BR. PORTER ON EGYPT. 21 



The rise contiuues steadily till the end of September, when 

 it attains its maximum of from 24 to 20 feet. There is a 

 building in the little island of Roda, close to Cairo, containing 

 a Nilometer, for measuring the rise of the water from day to 

 day, and its maximum from year to year. The building is 

 said to have been founded here in A.D. 705, and rebuilt in its 

 present form in A.D. 850. We learn that during the time of 

 the early Pharaohs a Nilometer was erected at Memphis, and 

 maintained there for a lengthened period. There was another 

 on the island of Elephantine, opposite Syenej both it and 

 that at Memphis have disappeared. 



One of the great festivals of Cairo is connected with the 

 inundation. When the river attains a height of about 21 ft., 

 which occurs generally between the Gth and 16th of August, 

 the embankment which shuts out the river from the great 

 Cairo Canal is cut by the governor of the city or his deputy : 

 the water then rushes in, amid acclamations of joy from 

 assembled multitudes, and is taken over the country for pur- 

 poses of irrigation. The whole plain is intersected with such 

 canals, and the rising water, being let into them at various 

 points along the river-banks, is stored in enormous tanks and 

 reservoirs for use during the long dry season. 



The regulation of the water supply and its distribution over the 

 surface of the ground have from the earliest ages been managed 

 with mai'vellous ingenuity and scientific skill. Irrigation is 

 of vital importance to agriculture, and it is essential to the 

 prosperity of Egypt. It is requisite for the landed proprietor, 

 and the population generally, that the water should be dis- 

 tributed in due proportion to each farm and field, and in such 

 manner also as that the low-lying sections shall not get greater 

 advantage by leakage or otherwise than the higher. To effect 

 this, the Egyptian engineers measured with scrupulous accuracy 

 the elevation of each irrigated section, and constructed canals, 

 tanks, and dykes to suit the whole. Each little field is levelled, 

 surrounded by a bank of earth, and provided with a properly- 

 graduated sluice, through which the water is admitted. Skilled 

 superintendents are also appointed by the local government, 

 who regulate the time during which the water is allowed to 

 flow into each section and field. The amount of taxation 

 levied depends upon the size of the farm, and the quantity of 

 water supplied for irrigation. 



When the Nile is low the land near its banks, both in 

 Egypt and Nubia, is irrigated artificially by means of buckets 

 attached to long poles slung on cross-beams between upright 

 posts. The buckets are dipped into the river, then raised, 

 and emptied into canal ov reservoir. This machine is called 



