Ohfervations in Egypt 441 



ftagnatcs, or continues at leaft without any confiderablc 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 Hj/pothefis is built upon them. I therefore 

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

 to the Computation of Time by the Vulgar jEra ', the Accejfwn 

 of Soil, fince the Deluge, mufl ha've heen in a Troportion ofjome- 

 nvhnt more than a Foot in a hundred Tears. 



This appears highly probable by comparing only the State and f^/J^^V* 

 Condition of Egypt at prefent with what it was two or three thou- '" " ^"'"^r*^ 

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

 oiMyris, if the Nile rofe to the Height of eight (Grecian) Cubits, 

 all the Lands oi Egypt were fufficiently watered ; but that in His 

 Time (which was not quite 900 Years after Myris) 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 io(»S//3'w^o/i«6') Cubits, (and it ufually rifes to z<{,) 

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

 fore of Herodotus, Egypt has gained 130 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 AccefTion of Soil, from 

 the Deluge to A. D. 1711, muft be yoo Inches: i.e. The Land of 

 Eg/pt, agreably to the JEra and Conjefture above,has gained for- 

 ty one Foot eight Inches of Soil, 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, will, for Want of the annu- 

 al Inundation,become one of the moftbarrenParts of theUniverfe. 



Thefe are the chief Remarks and Obfervations I have to offer ^'^''^*f'"ff - 



twn of this 



With Regard to the Nile and the Effefts of it upon Egypt \ a Sub- •^"^/'■^ '/ re- 



, *• ^/ J. ' commended to 



je6l that will admit of various Improvements and Illuftf ations. '^^/"""-^ ^»- 



quJrtes of curt" 



I Fii. bylollovvingthc//firfwText. 2 EMyoc JV 1^ tbc/V |uo< ju»!j« Tixjuile/oy «fel i yi^rn itSmt oJ /p«<f 

 it ^ MoieiOy fiatih.HQr, Mat «a5o/ OTT»/*«f ewi Sxt* rrii^fiti 75 i^cfj^/sDC, a(A(TKi hiyu'^ov Trii m^^ 

 Mc|w?<Cr" 19 Moi'e/ ouxm Id Ittk ivvanifix TiTif^^ViKltV, 071 7ar ifiov raxna iyi mmov. vZf <A' ti /jm t'jr' ixi(p<At<# 

 » TiVTUcsuAwTTiij^w; ifaCH ire\e{p^/sei' ToTW/uflfj kh vJarjfCaivM if 7h ^eSfxy, Hcrod. Eut. 5- ^J* 3 Vix.. 

 by reckoning, according to Mr. Bf<//cr(i*s Tables, from the Deluge to A. D. 1721, the Year 

 when I was in %/.^^ Ttttt The 



