154< 
DESCRIPTIONS OF EGYPT. 
Menes, according, to Herodotus,* the first sovereign 
of Egypt, by erecting an immense mound on the 
west of Memphis, forced the waters of the river to 
abandon the western, and occupy the eastern chan- 
nel. The remains of this mound were observed by 
Pococke, who describes a great causeway of one 
thousand yards in length, and twenty feet wide, 
formed of hewn stone, which extended across a 
hollow part of the country, and terminated about 
ft mile to the N. E. of the pyramids.t 
The Nile being excluded from one of its chan- 
nels, did not long contain its waters within the 
other, but following its ancient tendency towards 
the west, which it derived from the inclination of 
the soil, again separated in the vicinity of Helip- 
polis, where it formed a new Delta, stretching 
farther to the east, but on the western side in- 
ferior in extent to the ancient Delta, This va- 
riation of the apex of the Delta, from Memphis 
to Heliopolis, introduced such a degree pf confu- 
sion into the relations of historians, as has ren- 
dered it difficult to ascertain the position of Mem- 
phis, though that city flourished to a late period. 
From its central situation, it was equally adapted 
for becoming the capital of a powerful kingdom, 
and the emporium of an extensive commerce. The 
• Herodot. Euterpe, 99. 
f Pococke's Travels, Vol. I. p f A% 
