LAKES OF NATRON. 
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population. On the western bank of this branch 
are situated Deirut, Rah many, and Terane. 
The district on the west of the Canopic branch 
of the Nile, partakes of the character of the Li- 
byan desert, and is inferior in fertihty to the 
Delta. The soil is more parched and sandy, and 
the fields of beautiful vegetation, covered with the 
blossoms of the bean and cotton plant, gradually 
mingle with the sands of the desert. Receding 
from the Nile, the regions of sand and rock, entire- 
ly devoid of vegetable earth, commence, and the 
ground rises, by an easy ascent, first into acclivi- ■ 
ties, then into hills, and at last terminates in 
mountains. A level but elevated plain, of nearly 
thirty miles in breadth, separates the valley of the 
Nile from that of the lakes of natron. The west 
wind, which blows here with great violence, has 
driven the loose sands of these eminences into 
the valley of the Nile. At the distance of four 
leagues from this ridge, another chain of emi- 
nences runs parallel to the first, forming in the 
intermediate space a deep valley, furrowed with 
narrow and savage ravines. The declivity of the 
eastern ridge, which descends into this valley, is 
in some places abrupt, and in others covered with 
loose sand. The watery expanse of the lakes, 
the vivid green colour of the plants which grow 
on their banks, and the reeds which wave on their 
surfaces are finely constrasted with the dazzling 
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