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[Page 132]
little trace of the ancient city remains beyond a few stones & the colossal statue of Rameses 11; one of the oppressors of Israel, which now lies prostrate & broken on the ground.
Nile
The Nile is Egypt's mainstay & one of the world's great rivers, being 3,400 miles long. Each year it overflows its banks, filling the canals & reservoirs sufficient for the year's needs & so the "fellahin" are able to produce three & often four crops per year. "Garkeens" (water wheels) "shedoups" are also used for irrigating the land & no one toils harder than the men who work the shedoup in irrigating the land day & night. At one time the Egyptians worshipped the Nile as a god & it is only a few years since the usual sacrifice of a young girl to the Nile in flood was prohibited by the Kheidive. It varies in width from ΒΌ to 2 miles & the scenery along its banks is very picturesque, small villages & fields alive with natives adding colour to the scene. The Nile is a very historic river as it was known to the ancients as navigable & formed the trade route by which gold from Sheba, ivory & ebony & many other things were brought into the country. Pharaoh's armies were brought to Egypt by it on many expeditions & by its means the Roman legions penetrated to the known limits of the world. From the [indecipherable] bridge the Blue Nile presents a fine