Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/463

EGYPT 455 bounded by hills varying in height from 300 to 1,200 ft. The average breadth of the valley is 7 or 8 m., its greatest breadth llm. Ancient- ly the whole of this valley was called Upper Egypt, but afterward the term Middle Egypt was applied to the northern part of it. About 100 m. from the sea the hills disappear, and the river enters an extensive and perfectly level alluvial plain, where, 12 m. N. of Cairo, it sepa- rates into two great streams, which continual- ly diverge until they reach the Mediterranean by mouths about 80 m. apart, the eastern at Da- mietta and the western at Rosetta. This great plain is Lower Egypt. The triangular space enclosed by the two arms of the river and the sea is called the Delta, from its resemblance in shape to the Greek letter A ; but the term Delta is also sometimes applied to the whole plain, or to so much of it as consists of fertile land. The greater part of the country consists of deserts, with the exception of the valley of the Nile, a few oases, and the region called Fayoorn, which lies at no great distance W. of the Kile, between lat. 29 and 30, and has a fertile area of 340 sq. m. The largest of the oases, the one most remote from the Nile, is Siwah, the ancient Ammonium, the site of the temple and oracle of Jupiter Ammon. It lies ten days' journey W. of Fayoom, and has an area of only 15 or 20 sq. m. The desert be- tween the Nile and the Red sea is intersected by chains of mountains, whose highest summits attain an elevation of 6,000 ft. The most noted lake of Egypt is the Birket el-Keroon, in the N. W. part of Fayoom ; it is 30 m. long and from 2i to 3 m. broad. The remains of the famous ancient artificial lake Moeris have been identified in the E. part of Fayoom. To the north of the Birket el-Keroon, at the distance of 50 m., are the natron lakes, from which the water evaporates in the dry season, leaving the ground covered with a crust of natron or carbonate of soda. Along the seacoast of the Delta is a series of lagoons stretching for nearly 200 m., of which the principal are Lake Maryoot, the ancient Mareotis, 40 m. long, Lake Boorlos, 30 m. long, and Lake Menzaleh, 50 m. long, with an average breadth of 15 m. From a very ancient period Egypt has abounded in canals, chiefly constructed to facilitate the distribution of the water of the Nile for irrigation. The Mahmoudieh canal, 50 m. long and 100 ft. broad, was made in 1820 to accommodate the commerce between Alexandria and the Nile. Great efforts have been made during the last 20 years to render the country less dependent upon the annual inundation. The Mahmoudieh canal was connected with about 50 new canals for irrigation, which proved of some service in 1868, when the Nile failed to attain its usual height. The canal across the isthmus of Suez, to unite the Red sea with the Mediterranean, was begun in April, 1859, and opened in Novem- ber, 1869. (See CANAL.) The most striking geological feature of Egypt is the vast bed of alluvium deposited by the Nile, which covers all Lower Egypt to a depth that probably averages 30 or 40 ft. The predominant rocks are lime- stone, sandstone, and granite. The great pyra- mids are built of limestone, and stand on a limestone plateau. This rock extends up the valley of the Nile as far as Esne, and thence to Asswan or Syene sandstone prevails, from the quarries of which most of the temples of Egypt have been built. At Asswan, at the southern extremity of the country, granite predominates, and the quarries there have chiefly furnished the materials for the obelisks and colossal statues of Egypt. The soil is of unsurpassed fertility, and its richness is annu- ally renewed by the inundation of the Nile, which deposits upon the land a coating of mud rendering needless any other manure. In many parts ploughing is dispensed with, the seed be- ing thrown upon the mud, and sheep, goats, or oxen turned loose in the fields to trample in the grain ; though in other parts agriculture is carried on with considerable labor and care, especially where artificial irrigation can be re- sorted to. The rise of the Nile begins in Egypt in the latter part of June ; but it is perceptible at Gondokoro, lat. 6 N., as early as February, at Khartoom in the latter part of March, and at Dongola in May. The inundation reaches its greatest height between Sept. 20 and 30, when it is usually 24 ft. above the low-water level. It remains at that height about 15 days, and then gradually falls, till it is at the lowest about the middle of May. It rises sometimes 30 ft., when it does great damage. If it rises less than 18 ft., a famine is the consequence in some districts not yet under artificial irrigation. The following plants are sown immediately after the inundation begins to subside, and are harvested three or four months later : wheat, barley, beans, peas, lentils, vetches, lupins, clover, flax, lettuce, hemp, coriander, poppies, tobacco, watermelons, and cucumbers. The following are raised in summer chiefly by arti- ficial irrigation: durra, maize, onions, henna, sugar cane, cotton, coffee, indigo, and madder. Grapes are plentiful, and other fruits abound, of which the most common are dates, figs, pomegranates, apricots, peaches, oranges, lem- ons, citrons, bananas, mulberries, and olives. There are no forests in Egypt, and few trees of any kind except the palm, of which there are usually groves around the villages. From the absence of forests there are few wild beasts, the principal species being the wolf, fox, jackal, hyaena, wild ass, and several kinds of antelope. The chief domestic animals are camels, horses, asses, horned cattle, and sheep. The hippo- potamus is no longer found in Egypt, though it is met with in the Nile above the cataracts, and the crocodile has abandoned the lower part of the river, and is becoming rare even in Upper Egypt. Among the birds are three species of vultures (one of which sometimes measures 15 -t. across the wings), eagles, falcons, hawks, 3uzzards, kites, crows, linnets, larks, sparrows, and the beautiful hoopoe, which is regarded with