Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/733

LAKES EGYPT 70y which have either aided commerce, or supplied the inhabi tants of the country with fish and wild fowl, or with valuable vegetable productions, or assisted in regulating the effects of the inundation. All have enriched the land in some one of these ways, and thus they have been important sources of its natural wealth. Be dnnin 01 our examination at the north-western extremity of Egypt, we first observe the lake now called Boheyret-Maryoot, 1 and anciently Lake Mareotis. This is an extensive salt marsh rather than a lake, except during the inundation, when its contents are augmented by filtra tion. Anciently this lake was navigable, and thus con tributed to the commercial importance of Alexandria. The country around was cultivated, and produced the famous Mareotic wine. The relations of various travellers show that it was still a lake during the 15th and 16th, and even towards the close of the 17th century; and Villamont in 1590 mentions that in his time the fisheries produced a considerable sum (Descr. de I Egypte, xvi. 201). When, however, the French army conquered and occupied Egypt (1798-1801) they found its basin to be a sandy plain, of which the lower portion retained the rain-water, which remained there for a great part of winter" (Id. 200, 201). On the 4th of April 1801 the English army, which was co operating with that of the Grand Vizir against the French garrison of Alexandria, cut the dikes of the canal of that city, and admitted the waters of the Lake of Aboo-Keer into the ancient bed of Lake Mareotis, in order to cut off the water supply of the besieged (Id. 201, 202). The basin of the lake being partially inhabited, some loss of life and property was the result of this act, which has reasonably been much called in question. The unhealthiness of Alexandria is also traceable to the formation of this marsh. The precedent thus set has been twice imitated, first by the Turks in 1803, and a second time by the English army under General Fraser in 1807. At the present day the lake or marsh is unprofitable, and its shores are uncultivated and uninhabited, the whole wearing the most dreary aspect. To the north of Lake Mareotis is situate that of Aboo- Keer, Boheyret-Aboo-Keer. It is the northernmost portion of the other lake, from which it is separated by the Mah- moodeeyeh Canal (which here occupies the line of the older Canal of Alexandria), and the embankments or dikes which form its banks. It is very small, nowhere measur ing 10 miles across, and extremely shallow, usually not exceeding 3 feet in depth. The water is salt, being chiefly derived from the sea, from which the lake is separated by a narrow strip of land on the western side, and on the eastern by a similar strip of far less breadth, the shore of the memorable Bay of Aboo-Keer. To the east of the Lake of Aboo-Keer is that of Atkoo, Boheyret-Atkoo. It spreads when full nearly to the town of Ilosetta, and is separated from the sea by a narrow neck of land on which stands the large village of Atkoo. Its extent varies according to the quantity of water which it receives from the inundation (Descr. de I Egypte, xvi. 204). The great Lake of El-Burullus begins a little to the eastward of the Rosetta Branch, and stretches to some what beyond where the canal which was anciently the Sebennytic Branch enters it, and passing through it reaches the sea. Like the other northern lakes, it is separated from the Mediterranean by a narrow strip of land, the coast of Egypt. It is throughout very shallow (Id. 205). It is chiefly known for its water-melons, which are 1 Boheyreh," (pronounced "Boheyret" M-hen followed by a genitive) signifies "a little sea," being the diminutive of "bahr," "a sea," and is applied to large lakes, smaller ones receiving the appellation "birkeh." The distinction is not always maintained, for the great lake of the Feiyoom is called Birket-el-Karn. yellow within instead of being red or pink, and come into season after those grown on the banks of the Nile. The easternmost of the lakes of Egypt is Boheyret-el- Menzeleh, which greatly exceeds the others in size. It extends from very near the Damietta Branch of the Nile to the mouth of the old Tanitic Branch, now called the canal of El-Mo izz, which passes through the lake to the sea. It also receives the waters of the canals which were once the Mendesian and Pelusiac Branches. The northern shore is separated from the sea by an extremely narrow strip of laud. At its south-eastern extremity is a long marshy creek extending into the desert. Its average length is about 40 miles, and its average breadth about 15. The depth is greater than that of the other lakes, and the water is salt, though mixed with fresh. Upon the surface are numerous islands, and the whole lake abounds in reeds of various kinds. It supports a considerable population of rude fishermen, who dwell in villages on the shore and islands, and live upon the fish of the lake. The reeds are cover for water-fowl of various kinds, which the travel ler sees in great numbers, and wild boars are found in tha marshes to the south. (Mod. Eg. and Thebes, i. 446.) The Lake Serbonis, well known in former times as having swallowed up those passing over its marshes con cealed by shifting sands, is now dry, and cannot be any longer included in the list of the lakes of Egypt. Besides the lakes above mentioned are those called the Bitter Lakes, which should rather be termed marshes, occupying part of the ancient bed of the Red Sea between Suez and Lake Menzeleh, and also the Natron Lakes. The latter, which are very small, are situate in a valley of the western desert, not very far from the river : they will be noticed below. In Upper Egypt there is but one lake of importance. It is the Birket-el-Karn, or Lake of El-Karn, at the ex tremity of the Feiyoom, which is, as already mentioned, an oasis on the western side of the river, to which an opening in the mountains leads. The lake is about 35 miles long, and its widest part a little exceeds 7 miles, according to Sir Gardner Wilkinson, while in several places it is considerably narrower. About the middle is a single island. The depth is not great, for the same author, who " sounded in several places," " found what is considered the deepest part to be only 28-| feet" (Mod. Egypt and Thebes, ii. 344-5). Its level is far below that of the Nile, as the bank of the river at Benee-Suweyf, at the entrance of the valley leading to the Feiyoom, is upwards of a hundred feet higher than the water of the lake (Ibid. 346). The shores are barren or uncultivated; the northern is desert and bounded by sandy mountains ; the southern was in ancient times partly cultivated. The water is brackish and unwholesome, though the fishermen, of whom there are a few, drink it. The famous Lake Moeris lay between the Feiyoom and the Nile, not far from the river. It was an artificial work executed by Amenemhat III, of Dynasty XII. The irrigation of neighbouring tracts was regulated by it, and its fisheries formed an important part of the revenue, After the subjugation of Egypt by the Romans its dikes were neglected, and by degrees it became ruined. Its position and extent were considered doubtful, until M. Linarit s excellent memoir, published by the Egyptian Society of Cairo, established these points most satisfactorily from the remains of its basin, which are yet traceable (Memoire snr le Lac Moeris, Soc. Eg., 1843). Canals. The canals of Egypt deserve especial attention from their great importance in extending the beneficial influence of the inundation. In Lower Egypt we find, beginning from the west, first the Mahmoodeeyeh Canal,

which connects Alexandria with the Rosetta Branch, taking