ME.  HOENEE  ON  THE  ALLUVIAL  LAND  OF  EGYPT, 
69 
into  the  stream ; and,  moreover,  in  those  parts  which  are  opposite  to  gullies  in  the  hills 
bounding  each  side,  much  sand,  blown  from  the  desert,  mingles  with  the  muddy  water,- 
The  spreading  of  the  waters  over  the  lands  must  have  been  controlled  by  embankments 
from  a very  remote  historic  period,  for  otherwise  the  inhabitants  of  the  valley  would  have 
been  exposed  to  great  dangers  from  the  floods.  For  how  long  a period,  the  river,  when  it 
rose  above  the  natural  limits  of  its  channel,  overflowed  the  adjoining  country  without 
any  artificial  check,  how  much  of  the  alluvial  land  had  been  formed  before  the  system 
of  embankments  was  adopted,  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain ; but  it  is  evident  that  the 
rate  at  which  the  soil  accumulated  would  be  different  from  what  it  became  when  the 
water  was  no  longer  allowed  to  flow  in  its  natural  course.  The  longitudinal  embank- 
ments extend  at  present  to  the  narrow  pass  in  the  river  at  Gebel  Silsilis,  about  forty-two 
miles  below  Assouan.  From  that  point,  downwards,  the  longitudinal  dyke,  called  the 
King’s  Eoad,  extends  all  the  way  along  the  left  bank  of  the  stream.  The  extent  of  the 
deposit  on  the  right  bank  is  variable,  covering  considerable  areas  in  some  localities, 
where  the  slope  of  the  desert  skirt  is  gentle.  The  river,  therefore,  from  Silsilis  to  Cairo, 
about  542  miles,  is  nowhere  allowed  to  overflow  its  banks,  that  is,  to  have  a free  unim- 
peded access  to  the  valley.  The  alluvial  land  on  both  sides  above  the  apex  of  the  Delta, 
and  throughout  the  Delta,  is  intersected  by  canals,  and  each  canal  has  its  longitudinal 
dykes,  over  which  the  current  of  muddy  water,  flowing  through  it,  is  not  allowed  to  pass, 
but  is  made  to  flow  through  certain  apertures  in  the  dykes  at  the  proper  time,  and  at  the 
proper  places,  and  thus,  to  use  the  expression  of  Heeekyan  Bey,  “ the  water  is  let  out 
upon  the  land  by  rule  and  measure,”  regulated  by  the  Ehoda  Milometer. 
The  higher  level  from  which  the  inundation  water  is  taken  enables  it  to  flow  far  into 
the  interior,  and  sluices  at  the  mouths  of  the  canals  prevent  it  from  being  excessive. 
These  great  canals  feed  smaller  ones,  which  again  are  subdivided,  so  as  to  spread  over 
the  land  a network  of  irrigation.  About  the  middle  of  August,  when  the  Nile  has  risen 
to  about  two-thirds  of  the  height  between  its  standard  lowest  ebb  and  its  standard  Salibe 
level,  the  water  enters  the  Magrour  or  Joseph’s  Canal,  about  326  miles  above  Cairo*. 
It  is  then  charged  with  sediment,  and  continues  to  flow  along  it  with  an  increasing 
volume  as  the  inundation  water  rises,  until  that  attains  its  maximum,  when  it  runs  in  a 
contrary  direction.  By  various  artificial  means  the  water  in  the  Magrour  is  forced  to 
rise  at  different  places,  so  as  to  spread  over  the  adjacent  lands.  In  this  operation  over- 
flowing eddies  are  created,  which  cause  unequal  rates  in  the  deposit  of  the  sediment, 
* “ The  Magrour  (or  water-course)  is  the  second  and  upper  bed  of  the  Nile  in  its  natural  state.  It 
generally  keeps  close  to  the  western  limits  of  the  cultivable  area  of  the  valley.  Its  average  latitudinal 
distance  from  the  river  is  about  6y  miles ; its  greatest  deviation  about  13  miles ; its  closest  approach,  a 
little  below  Siout,  about  1|.  It  has  been  modified  by  works  of  art,  particularly  below  Benisouef,  where  it 
gets  the  name  of  Bahr  Jousseph  or  Joseph’s  Canal.  Numerous  cross  canals  make  a connexion  between  the 
nver  and  the  Magrour.  They  claim  for  their  origin  certain  natural  water  passages,  as  well  from  the  river 
into  the  Magrour,  as  from  the  Magrour  into  the  river.  They  are  employed  to  drain  the  artificial  inunda- 
tion water  from  the  grounds  into  the  river,  during  the  proper  season,  and  to  serve  as  canals  of  irrigation 
after  the  subsidence  of  the  flood.” — Letter  of  Hekektan  Bet,  8th  January,  1858. 
MDCCCLVIII.  T 
