Item 01: Ralph Ingram Moore letters, 10 February 1907-15 March 1918 - Page 175
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[Page 175]
9.
From here we went to Roda Island to see the "Nilometer". This is the instrument that measures the annual rise of the Nile. It is a very simple contrivance. The stone wall near the ferry steps is carved with numerals (Egyptian). This is the New Nilometer. The Old Roman Nilometer is a little further inland and is a far more ornamental affair. The water came into a large well like arrangement through a tunnel.
Quite close to the Nilometers by the edge of an old sakiyeh (water wheel) is where Moses was found as a baby in his wickerwork basket, or so the guide says. If it is not the exact spot it must have been very close for all records say it was on this Island that he was found, and Roda is but a very small island.
We had dinner in town before returning to camp. It is humourous to see the number of vendors that come into a café during a meal. I am sure that while having dinner, one could buy anything from a postcard to a suit of clothes.
I should have mentioned when speaking of the parcel that I enclosed a set of the small Egyptian coins and a couple of