directions, and the waves are dashed upon the shores 

 at all points, the effect must have been uniform through- 

 out the entire borders of the Caspian sea. But this is 

 not the case. It is only in the neighbourhood of 

 sandy deserts, or districts, that we witness this ten- 

 dency of the sands to accumulate/upon the beach, and 

 gradually extending into the sea, thereby causing its 

 retreat. Hence we are justified in the conclusion, that 

 these changes are the result of the operations of the 

 winds, upon the dry and exposed surfaces of sandy 

 districts. 



From this view, which might be extended to various 

 other parts of the world, the inference is plain and 

 unequivocal, that the ancient gulf, now occupied by 

 the plains of Egypt, and the delta of the Nile, has 

 been filled up to the present extent of the latter, by 

 the agency of the three following causes : 



1st. The alluvion of the Nile. 



J^dly. The direct and indirect labours of man ; and 



3dly. The operations of the winds on the sandy de- 

 serts in its vicinity. 



Having already taken notice of the rapid extension 

 of the delta of the Po, since the year 1200, and that 

 too in an increased ratio, particularly in the last two 

 hundred years ; and also the causes, which will apply 

 to that of the Indus, the Ganges, and almost all other 

 deltas, I have omitted any remarks on this subject, as 

 it relates to the delta of the Nile, presuming that 

 every person who will give himself the trouble to ex- 

 amine the facts, will find, that as the same causes have 



