Ohfervations in Egypt. 441 



ftagnates, or continues at leaft without any confiderable Motion^ 

 being ufually admitted by Sluices, and kept in on every Side by 

 Banks, it is probable, that a proportionable Quantity of Soil, 

 (the Depth of the Water being always regarded) may have been 

 left upon the Surface. But I am fenfible, that Tryals and Ex- 

 periments of this Kind ought to be carefully examined and re- 

 peated, before any Hjpoihefts is built upon them. I therefore 

 dare propofe it only as a conjedure at prefent, that, according 

 to the Computation of Time by the Vulgar ^ra ', the Accejfwn 

 of Soil, fince the Deluge, πιηβ have heen in a Troportion offome- 

 i4/hat more than η Foot in a hundred Tears. 



This appears highly probable by comparing only the State and ^^^^,7*''^-/,• 

 Condition oiEg)>pt at prefent with what it was two or three thou- '^j^^ '"""^^"^ 

 fand Years ago. For Herodotus ' acquaints us, that in the Reign 

 ofMyris, if the Nile rofe to the Height of eight {Grecian) Cubits, 

 all the Lands oiEg/pt were fufficiently watered ; but that in His 

 Time (which was not quite 900 Years a.{ter M/r is) the Country 

 was not covered with lefsthan fifteen or fixteen Cubits of Water. 

 The Addition of Soil therefore, by fuppofing them to have been 

 fifteen only, will be feven {Grecian) Cubits or ii6 Inches in the 

 Space of 900 Years. But, at prefent, the River muft rife to 

 the Height of %o{Stamlpoline) Cuh'its, (andit ufually rifes to χφ) 

 before the whole Country is overflowed. Since the Time there- 

 fore oiHerodotii^s, Egypth^s gained xgo Inches Depth of new Soil. 

 And, if we look back from the Reign of Myris to the Time of the 

 Deluge, and reckon that Interval by the fame Proportion, we 

 fhall find, that the whole perpendicular AcceiTion of Soil, from 

 the Deluge to A. D. 17x1, muft be joo Inches: i.e. The Land of 

 Egypt, agreably to the jEra and Conje6lure above,has gained for- 

 ty one Foot eight Inches ofSoil, in 4071 Years'. Thus, in Procefs 

 of Time, this whole Country may be raifed to fuch a Height, that 

 the River will not be able to overflow it's Banks ; and Eg)>pt con- 

 fequently , from being the moft fertile , w ill, for Want of the annu- 

 al Inundation,become one of the moftbarrenPartsoftheUniverfe. 



Thefe are the chief Remarks and Ohfervations I have to offer JJ^^^^»^*^- 

 with Regard to the Nile and the Effeots of it upon Egypt ; a Sub-^^jjF^J^^' -ς 

 ie6t that will admit of various Improvements and Illuftrations. the future i». 



J *■ qutries ot curt- 



V < . / 1 ί / < . c ' ">*! Perfons. 



I Viz.. by follow in^theHfirfw Text. 2 Έhίyoy Ji i^n/i μοι μί^α,τιψΜ&ιογ «Sy -# χω^χί Ttuj-nif 01 jfue, 



it ίϋ Meiei®• (ΕΛί/λ»®-, om( ϊλθο/ ό mT^^cit «ot oktoi rr'n^iOJi το Ίλίγ^ςο*^ ΛρΛίΚί fiiyfy^oy τ»» ϊνίρθι 



ΙΛίμφιΟ)'' >9 Μ^'ε' '''""* "' '''^* wyaxsii* τϊΤΐλουτΒκότ;, βτϊ τωι» Ίμαγ τκΖτα ίγΐ KKvoy. tZv Λ' n pt ecr ixiciu/to 



Λ τίΐ'τκρύΛ'ί* •3•«χί«ί «'«S? 're^'^X'isx 5 TOTajuof > «κ ihr^SalyH l( 7»υ ^cSfxy. Herod. Eut. ?. 13• 3 Viz. 



by reckoning, according to Mc. Bedford's Tables, from the Deluge to A. D. 1721, the Year 



when I was in Egj/pt. Τ t 1 1 1 The 



