106 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XI. 



when that conqueror employed his Asiatic captives 

 in making the canals of Egypt.* 



I have already stated t, that the land about 

 Elephantine has been raised about 9 feet in I7OO 

 years ; at Thebes, about 7 ; and in a less degree 

 towards the Delta and the mouths of the Nile ; 

 and I shall now endeavour to explain in what 

 manner the elevations of the land and river have 

 taken place, to compare the measures of the 

 inundation in the ancient and modern Nilometers, 

 and show what effect the alteration in the levels 

 has had on the arable land of Egypt. And as 

 this has been the subject of a memoir I presented 

 to the Geographical Society, I shall extract from 

 it the following remarks : — 



In that part of Egypt lying to the S. of the 

 Delta, the banks of tlie Nile are much more ele- 

 vated than the land of the interior at a distance 

 from the river, and are seldom quite covered 

 with water even during the highest inundations. 

 Little, however, projects above the level of the 

 stream, and, in some places, the peasant is obliged 

 to keep out the water by temporary embankments. 

 This may be accounted for partly by the continued 

 cultivation of the banks, which, being more con- 

 veniently situated for artificial irrigation, have a 

 constant succession of crops ; for it is known that 

 tillage has the effect of raising land, from the ac- 

 cumulation of decayed vegetable substances, the 

 addition of dressing, and other causes ; and the 

 greater depression of the plain in the interior is 



* Herodot. ii. 137. and 108. f Vol. I. p. 9. 



