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trendies, and from thence conducted all round the beds in variousrills, which the gardener easily stops by raising the mould againstthem with his foot, and diverts the current another way as he seesoccasion. The rise of the inundation is measured by an instru-ment adapted for the purpose, called mireas, Which we translatenilometer. Mr. Bruce informs us, that this is placed betweenGeeza and Cairo , on the point of an island named Rhoda, aboutthe middle of the river, but somewhat nearer to Geeza. It is around tower with an apartment, in the middle of which is a cisternneatly lined with marble. The bottom of this cistern reaches tothat of the river, and there is a large opening, by which the waterhas free access to the inside. The rise of the water is indicatedby an octagonal column of blue and white marble, on which aremarked 20 cubits of 2‘2 inches each. The two lowermost have nosubdivisions; but each of the rest is divided into 24 parts calleddigits ; the whole height of the pillar being 36 feet 8 inches.When the river has attained its proper height, all the canals areopened, and the whole country laid under water. During thetime of the inundation a certain vortical motion of the waterstakes place ; but notwithstanding this, the Nile is so easily manag-ed, that many fields lower than the surface of its waters are pre-served from injury merely by a dam of moistened earth, not morethan eight or ten inches in thickness. This method is used parti-cularly in the Delta when it is threatened with a tlood. As theNile does not always rise to a height sufficient for the purposesof agriculture, the former sovereigns of Egypt were at vast painsto cut proper canals to supply the deficiency. Some of these arestill preserved ; but great numbers have been rendered uselessthrough the indolence or barbarity' of their successors. The artsand all kinds of learning are at a very low ebb among the Egyp-tians. Even the most simple of the mechanical professions arestill in a state of infancy. The work of their cabinet-makers, gun-smiths, and locksmiths, is extremely clumsy. There are manu-factures of gunpowder and sugar; but the quality of both is very 7indifferent. The only thing, in which they can be said to havearrived at any degree of perfection, is the manufacture of silkstuffs; though even these are far less highly finished than those ofEurope. In ancient times, when Egypt was governed by its na-tive sovereigns, it is said to have contained 20,000 cities andtowns: its armies to have amounted to 300,000 men, and its totalpopulation to eight millions. By the tyranny of the Beys andMamelukes , it now hardly amounts to naif that number. Theinhabitants of Egypt have been long distinguished, into four dis-tinct races of people, viz. Arabs, Copts, Mamelukes , and Turks.The Arabs maybe subdivided into three classes: 1. The poste-rity of those who settled here immediately after the conquest ofthe country by Amrou Ebn A1 As, the khalif Omar’s general.2. The Magrebians, or Western Arabs, who at different timeshave migrated from the countries to the westward of Egypt , andare descended from the Saracen conquerors of Mauritania. 3.The Bedouins , or Arabs of the desert, known to the ancients bythe name of Scenites, or dwellers in tents. The Copts are de-scended of those inhabitants of Egypt whom the Arabs subdued, andwho were composed of original Egyptians, Persians , and Greeks.M. Volney is of (ipinion that their name of Copts is only an ab-breviation of the Greek word AiyuTmo;, an Egyptian . They areprincipally' to be met with in the Said, though some also inhabitthe Delta . They have all a y ellowish dusky complexion, pulledtip visages, swoln eyes, fiat noses, and thick lips ; and in fact, theexact countenance of the mulatto. The Mamelukes may' be con-sidered as the real masters of Egypt : and to secure themselves inthe possession of the country, they took several precautions. Oneof the principal was the degradation of the military corps of uzabs andjanizaries, both of which were formerly very formidable. They ef-fected this only in consequence of the wretched government of theTurks; for, before the revolt of Ibrahim Kiava, the Turkish troops,which ought to have consisted of 40,000, were reduced to less thanhalf that number through the avarice of their officers. Their degrada-tion was completed by AH Bey ; who, having first displaced ailthe officers who gave him any umbrage, left their places vacant,and so reduced the consequence of the whole, that the azabs andjanizaries are now only a rabble, who dread the Mamelukes asmuch as the meanest of the populace. The principal body of theM.unelukes reside at Cairo ; but many of them are dispersedthrough the country, in order to keep up tbeir authority, collectVOL. II. — no. 71.
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the tribute, and oppress the people. They are all horsemen ; andas war is accounted the only honourable employment amongthem, it is reckoned disgraceful to walk on foot, none but cavalrybeing by them accounted soldiers. The Turks have the t tie ofbeing masters of Egypt, but are chiefly to be met with at.Cairo ,where they possess the religious and military employments. For-merly they possessed also the posts under government; but thesewere of late monopolised by the Mamelukes . Besides camels,horses, asses, mules, sheep, black cattle, anti other domestic qua-drupeds, there are many wild animals in Egypt ; particularlytigers, hyenas, antelopes, crocodiles, apes with heads resemblingthose of dogs, hippopotamuses, ichneumons, chameleons, yellow.'lizards, and a species of rats resembling ferrets, remarkably useful fordestroying the crocodiles’ eggs. Among the feathered tribe, there,are ostriches, eagles, hawks, pelicans, and water fowls of variouskinds, among which last the most remarkable is the ibis, a bird otthe duck kind, which was deified by the ancient Egy ptians, on ac-count of its usefulness in destroying serpents and noxious insects.These are numerous, and among the different species of serpeutsthe cerastes, or horned viper, abounds, whose bite proves mortal,except to those who have the secret of charming it. “ It wouldrequire volumes, (says John Walker, in his “ Elements of Geo-graphy,”) to describe the astonishing remains of ancient temples,palaces, columns, statues, paintings, &c. that are so profusely scat-tered over a great part of this once renowmed country.” Some ofthese we have already described. See Alexandria and Cata-combs, others will be found in their order. See Labyrinth,Obelisk, and Pyramids. M. Volney says, “ the soil of Egypt is the most fruitful of the whole earth, the easiest cultivated, andtlie most certain in its crops. Plenty' does not there depend as inthe Morea and Candia upon the coutiugence of rain.” Egypt wasin the earliest ages much celebrated for its fertility. This Volneyascribes to the salt with which it abounds. So great is the pro-pensity of the Egyptian soil to produce salt, that even when thegardens are overflowed for the sake of watering them, the surfaceof the ground, after the evaporation and absorption of the water,appears glazed over with salt. The water found in the wells con-tains mineral alkali, marine salt, and a little nitre. M. Volney' isof opinion, that the fertile mould of Egypt , which is of a blackcolour, differs essentially from that of the other parts ; and is de-rived from the internal parts of Ethiopia along with the waters ofthe Nile ; but there is no reason to suppose this kind of earth tobe of a foreign origin ; it being alw ays the result of vegetation andcultivation. Even the most barren and sandy spots in the world,if properly watered, and such vegetables planted in them as wouldgrow there, in time would be covered with this black earth as wellas others: and of this kind of artificial formation of soil, Dr. Slwwg;ives a remaikable instance in the garden of the monks at mouutSinai, which they have rendered very fertile, though the countryis naturally- as barren as in any place of the world. On the whole,w e may reasonably conclude, that the natural fertility of Egypt isnot diminished in modern times, provided the same pains weretaken in the cultivation of it as formerly. “ The Delta, (says M.Saiary,) is at present in the most favourable state for agriculture.Washed on the E. and W. by two rivers formed by the divisionof the Nile , each of which is as large and more deep than theLoire, and intersected by innumerable rivulets; it presents to theeye an immense garden, all the different compartments of whichmay be easily watered. During the three months that the The-bais is under water, the Delta possesses fields covered with rice,barley, vegetables, rind winter fruits. It is also the only part ofEgypt where the same field produces two crops of grain within theyear, the one of rice, the other of barley.” Oranges, lemons, figs,dates,almonds, cassia, plantains, &c. abound in it. But the territory ofEgypt in general produces every thing that either Europe or Asia can boast; as corn, rice, cotton, flax", indigo, sugar, saffron, coffee,sena, rhubarb, aloes, opium, &c. The only cause of all this ferti-lity is the Nile , without which the whole country would soon be-come an uninhabitable desert, as rain falls very seldom in this partof the world.
Egypt , Pyramids of. See Pyramids.
EGYPTEN , a towo of the duchy of Courland, 100 miles S. E.of Mittau . Lon. 26 4Q. E. Eat. 56. 2. N.
EGYPTIANS, the inhabitants of Egypt. See Egypt . Tothe differenfraces mentioned under that article, may be added, s3 K confide: aide