322 



Hence, it is urged, that this ancient channel, which 

 stretches along from south to north on the very borders 

 of the deserts, and exposed to every blast that sweeps 

 over their surfaces, has be^n tilled up by the sands 

 brought by the winds, and deposited in its bed. 



The lake Mareotis is another instance, which in 

 point of analogy, in this case, differs but very little. 

 It is situated still further from the Nile to the west, 

 and, if possible, more exposed to the drifting sands of 

 the deserts, particularly those of the violent south- 

 westerly gales. This lake, in the time of Strabo, 

 formed an expanse of thirty miles. It is " now filled 

 up, nearly to the level oT the country ; and the lakes 

 by Canopus much in the same state."* 



That the sands of the deserts have been the princi- 

 pal cause of this, as well as the elevation and exten- 

 sion of the plains of Egypt, we may conclude from an- 

 other circumstance. The lands on the west side of 

 the ancient Sebennitic branch, or Damietta river, are 

 represented as being more elevated and more perfectly 

 formed, than the land on the eastern side of the delta, 

 where there are still small lakes, and low grounds not 

 yet filled up. 



This difference is attributed, by Mr. Rennell, to 

 the discharge of a greater quantity of water by the 

 Nile to the north and north west, than towards the 

 eastern part of the delta ; consequently, a greater de- 



* Rennell's Herodotus, page 542. 



