Antiquity of Irrigation 71 



of by Humble as one of the grandest monuments the 

 Romans left in France. 



China, like Egypt, dates its early enterprises of irri- 

 gation and transportation by water far back in antiq- 

 uity, for she has numerous canals, some of them 

 the most stupendous works of the kind ever under- 

 taken. The Great Imperial Canal has a length of 650 

 miles, and connects the Hoang-Ho with the Yang-tse- 

 Kiang. It has a depth seldom exceeding 5 to 6 feet, 

 and in it the water moves at the rate of 2% miles per 

 hour. In its path there are several large lakes, and 

 across these the canal is carried on the crest of enor- 

 mous dykes. 



If we leave the Old World and come to the New for 

 records of an early development of the cultivation of 

 land by irrigation, we shall not be disappointed, for 

 traces of an early civilization in Colorado, New Mexico 

 and Arizona, and extending through Mexico and Cen- 

 tral America on into Peru, are found in the ruins of 

 ancient towns and irrigating canals in many places. 

 When the Spaniards invaded Mexico, Central America 

 and Peru, they were greatly surprised to find in these 

 countries, and particularly in Peru, the land of the 

 Incas, very elaborate and extensive irrigation systems, 

 laid out and in actual general use by these people. 



Prescott, in his "Conquest of Peru," speaking of 

 the use of water for irrigation, writes that water "was 

 conveyed by means of canals and subterraneous aque- 

 ducts executed on a noble scale. They consisted of 

 large slabs of freestone nicely fitted together without 

 cement, and discharged a volume of water sufficient, 



