371 
In the course of time the bank of the lake Mahadie 
was ruined; the sea entered and inundated the ground 
which forms the lake; and as they allowed the breach 
to increase, it is impossible now to reconstruct it. 
The lakes Mareotis and Mahadie are separated by a 
very narrow tongue of land, upon which runs the canal 
of Alexandria. At the time of the invasion of the 
French, when the English army came to attack the 
city, they cut this tongue of land through: the water 
of the lake Mahadie, which came from the sea, rushed 
in, and formed the lake Mareotis. One hundred and 
fifty villages, and many thousand acres of excellent 
land, were destroyed, and the city deprived of the only 
water fit for use. 
By a singular piece of good fortune, three years after- 
wards, the celebrated Genib Effendi, after enormous 
expenses, and many sacrifices, succeeded in re-esta- 
blishing the mounds, and consequently the canal, by 
stopping up the breaches made by the English, with 
masonry built upon piles. Unfortunately this work is 
going to ruin; and the natural laziness of the Mussul- 
men, who do not attempt to repair it, will occasion the 
sea to make a second inroad into the lake Mareotis, 
which is actually drying up, and forming only a small 
lake, in consequence of the evaporation of the water by 
the sun; and I believe it will be very difficult to find 
another Genib Effendi. The borders of the lake, at 
present left dry by the evaporation of the water, are co- 
vered with a bed of marine salt, of a perfect whiteness, 
which belongs to the governor of Alexandria, who every 
year draws a large revenue from it, but does not think 
of repairing or preserving the bank. 
