hy th Mud of the Nile. 5"? 



uninterrupted, tbe eight Cuhits at leafl, which are here re- 

 corded to be the Standard, may be wellfuppofed to have been 

 fufficient at that Time, for the Exigencies of the Country. 

 And if eight Cubits at leafi were necelTary, a lefler Height 

 would not have occafioned a profitable Inundation •, and a much 

 greater would not have been required. So that the Land of 

 Egypt, in this low and early Condition of it, during the Reign 

 of Mjrps, might be fufficiently refreflied by an Inundation of 

 eight Cubits, as one of fixteen, (twelve Foot at leaft above the 

 fuppofed Level of the Ground,) muft have been highly detri- 

 mental and deftrudive. li Egypt then, according to this Gen- 

 tleman's Opinion, had always continued the fame, ( as the 

 Quantity of Water, brought down by the Nile, has, one Year 

 with another, been very nearly the fame ;) neither had there 

 been, lince the Time oi Mjris, any fucceflive Acceffions of 

 Soil made to it's Banks, either in their Height or Breadth ; 

 thefe eight Cubits of Water would have ftill continued to be 

 the Standard of Plenty, and the Wafaa Allah ', to this Day. 



Befides, the cutting of Canals, which is here objected ^^'^^'^^^q;^^^^^ 

 ursed, would be attended with a confiderable Lofs of Water '™"it ^)^^- 



' nilh the Wa- 



in the main Stream. Inftead therefore of making it necelTary f^"". ^^ "^^ 

 for the Kile to rife, upon an Alteration of this Nature, from 

 eight to fixteen Cubits; the very Reverfe would certainly have 

 happened. For the Depth of the main Stream being reduced, by 

 thefe Lofles and Diminutions, to feven, we will fuppofe, or a 

 lefTer Number of Cubits, ( 'Miz. in Proportion to the Capacity of 

 thefe Canals, and theUfes for which they were intended;) the 

 River would adlually have become lower than the Land may well 

 be fuppofed to have been, at that Time ; and, confequently, 

 would not have been able to overflow it. 



In the Diagram, (7><2i;. p. 438.) the annual Succeflions ofTheLandof 

 Strata, left by the Sediment of the Nile, are fuppofed to be. Level, 

 all of them, upon a Level; and confequently, the whole Land 

 o^Egj'pt, from the River, to the utmoft Extent of the Inunda- 

 tion, muft be fo likewife. For as all Fluids preferve a hori- 

 zontal Situation ^ , the Sediment which falls and is precipitated 

 from them, muft, ceteris ^paribus, do the like. Unlefs the 



1 Vid. Tr.iv. p. 437. 



2 Aqua dida quod fuperficies ejus squalls fit. Hinc & seqnor appellatum, quiasqua- 

 liter furfum elt. J[iA. 



O Inun- 



