318 



the elevation and extension of the plains of Egypt u> 

 their present limits. 



As soon as the newly formed lands became elevated 

 above the surface of the water, sufficient to admit of 

 improvement, and the inhabitants of Egypt began the 

 work of digging canals or drains, raising mounds and 

 dikes for the purpose of improving and cultivating the 

 grounds, every work so raised became, in a degree, an 

 obstruction to the winds ; and all the space contained 

 within their limits, a depository for the dust and sand 

 which were wafted by the winds from the mountains 

 and across the plains, or from the deserts ; and more 

 particularly so, as soon as vegetation began to cover the 

 land ; for every plant became a nucleus around which 

 the sand had collected and by which it was retained. 

 The date, and lofty palm trees, when arrived to a suf- 

 ficient height, contributed their share in arresting, 

 holding fast, and screening from a further removal, the 

 sands collected at their roots, and beneath their branch- 

 es. "The plants, (says Mr. Denon) which are pro- 

 duced, in the first place, by the new land, are three or 

 four kinds of sea weeds, round which the sand throws 

 itself up in heaps. From its surface they spring up 

 afresh ; and subsequent decay furnishes a manure 

 which favours the vegetation of reeds. These reeds 

 give a greater elevation and a greater solidity to the 

 soil.*" 



* Denon's Travels, vol. I. page 169. 



