100 DR. GRANT BEY, 



under the sixtli Pharaoh of this dynasty, nionnmcnts were 

 erected on the island of Argo, consideraljly to the south of 

 Seraneli, but below the level of the formerly dammed back 

 waters of the cataract. Sometime therefore between these 

 two reigns — a period of only sixty-six years — the Semneh 

 cataract must have ratlier suddenly given way, and caused 

 a destructive flood all along the course of the Nile to the 

 sea, and famine would have been the natural result of such 

 a sudden catastrophe. - 



Ethiopia was now left high and dry, and became more or 

 less a barren waste, even as it is to-day. It is with great 

 labour that the natives now raise the water from the Nile to 

 irrigate their little patches of ground simply to grow sufficient 

 to keep them alive, and I fear that famine is not uncommon 

 among them. Here then another rainless district has been 

 produced, and so it remains. AVe may now say that the 

 whole stretch of country from Assiout to Berber, which had 

 an abundant rainfall in ancient times, is now almost without 

 rain. No doubt, this would be reversed if the cataracts were 

 restored, a new Lake Moeris created at the border of the 

 ancient one, the Sahara'-* refilled with sea-water, and the 

 Eurasian Sea of Geikie restored, for under these circum- 

 stances the rainfall would again be excessive. As far as the 

 restoration of the cataracts and Lake Moeris is concerned, 

 this has been studied by the Egyptian Government for several 

 years past, and the study is still being pushed forward by 

 American,'" French," and English'- engineers. 



When we go up the Nile as far as Berber, 17-^° N. latitude, 

 we enter the region of tropical rains, that, folloAving the 

 course of the sun, and falling in torrents on the Abyssinian 

 mountains, and in the equatorial regions, create the White 

 and Blue Nile, Avhich uniting at Khartoum form the river 

 that makes Egypt a habitable country. These rains are 

 periodical, and produce the annual rise of the Nile to which 

 Ave in Egypt are so accustomed, that we often forget that a 

 few feet above, or a few feet below the average annual 

 rise, means famine and disease. The usual difference be- 

 tween Ji'kjIi and loio Nile may be stated as 25^ feet at Assouan,* 



* If the river vises at Assouan 29 ft. above the usual low water mark 

 it means i)eril to the whole of Egypt ; but if the rise is only '10 ft. above 

 the minimum, then whole tracts of the valley will never be submerged. 

 A i)oor flood, however, is more serious than the devastation caused by the 

 most violent excess. (MoncrieflF.) 



