THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 711 



believe, hath been, the occafion of both, and very often the 

 malice of the Arabs ; for there are in Egypt, from Siout down- 

 wards, great remains of ancient works, vaft lakes, canals, and 

 large conduits for water, deftined by the ancients to keep this 

 river under controul, ferving as refervoirs to fupply a fcanty 

 year, and as drains, or outlets, to prevent the over abundance 

 of water in wet years, by fpreading it in the thirfly fands of 

 Libya to the great advantage of the Arabs, rather than letting 

 it run towafte in the Mediterranean. The mouths of thefe im- 

 menfe drains being out of repair, in a fcanty year, contribute 

 by their evacuation to make it ftill fcantier by not retaining 

 water, and if after a dearth they are well fecured, or raifed 

 too high, and a wet feafon follows, they then occafion a 

 deftructive inundation. 



I hope I have now fatisfied the reader, that Egypt was 

 never an arm of the fea, or formed by fediments brought 

 down in the Nile, but that it was created with other parts 

 of the globe at the fame time, and for the fame purpofes ; 

 and we are warranted to fay this, till we receive from the 

 hand of Providence a work of fuch imperfection, that its 

 destruction can be calculated from the very means by which 

 it was firft formed, and which were the apparent fources of 

 its beauty and pre-eminence. Egypt, like other countries, 

 will perifh by x.hefut of Him that made it, but when, or in 

 what manner, lies hid where it ought to be, inacceflible toa 

 the ufelefs, vain inquiries, and idle fpeculations of man. 



Sj&s*= ===== =i^i^ 



CHAP. 



