Delta ; whereas, in other dis- 

 tricts there are canals, and the adjacent lands are generally watered by machines. Gray's 

 description of Egypt, as immersed under the influx of the Nile, though exquisitely 

 poetical, is far from being just. In Upper Egypt the river is confined by high banks, 

 which prevent any inundation into the adjacent country. This is also the case in Lower 

 Egypt, except at the extremities of the Delta, where the Nile is never more than a few 

 feet below the surface of the ground, and where of course inundation takes place. But 

 the country, as we may imagine, is without habitations. The fertility of Egypt, ac- 

 cording to Browne, an intelligent traveller, arises from human art. The lands near the 

 river are watered by machines ; and if they extend to any width, canals have been cut. 

 The soil in general is so rich as to require no manure. It is a pure black mould, free 

 from stones, and of a very tenacious unctuous nature. When left uncultivated, fissures 

 have been observed, arising from extreme heat, of such depth that a spear of six feet 

 could not reach the bottom. 



1048. The limits of cultivated Egypt are encroached upon annually, and barren sand is 

 accumulating from all parts. In 1517, the era of the Turkish conquest, lake Mareotis 

 was at no distance from the walls of Alexandria, and the canal which conveyed the waters 

 into the city was still navigable. At this day the lake has disappeared, and the lands 



