296 



4thly. I shall now examine the effect produced by 

 the direct and indirect labours of man, in the formation 

 and extension of this delta. 



The point at wjiich the waters of the Nile first 

 united with those of the Mediterranean sea, was that 

 at which the greatest quantity of alluvion was depo- 

 sited, and, of course, the point where the bed of the 

 river first began to be elevated. On the subsidence of 

 the annual inundations of the rivers, its banks were, in 

 the course of time, gradually elevated and extended 

 on its borders. As soon as they had become suffi- 

 ciently so, to admit of cultivation and improvement, 

 they were probably located by the first inhabitants 



who established their residence in that region. 



o 



Where this point was, or who the first inhabitants 

 were, or what the degree of progress in improvements 

 and civilization, it is not in my power to determine ; 

 nor is it necessary, or essential to my purpose, in the 

 present instance. It is sufficient to know, that Menes 

 or Osiris, was, at least represented to be, the first 

 king who reigned in Egypt ; and was, perhaps, the 

 most zealous and active, in improvements of every 

 kind, of any sovereign that may have preceded him ; 

 though much may have been done before his time, as, 

 according to Bishop Clayton, other kings had reigned 

 before him in Egypt : and Diodorus says, that Mem- 

 phis, (which was founded by Mmes,} was not built 

 till eight generations after the building of Thebes, and 



