The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1895-07-06
Ghibo0auf 5cntvnA.
FLOOD OF THE NILE.
THE GREATEST EVENT OF ALL THE
YEAR AT CAIRO.

Impressive Ceremonies at the Cutting of
the Bank to Allow tho Water to Flew
Into the Csnsl-Thc Ancient Nilometer
ON the Island of Roda.
The tourist who only CONTEST Egypt to
shun winter and foul weather knows
nothing of the majestic Slorics of the
Nile flood. the ancient NilGmeter ut
the south end Of the island OF Roda, just
above Cairo. is one of the mGst interest
ing sights Of the place. TIE water en-
tiers from the river by q calvert into a
well about is feet square, with a sradu-
ated stone pillar III the center. On each
side CT the wei is Il recess about & feet
wide and 3 feet deep. s~urInounted by u
pointed arch. over which is carved i'll
relief Il kutic inscription. and Il similar
inscription is carried all around the
we'll, consisting Of verses of the Koran.
A staircase goes down the we'll. from
the steps CT which the initiated may
read the height Of the water en- the pill
lar, but they are few i'll number. and the
hereditary shGil-h Of the Niloneter,
whose duty it is to keep the record, is
Il person of somC Importance. The Nil
ometer dates from A. D. SCI, and l be-
l!eye i'll the archives of Cairo may be
found the daily record for 1000 years.
Ineed hardly tel you that When our
English engineers took the river i'll hand
we established d number Of gauges at
Wadi-I.alia, Assam, Cairo and many
other point;Cl more scientific principles
than L venerable Nilometer of the
Roda island. -
After the river has begun 10 rise its
height is Gaily chantcd through the
Cairo streets until it reaches 1G cubits
on the gauge. AT this point the khalig
ell Masri, the old canal that flows through
the heart Of Cairo, is opencd-up to this
point it is dry, and full or empty it is,
little more than q sanitary abomination
at present, but IL former days it occu-
pied an important place, and when the
Nile water was high enough to flow
down its bed it was looked on that the
flood had fairly set i'll, and that the kind
ly fruits of the earth might be duly eS-
pected.
The head Of this canal is GA the right
bank ct the river, just south of Cairo.
The water enters d channel some 30 feet
wide, with Il high wall on its left and i.
sloping bank Oh its right or southern
flank. The water then flows under the
pointed arch Of an old stone bridge. The
bed of the canal is cleared so that it
would flow Ill at q gauge of about II
cubits, but an earthen bank is thrown
across it about four feet higher.
There is no more interesting ceremony
in Egypt than the annual cutting of the
khalig, as the opening ceremony is
called. 1t takes place between Aug. 3
and Is. Days before preparations are
made for the festival. Tents with innu-
merable lamps are placed along the wall
on the II side. Frames for all manner
OF fireworks are erected on the sand bank
Oh tie other side. All the notables are
there i'll full uniform or in canonicals.
The khediye himself OF his representa-
tive, the SheiEh I'll Islam, the highest
dignitaTy Of the Mohanmedan faith;
the SheiEh el Bekri, the Sheikh el sadar.
all the learned scribes Of the great uni
versity Of the AZllar, the cabinet minis
tiers and under secretaries, the sirder OF
the army and His staff, the judges and
tic firancicrs.
The Egyptian troops are turned out,
salutes are fired. and about S O'Clock in
the warm summer night the classes all
assemble under the gayly lighted tents.
the masses crowd round the frames fer
the fireworks. the street is lined with
harem carriages full of closely yelled
figures, though it is not much that they
can see from their brouShams. Out III
the river just opposite the canal mouth
is moored an cid hulk of a certain sea-
going outline, which has been towed up
from Bulak during the day and is an
emblem of the time when the great re-
public OF Venice sent an envoy to Wit
ness the ceremony. This boat is full of
lamps, and fireworks too. As the night
deepens the excitement increases. The
populace on the bridge and opposite
bank are shouting. yelling and dancing
wildly round the fireworks.
On the other side are the gay uniforms
and lighted tents, from which we can
look over the wall down On the dark wa
ter, where you see brown figures plmng-
ing i'll and, waist deep. digging with
their hoes 1T the embankment that
blocks the canals mouth. Long before
midnight the fireworks have gone out
and left the splendid stars TO themselves:
the grandees have all gone to bed, but
the people keep up the reyelry, and i'll
the morning, by $50, every one has
come back. Then but little Of tie bank