64 TRAVELS IN AFRICA, 
inches a-day ; and takes place, as is well known, from the end 
of June to the beginning of September, from which period to 
the following folftice it is gradually falling, again to rife. 
Thofe verfed in antient aftronomy know, that the rife of the 
river was indicated by the heliacal rifmg of Sirius, or the Dog- 
ftar, a few mornings before ; whence that ftar was denominated, 
as refembling the fidelity of a dog, in warning his matter to 
remove his effecJis from the ravages of the ftream. It is afTerted 
that Sihor, or Sihir, is an antient name of the Nile, as well as 
the Indus, whence Siris, corruptly Sirius, another appellation 
of the moft brilliant of all the fixed ftars. 
Mr. Gray's well-known defcription of Egypt, as immerfed 
under the influx of the Nile, is exquifitely poetical, but far 
from juft. In Upper Egypt the river is confined by high banks, 
which prevent any inundation into the adjacent country. This 
is alfo the cafe in Lower Egypt, except at the extremities of 
the Delta, where the Nile is never more than a few feet below 
the furface of the ground, and where inundation of courfe 
takes place. But the country, as may be expected, is without 
habitations. The fertility of Egypt arifes from human art. 
The lands near the river are watered by machines ; and if they 
extend to any width, canals have been cut. The foil in general 
is fo rich as to require no manure. It is a pure black mould, 
free from ftones, and of a very tenacious and unctuous nature. 
When left uncultivated, I have obferved fiffures, arifing from 
the extreme heat, of which a fpear of fix feet could not reach 
the bottom. 
The 
