438 NOETH-EAST APEICA. 



But after a short period of unexampled prosperity, tlie inevitable reaction set 

 in, accompanied by wholesale failures and commercial ruin. The cultivation of 

 the cotton plant ceased to encroach on the lands under cereal crops ; nevertheless, 

 it has continued to hold the foremost rank for the annual value of its yield. Even 

 the cotton seed, of which no use was formerly made, has acquired very considerable 

 economic importance. The oil extracted from it by powerful machinery is not 

 only utilised by the peasantry in the preparation of their food, but is also employed 

 to adulterate the " olive oil " consumed especially in the south of Europe. The 

 mills of Douvres alone import whole cargoes for the fabrication of these oils, 

 used partly for alimentary purposes, partly in the manufacture of soap. 



At the beginning of the present century the scientific explorers who accom- 

 panied the French expedition under Bonaparte estimated at about 10,000 square 

 miles the total area of the arable lands in Egypt. Since then the space under 

 cultivation has been increased by, perhaps, one-fifth, thanks to the development of 

 the network of irrigating canals. But over one-third of the delta still remains to 

 be reclaimed, either by draining the marshy tracts or by effecting improvements 

 in the present irrigation system. ISTearly the whole of the coastlands extending 

 from Lake Mariut to Lake Menzaleh are occupied by stagnant, brackish, and even 

 saline waters. Amid the swamps stand bare sandy dunes, and along the edge 

 of the lakes from the Arabian to the Libyan desert there stretches a zone of 

 territory with an average breadth of from 18 to 20 miles, the so-called 

 Berari, whose surface, lying almost flush with the surrounding waters, has been 

 brought under cultivation only at a few isolated points. 



The present state of this region of the delta is somewhat analogous to that of 

 the Camargue in France, although the remains of cities scattered over the rising 

 grounds are sufficient proof that there was a time when these now abandoned lands 

 supported a numerous population of agriculturists. In the midst of the sands 

 along the sea- coast the explorer is surprised still to meet at certain points groups 

 of houses surrounded by date-trees, vineyards, and fruit- gardens. Hence it is 

 obviously possible to bring the sands themselves under cultivation, although the 

 process certainly proves very laborious. The sand has to be dug sufficiently deep 

 to enable the roots of the plants to reach the necessary moisture ; at the same time 

 care must be taken not to penetrate too far, which would have the effect of causing 

 the vegetable fibre to rot. The holes have also to be surrounded by hoardings, in 

 order to prevent them from getting choked by the sands of the shifting dunes. 

 The ground so prepared yields pistachios, figs, and all kinds of fruits of better 

 quality than those grown in any other part of Egypt. 



It is noteworthy that the sandy tracts about the mouth of the Guadalquivir are 

 brought under cultivation much in the same way. Hence it has been suggested 

 that immigrants from Egypt may probably have taught the natives of Andalusia 

 to reclaim their so-called " navasos " by this process. 



