112 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XI. 



power to fix any exact point from which to calcu- 

 late the annual increase of the perpendicular stra- 

 tum of land, of this we may at least be certain, — that 

 all the deposit now existing between the colossi 

 H, I, and the edge of the desert behind the temple, 

 a total distance of 1900 feet, has been brought 

 there since the reign of the third Amunoph, or 

 within a period of 3260 years. 



What has now been said, fully, I trust, demon- 

 strates these propositions ; —that the perpendicular 

 rise of the bed of the Nile extends the inundation 

 and alluvial deposit much farther in a horizontal 

 direction E. and W. at the present day, than at any 

 previous period ; that this cause has always been in 

 operation ; and that therefore a wider extent of 

 irriirated land now exists, than in former times. I 

 do not, however, pretend that the same quantity of 

 land is cultivated as formerly : this must always de- 

 pend on the population, the energies of the people, 

 the system followed by the government, and other 

 accidental circumstances : but it is not the fault of 

 the river, nor from any deficiency in the benefits it 

 used to bestow on the soil of Egypt, that much 

 land is left fallow, and overgrown with noxious 

 weeds ; and the modern inhabitants might profit 

 by the same means of cultivating the edge of the 

 desert by artificial irrigation, as their predecessors, 

 if Egypt only possessed the advantages of popula- 

 tion, a favourable system of agriculture, and a wise 

 government. 



I have made the same observations respecting 

 the extent of the land in other parts of Egypt, all 



