And the bright beams of frosty morning dance Black ashes note where their proud city stood. Each tree which guards its darkness from the day vernal zephyrs, soft, gentle spring breezes. ebon, dark in colour like ebony. metaphor, a figure of speech by -Percy Bysshe Shelley. of an object are ascribed to an- inebriate, furious or frantic. EGYPT.-PART I. 1. Egypt is situated in the north-eastern part of the continent of Africa. The great river Nile flows through its entire length, and bestows upon the country beauty and fertility. 2. The source of this river was for ages unknown to the civilized world, and many attempts have been made by travellers to discover it. In 1864 Captains Speke and Grant discovered that its main stream issues from the Victoria Nyanza, one of the largest lakes in Africa, situated to the south of the equator. Livingstone and Stanley, two other great African travellers, have carefully examined the watershed of the country draining into the Victoria Nyanza, and the latter believes that he has discovered the true source of the river in a lake which he has named the Alexandra Lake. 3. After leaving the Victoria Nyanza the Nile flows for more than a thousand miles in a northerly direction. It is then joined by the Blue Nile, which rises in Abyssinia. The united stream now flows along a devious course of 2300 miles until it reaches the Mediterranean Sea. From the sea to the first cataract, a distance of 450 miles, there is no interruption to navigation, above that it is interrupted by rapids and several cataracts. 4. The Nile below Cairo, the capital of Egypt, 100 miles from the Mediterranean, spreads out into a broad, swampy river, fringed with bulrushes and other aquatic plants, and divides into two streams, which, branching out from each other, form the very fertile Delta of the Nile. 5. The inhabited portion of Egypt proper is mainly confined to the valley of the Nile, which, in its widest part (at the Delta), does not exceed 90 miles, whilst in many parts its width is only from 4 to 5 miles. On each side of the Nile valley is the dry, scorched African desert, and if the river were to cease flowing, the fertile portion of Egypt would soon become engulfed by sand. 6. The water of the Nile is usually turbid from containing earthy matter, but when filtered it becomes clear, and is esteemed very wholesome. The most remarkable phenomenon connected with the river is its annual regular increase, arising from the periodical rains which fall far south within the tropics. As rain rarely falls in Egypt, the prosperity of the country entirely depends upon the overflowing of the river, for on the subsiding of the water the land is found to be covered with a brown, slimy deposit of mud, which so fertilizes the otherwise barren soil that it produces three crops a year, while beyond the limits of the inundation there is no cultivation whatsoever, except on lands that are watered artificially. 7. The Nile begins to rise in June, and continues to increase until September. The Delta then looks like an immense marsh interspersed with islands, villages, towns, and plantations rising just above the level of the water. The water remains stationary for a few days, and then gradually begins to subside until the end of October, when the land is left dry again. Now the peasants hasten to sow the seeds. Very little digging or ploughing is required. As soon as the young plants appear above the ground they are regularly watered by an excellent system of artificial irrigation, which has been practised in Egypt for some thousands of years. s. The water is raised from the Nile either by means of a water-wheel propelled by a donkey, or by a leathern bucket slung on the end of a pole, which is balanced on a prop and has a heavy weight placed on the other end. By the latter process a man can scoop up water that is considerably lower than where he stands, and convey it with ease into a large trough above him, from which it flows by inclined channels to the parts of the fields to be irrigated. 9. The land is soon covered with green crops, and a bountiful harvest is reaped in March. The time of the rising of the Nile is often an occasion of anxiety in Egypt, for should the inundation rise above its usual height it does great damage, and involves the population in distress; while, if it should not attain the ordinary height, there follows a deficiency of crops or famine. But so regular are the operations of nature, that the water generally rises to about the same height. 10. The atmosphere in Egypt is extremely clear and dry, the temperature regular and exceedingly hot, though the heat is tempered during the daytime for nine months in the year by a strong wind which blows from the north, and which enables vessels to ascend the river against the stream. The winter months are delightful, the air being cool and balmy, and the ground covered with verdure; later, the ground becomes parched and dry, and in May the simoon, a hot wind, begins to blow into the valley from the desert plains, raising clouds of fine sand, and causing various diseases, until the rising of the river again comes to bless the land. 11. As above mentioned rain seldom falls, nowhere more than three or four times in the course of the year; but at night the dews are plentiful, and the air cool and refreshing. Showers of hail sometimes fall, but ice is very uncommon. Livingstone, a missionary, and Delta, the name given to the tri angular tract of country found engulfed, covered over. phenomenon, an occurrence. water. simoon, a hot, dry wind from the desert. Where is the supposed source of the Nile? After leaving the Victoria Nyanza how far does the Nile flow before it is joined by the Blue Nile? What obstructions impede the navigation of the stream? What is the character of the river below Cairo? What is a Delta? Describe the Nile valley. What great phenomenon is connected with the Nile? Describe it. What appearance does the Delta present at this time? How is the water required for irrigation raised from the Nile? At what periods of the year are the crops. reaped? Describe the atmosphere and temperature of Egypt. What hot wind blows from the desert, and at what time of the year? EGYPT.-PART II. 1. No country possesses such ancient or such grand monuments of antiquity as Egypt. It abounds in ruins of cities and magnificent temples, and its pyramids have been for ages the wonder of the world. More than 4000 years ago, when most nations were in a state of barbarism, Egypt was a highly civilized country. Its kings were wise and powerful, and its priests and rulers highly educated. 2. When Abraham entered Lower Egypt from Canaan, the people had long enjoyed the advantages of a settled government. They had built cities, and invented a most curious kind of writing, perhaps the most ancient in the world. It is called hieroglyphical writing, and pictures of birds, flowers, animals and men were largely used in the composition of its words. With these picture words they wrote their poetry, or related their history. 3. The records of their kings have been preserved to this day in hieroglyphics cut upon highly polished granite stones which were erected in front of temples. Some of these stones are still standing, and one of them has been brought to this country. It is called the Cleopatra Needle, and is erected upon the Thames embankment in London. |