The Washington herald., 1909-06-08


rest the tears OF Isis as they how?'' was
a question implying the impossible. To-
day the tears OF Isis are stored behind
great dam at Assouan in lake that con-
tains billion tons water and is 40 miles
lcng. According TO popular superstition.
pearls mean tears. In Egypt the tears OF
Isis mean pearls to agEieulturists, and
William Wilcocks, who made the plans
Tor the dam, wears an order OF British
knighthood. conferred IN recognition OF
his services
Agriculture in the Nile valley IS, OF
course older than the Oldest monuments
OF Egypt. Irrigation is as old as agrieul-
ture. but scientific irrigation upon a scale
commensurate with its importance as q
factor IN the development Of the country
Is a product OF modern times. There are
TWO kinds OF irrigation along the Nile.
One is 1000 years old. II consists of
basin system. which mandates the fields
during the freshet The other is peren-
NAL and depends upon storage reservoirs
and modern system Of releasing the
water as It is needed.
The first crops were the result Of seed
scwn upon the mud when the food had
receded. Interlocke6 with the known and
unknown political history OF Egypt from
the beginning Is the story OF the expan-
sion OF systems for increasing the area
OF land made tiliabie by retaining the silt
laden overflow and causing Il TO take the
place OF rain during the season Of low
Nile. At present the lode Of syenite gran
ite that furnished the material for the
temple OF the Sphinx and the obelisks Is
the backbone OF plan Of irrigation that
eontemplates still greater results than
have been already achieved.
Tillable Egypt, except in the province
OF Fayoum and in the Nile delta. Is mere
ly a narrow strip OF reclaimed desert.
sometimes extending only upon one side
% the stream. According TO tradition,
Lake MOeris. a great reservoir to irTigaJe
Fayoum. was constructed by King Amen
emaht OF the twelfth dynasty II is be-
lieved that Mehemet Ali the viceroy who
planned, but never completed. a system
OF perennial irrigation, was inspired by
the example Ct Amenemaht- But Great
Britain claims and must be accorded
credit for planning. financing. and COM
pleting the dam at Assouan.
In Upper Egypt the traveller sees to-
day in active operation the basin irriga-
ton which tradition says dates back TO
King Menes. who reigned some seventy
centuries before the British occupation
Of the land Of the Pharoahs. 1t Is sim
pie In its rudimentary form, although
complex in its development. The banks
OF the Nile are of deltaic formation and
higher than the valley behind them. The
sources OF the river are approximately
$500 feet above the level OF the sea.
Along the river. as its shores slope north
ward toward the Mediterranean. earthen
dykes are run at right angles 10 the
stream. Dykes parallel 20 the stream
and close to the ''berms or high banks.
connect them, forming basins inclosed on
the desert side by the rising ground that
marks the limit Of arabic area The
basins drain from one 20 another and the
last Of a series drains back into the Nile
In this manner the land is arranged in a
succession Of terraces falling gradually
toward the north. Where the Law OF the
land admits Of fl the system Is extended
by the construction Of a second OF third
dyke parallel 10 the river.
The ''bermS" are irrigated either by
high-level canals starting from above
the beginning Of the basin system or by
lifting the water from the river. Feeder
canals vary in size from insignificant
AAANAlEc ~ EOLolAEl uDlt IlhELh upon MElln III
large saiboats ply From the train as
the traveller traverses Egypt picturesque
triangular sails and slanting bamboo
booms Of the Egyptian dahabeahs seem
20 rise from plowed fields.
Upper Egypt at flood time is a vast
lake bounded by the brown slopes Of the
Desert on the east and west and grid
ironed by a network Of dykes. The lakes
are dotted by the mud huts Of the fel-
laheen, or peasants. always builded on
mounds and in clusters or small villages.
The fenah and his family lead a some
what precarious existence during the in
urdatlcn. If the water reaches the huts
they crumble like mud pies dipped in a
duck pond and the homes become a mass
of muck. The fellaheen and their live
stock live throughout the flood period
upon bits Of high ground and the dykes
which form their roads. Goats, sheep,
water buffaloes. camels, little donkeys
hardly larger than great Danes. horses.
and human beings are herded in narrow
spaces Of solid earth White-winged aqua
tic birds claim the lakes as their own
Rats from the marshes infest the dykes
and villages, and are protected from at
tack by a curious superstition OF the fel-
laheen. according TO which the rats as
the food recedes turn to balls Of fertile
mud TO play part IN producing crops.
Basin irrigation reached a high devel-
opment under the Romans. and q stream
Of grain from the whole Nile valley and
the delta flowed through Alexandria 10
the ports Of the Mediterranean. After
The Arab conquest there followed ten OF
eleven centuries Of neglect. which caused
rfnr-c0cn in rrTfffr-o orpo
and a proportional decrease in population.
While the claim that there were u. 000 900
inhabitants OF the country when the
Arabs conquered II is doubtless an exag-
geration, Il IS true that the beginning Of
the nineteenth century found Egypt re-
dUced in population 10 about 2,0OO, 900 and
despoiled by shiftlessness of great deal
OF matchless farming land. At present
more than 100000 acres OF land which
produced crops during the Roman occu-
patton now lie under the so-called great
lakes" Of the delta or are uncultivable
salt marshes Where the vineyards, palm
groves. and wheat fields once smiled be-
meath the sun great salty lagoons now
form a home for water fowl. The sites
Of Tinnis. Tunah. and other manufacture
Ing cities are under the sIoughs.
The retreat Of agriculture southwark as
result OF the overflow Of a part Of the
delta was followed in time by an increaSa
os tillable area farther up the Nile due
10 perennial irrigation. VIeeroy Mehemet
ALI. a man Of great imagination and am
bition. but rather lacking in hxedness OF
purpose. is given credit for having in
troduced the idea Of perennial irrigation
auG for having planned and dreamed OF
such a structure as the Assouan dam.