102 



THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XI. 



taken to prevent any sudden influx of water, 

 which might endanger the produce still growing* 



there, the cattle, or the villages. And of such 

 importance was the preservation of the dykes, 



* Fide Strabo, xv. p. 487. ; and sii2}rd. Vol. I. p. 242. 



