The Irish standard., 1886-05-29
LAND or THE pHARA0HS.
The Manner il Which the Natives Irrigate
the Soil SO as to Produce Cotton
and ''Oorn in Egypt
THE RUINED TEMPLE OF KARNAK.
Those Temples, Palaces and Piles Stu
pendous, Of Which the Very
Ruins are Tremendous
written for The Irish Standard by David NJ
Horit

written for The Irish Standard by David NJ
It has often been remarked and with
considerable degree of truth that Is the
Nile is the life of Egypt" for if it were
not for it's fertilizing waters Egypt
would not be such an exhaustiess gran
ary and storehouse Of food for man.
while farther east. year afser year, the
lespairing cry OF fatnisbing millions is
heard to echo across the wide waters.
"Give us bread or we perish"
FARMING IN EGYPT
has many drawbacks. Lack OF rain is
one Of them, and consequently water
has to be drawn from the Nile river
and canals dug inland for irrlgatlng
purposes. This keeps a large proper
tion of the native population i'll colt
stisnt employment. The nlodus oper-
andi of irrigating the soil is probably
precisely the same as that in force III
the days OF Abraham, of Isaac and OF
,JacOb.'' 1t is about as follows: First,
hole is ding in the ground to alevel
with the Nile river and on the banks.
Two upright poles are erected and an
other pole or crossbar is extended from
one to the other. Then a jong pole is
placed upon the crossbar. Attached to
one end of this pole is stone Of prob
ably twenty or twenty-five pounds in.
weight, and upon the other end is a
rope to which a bucket is made fast.
A native or slave belonging to the
Shelzhs, and in some cases women,
operates this novel irrlgating ma
chine,
WHICH rs CALLED A slZAKIRA.
He draws the pail down. fills it with
water. and then the weight raises
St up. after which the water is
enptied into channel: which con-
yeys ii over the land and into other
channels. a water wheel propelled by
oxen or camels is sometimes used.
Crooks or jars are attached to the
wheels, aud as these jars descend to
the river they fill up, and by this means
they keep up continual stream of
water. which, when it reaches 81 certain
altitude, empties into the channels be-
fore named. The overflow If the Nile
at certain seasons of the year furnishes
sufficient water for the land during the
time it is at high tide. In ancient days
the sacred river was allowed to follow
the even tenor of it's ways" and fire.
uuently overflow its banks: and place
thereon the rich fertilizing deposits
which it brings with it from Abyssinia,
but of late years engineering skill has
been called into force to restrain and
direct that overflow By means of canals.
THE amount Of
LAND UNDER CULTIVATION
in Egypt Proper may be roughly esti-
mated at a little less than five millions
Of acres, out of which, according to
government statements. $4,000 are de-
voted to cotton; about 100000 to sugar,
and the rest to different species of
grain. The cotton plant is indigenous
to Egypt, and has been cultivated time
out Of mind on the narrow strip of fer
lie land which fringes the Upper Nile
,ginning at Thebes. This native cot
ycr, however, is of an inferior quality,
and is used only to manufacture the
coarse goods worn by the fellah men
and women. It was the only kind used
in Egypt until 1919. In that year the
India plant was introduced. but it was
not until 1910 that the experiment. Of
using the American sea island cotton
seed was attempted. 1t is now largely
grown and tiourishes equally as we'll in
Egypt as on it's native soil.
MOSQUES, TEMPLES, PALACES, ETC,
occur ali along the river Nile i'll endless
profusion. The most important of
these is that of Karnak ON the one side
of Luxor and the Hundred Gated
Thebes on other The latter was a
great city when Abraham led his flocks
to drink Of the waters of the Nile.
Homer,sang Of it as the richest city in
the world, through each of whose
hundred gates two hundred heroes
burst forth in their clashing chariots
and to oyictory. Although it was dark
when I arrived at Luxor I Immediately
started FOR Karnak, the
LARGEST OF RUINED TEMPLES.
44s L was accom- panied by two friends,
and a gentleman tourist who had re-
sided some months in the city Of fLuxor
kindly acted as our guide. Karnak is
situated at. a distance of about two
miles from the town, AS we proceeded
5;sI. /, sar II way towards the temples, we
by dogs, which infest
5Ss Oid ruins III the vicinity. All at