.mRMA: 
 
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 : - CORPS OF.MGIMERS, U. S. A. :^ • 
 
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g>tate College of Agriculture 
 
 ait Cornell ©niberfittp 
 
 Stljata, M. S. 
 
 Hibrarp 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924003635897 
 
TC 917 ai""*" ""'"""y Library 
 Irrigation in Egypt / 
 
 3 1924 003 635 897 
 
MINISTRY OF AGKICULTURE. 
 
 lEEiaATION IN EG-TPT. 
 
 BY 
 
 Cr. B.A.I?,OIS, 
 
 Engineer-in-Chief des Fonts et Chaussees, 
 PEINCIPAL SECRETAKY TO THE MINISTEY OF PUBLIC WORKS IN EGYPT. 
 
 PA:^IS, 1887. 
 
 Translated frcm the French 
 
 BY 
 
 MAJOR A. M. MILLER, 
 
 Corps oi Engineers, TJ. S. A.nny, X88S. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
 1889. 
 
 h 
 
United States Engineer Office, 
 
 St. Louis, Mo., October 16, 1888. 
 Sir : I have translated from the French a report on irrigation in Egypt by M. J. Barois, 
 ' principal secretary to the ministry of public works in Egypt. The translation, with the plates, is 
 forwarded by this mail. 
 
 I have thought that it would be considered worthy of publication, as at this time the subject 
 of irrigation is receiving considerable attention in this country and an appropriation has been 
 made by Congress for preliminary surveys and investigation of the subject. 
 
 The translation is also interesting as giving recent facts in regard to the regimen of the Nile 
 and some of the methods employed for protection of the banks on that river. 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 A- M. MiLLElS, 
 Major, Corps of Engineers. 
 The Chief of Engineers,- U. S. Army, 
 
 Washington, B. C, 
 
 3 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 IRRIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Introduction 7 
 
 Chapter I. — General Information concerning Egypt and the Nile 9 
 
 II. — General method of Irrigation in Egypt 21 
 
 III. — Description of the different Irrigation Works of Upper Egypt 33 
 
 IV. — Description of the most important Irrigation Works in Lower Egypt 45 
 
 y. — Construction and Bepairs of Canals, Dikes, and Works of Skill.. 63 
 
 VI. — Method of elevating and using Irrigation Water.. 75 
 
 VII. — Crops cultivated in Egypt 83 
 
 VIII. — Benefits resulting from Irrigation 93 
 
 IX. — Irrigation in Egypt considered in reference to Laws and Regulations — Method of Landed Pro- 
 
 pnetoTS 99 
 
 X. — Conclusions and Projects 107 
 
 5 
 
IRRIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 INTKODUOTION. 
 
 Up to the present day we have no other data concerning the methods employed by the ancient 
 Egyptians in the art of irrigation than the general and quite vague information which has been 
 handed down by the Greek and Koman authors. The soil and monuments of Egypt, examined 
 with so much ardor by the learned since the beginning of the present century, have revealed 
 nothing, or almost nothing, on this subject. 
 
 Although we find in many parts of Egypt gigantic pyramids, the ruins of imposing temples, 
 and vast cemeteries dating from the most remote epochs of history, it is remarkable that we have 
 discovered only very faint traces of Pharaonic monuments relating to the utilization and distribu- 
 tion of the waters of the Nile. 
 
 It is doubtful whether archaeologists have been able to determine the position or define the 
 object of Lake Moeris, that grand work which astonished the ancients. Two or three nilometers 
 in ruined temples are the only vestiges of that interest which was always attached to the flood 
 heights of the Nile. The landing-wharves, masonry dikes, reservoir-walls, bridges, outlets, all 
 those works which would give any valuable indications of the limit of the basins of inundation, 
 their method of supply and discharge, everything concerning irrigation, have entirely disappeared, 
 and the reason is easily explained. That the pyraimids and cemeteries have been preserved is 
 because they were constructed on the margin of the desert and built upon the rocks beyond the 
 reach of the water. That the temples erected in low grounds of the valley have been preserved 
 from destruction is because the talus of rubbish which surrounds them has protected them from 
 the direct action of the Nile. Still this protection has not always been sufficient, and we may see 
 to-day, as at Kom Ombo, great edifices crumbling little by little into the bed of the river, which 
 undermines their base. But the works of irrigation, located generally at low points, built upon a 
 soil of mud and of little resistance, have very soon been ruined by giving way of dikes or by the 
 changes of the Nile. Their outlines have been lost during the long centuries of neglect and misery 
 which have so often prevailed in Egypt, and their debris, engulfed by the water or submerged under 
 beds of mud, have disappeared; their position is no longer indicated even by an eddy of the river 
 or an undulation of the soil. Moreover, a very unaccountable fact is established ; the walls of 
 tombs, which have transmitted to us the exact representation of the processes employed by the 
 ancient Egyptians in the arts, in agriculture, in trades of every kind, show none of the working 
 parts of their dikes, opening or closing of their dams, or flushing of their canals. In all Egypt, 
 with difficulty, there have been discovered, on two or three bas-reliefs, fellahs employed in raising 
 water for irrigation, as they do still today, by means of leathern baskets suspended from the 
 extremity of a lever. Hieroglyphics have always shown us that among the most important func- 
 tionaries of the country were counted those who had charge of overseeing the canals and distrib- 
 uting the water. Notwithstanding this lack of information, there is such stability in the customs 
 
8 IREIGATIOlf m EGYPD. 
 
 of the country, and the methods of agriculture aad the manual arts differ so little to-day from 
 those represented on the most ancient tombs, that we may infer, without much question, that the 
 processes of irrigation actually in use have been, in great part, bequeathed to the present epoch by 
 the most remote ages, at least those which concern the practices of agriculture, the method of 
 employing the water, its elevation to the level of the land, and all the operations which pertain to 
 the distribution of water. Of the general system of utilization and distribution of the I^ile water, 
 which was employed formerly under the Pharaohs, nothing probably remains. 
 
 The classic land of irrigation, as it is customary to designate Egypt, hides no secret, sanctioned 
 by time, for a better management of the water of the great river, and even in the existing method 
 we should not seek for very perfect means for regulating the water or very remarkable dispositions 
 for canals or for other works which serve for irrigation. The great works undertaken since the 
 beginning of the century by Mehemet Ali and his successors have generally been designed and 
 executed without a complete plan carefully studied; many of them have never been finished; 
 nevertheless they have increased in a considerable degree the productive power of Egypt, and in 
 this point of view it has appeared to me of interest to report them. 
 
 On the other hand, I have thought it would not be useless to call the attention of French 
 engineers to the advantages and inconveniences of the great derivations, really artificial rivers, 
 which irrigate Upper Egypt and the entire delta, and which might be applicable, if not in Prance 
 itself, at least to the deltas of the large rivers of our possessions in the extreme Orient. Finally, 
 it seems to me that there would always be some valuable information to be obtained from a knowl- 
 edge of the method and results of irrigation in a country where it has been employed for a long 
 time, and where it not only produces the wealth but is its only resource. 
 
 Such is the spirit in which I undertake this work. I have endeavored to expound facts con- 
 cerning general information which can be made available for the art of irrigation, passing over 
 as a side issue the peculiarities and specialties, which are of no interest outside of Egypt. I have 
 not treated the historical branches of the subject; it has elsewhere been treated in detail, both by 
 the great work of the French expedition and by Linant de Bellefonds in his books on the public 
 works of Egypt. 
 
 I will confine myself, then, at first,to giving some general ideas about Egypt, her climate and 
 soil, then about the Nile and the different systems of irrigation adopted in the country. I will 
 afterwards pass in review each region, describing the principal canals and works there found ; then 
 I will explain the method of execution and maintenance of public works; after having investi- 
 gated the employment of water for the various crops and the method of using it by the rural pro- 
 prietors, I will attempt to indicate the benefits the land derives from a good irrigation ; and finally 
 I will explain the laws and regulations governing the matter. 
 
 I have stated above that the great works of irrigation in Egypt have been heretofore badly 
 arranged. European engineers of every nationality, and among others distinguished French 
 engineers, have attempted for a long time to create an organization for the system, and have elab- 
 orated for this purpose numerous projects, but although they have done much to perfect the 
 method of using the Nile water, they have usually been hindered in this enterprise either by the 
 will of the sovereign, the ineritia of the proprietors, or the resistance of the population. Events 
 of the last years have placed the whole service of irrigation in the hands of English engineers, 
 IV ho, profiting by the freedom of action which the present situation of Egypt affords them, are 
 attempting, at present, to improve and complete the works of their predecessors. I will say a few 
 words in concluding this investigation as to their projects and the works in process of construc- 
 tibn. 
 
 I will confine myself in all that follows to that portion of Egypt which is to the north of the 
 first cataract of the Nile, at which point cultivable Egypt really begins. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 GENERAL INFORMATION CONCERNING EGYPT AND THE NILE. 
 
 GENERAL DESOBIPTION OF EQTFI—THE NILE~aOMPOSIIl6N OF THE SOIL OF EOTPT—NAIVBE OF THE WATFB 
 
 ANT> MUD OF TBE NILE. 
 
 I. General Description op Eoypt.* 
 
 Extending from the first cataract, at Assouan, to a few kilometers north of Cairo, the valley 
 of the Nile proper takes the shape of a long and narrow ribbon of land, having a general trend 
 from north to south ; it extends from the twenty- fourth to the thirtieth degree of north latitude for 
 a distance of nearly 900 kilometers. The maximum width of the valley hardly exceeds 25 kilome- 
 ters, the mean is from 12 to 14 kilometers. 
 
 The surveyed area of this portion of Egypt, which is generally designated under the name of 
 Upper Egypt, is about 1,007,900 hectares. 
 
 In Upper Egypt the valley of the Nile is incldsed, on both sides, between arid and desert 
 plateaus, which extend on the one hand to the Eed Sea, and on the other hand to the eastern limit 
 of the Sahara; thus inclosed between vast and desolate regions, deprived of moisture and unsuit- 
 able for any vegetation, it is a true elongated oasis. The border of these two long plateaus present 
 to view abrupt clifis in some localities, in others ranges of hills. They are called, on the west, the 
 Libyan chain, and the Arabian chain on the east. The crests of these two ranges seldom rise 
 higher than 200 or 300 meters above the level of the river, generally they do not exceed 50 to 100 
 meters in height. 
 
 At two points, Gebel Cilcila, situated 68 kilometers north of Assouan, and at-Gebel Ein, which 
 is a few kilometers below the formed point, the valley is so crowded between the rocky counter- 
 forts of the Libyan and Arabian deserts that it is reduced to the very bed itself of the Nile. 
 
 In the Libyan chain, 90 kilometers south of Cairo, there is a pass behind which extends a 
 depression, circular in form, about 40 kilometers in diameter. This pocket of low ground, scooped 
 out of the surface of the desert and fed with water by a supply from the Nile, is called Fayoum. 
 It is considered as forming a part of Upper Egypt, and has a surveyed area of 123,300 hectares. 
 It is generally supposed that Lake Moeris extended formerly over a portion of this province. 
 
 A short distance north of Cairo begins the Delta or Lowe rJEgypt, which is composed of three 
 parts. 
 
 The first, which is the Delta proper, is comprised between the two branches into which the 
 Nile divides, a few kilometers below Cairo, and which are the only two now remaining of the 
 seven ancient arms; the Eosetta arm on the west and the Damietta on the east. The Delta 
 forms a triangle with an altitude of 160 kilometers and a base of 140 kilometers ; it includes a 
 surveyed area of about 720,300 hectares. / 
 
 The second part of Lower Egypt, to the west of the Eosetta arm, is an elongated triangle, 
 whose apex is a little below the separation of the two arms of the Nile, and whose base along 
 
 * See Plate I, General Map of Egypt. 
 
10 lERIGATIOK IK EGYPT. 
 
 the sea extends for about 70 kilometers in length. The surveyed area of this portion is about 
 168,500 hectares. 
 
 Finally, the third part of the Delta stretches to the east of the Damietta ; it also forms a 
 triangle whose base along the sea, between Damietta and Port Said, is 60 kilometers long. The 
 surveyed area is 513,800 hectares. 
 
 The surveyed area of Lower Egypt is then about 1,402,600 hectares, but this does not include 
 the area occupied by the series of lakes which extend along the base of the Delta, and which are 
 separated from the sea by a chain of littoral dunes. These lakes cover a total area of nearly 
 400,000 hectares. 
 
 From the two borders of Lower Egypt, to the east as well as to the west, begin, without 
 geological change, on one hand the great Libyan Desert, and on the other the desert of Arabia, 
 crossed a little farther by the Suez Canal. 
 
 The surveyed area of Egypt, not including the lakes in the north of the Delta, is then as 
 follows : 
 
 Hectares. 
 
 Upper Egypt 1,007,900 
 
 Lower Egypt or Delta 1,402,600 
 
 Total 2,410,500 
 
 The total area of the country, including uncultivated land, lakes, marshes, etc., may be esti- 
 mated as about 3,000,000 hectares. Thus the Nile from Assouan to the sea has a length almost 
 equal to that of the Loire, and the entire area of Egypt corresponds almost to the area of the five 
 French departments. 
 
 The total stationary population of the valley proper, from Assouan to the sea, is 6,302,336, 
 according to the last census of 1882. This represents 210 inhabitants per square kilometer. The 
 population of Belgium, which is the densest of all Europe, is only 187 inhabitants per square kilo- 
 meter. Egypt is therefore a country relatively populous. 
 
 The climate in Upper Egypt is dry and hot ; there is no rain, or at least it rains very rarely. 
 Thus, at Cairo, where the heat is a little less than in Upper Egj'pt, the mean temperature is 20o.9 
 centigrade for the year, 13^.4 for the three months of winter, and 26o.8 for the three months of sum- 
 mer, according 4o observations taken at the Khedive's observatory at Cairo. 
 
 The amount of annual rain-fall is insignificant ; it does not exceed a mean of 26.8 millimeters. 
 
 In the Delta the temperature is modified; the rain becomes more abundant as one approaches 
 the sea, and at Alexandria, from observations taken for many years by M. A. Pirond, the mean 
 temperature is 20o.7 centigrade.for the entire .year, 150.4 for the three winter months, and 25o.6 
 for the three summer months; the annual rain-fall in this city is 212.3 millimeters. 
 
 With such climatic conditions, and with the vicinity of immense deserts, the evaporation from 
 the surface of the Mle, canals, and irrigated lands should be considerable ; but there have been 
 no exact observations to fix the importance of this phenomenon. 
 
 M. Linant de Bellefonds reports that observations, taken for two years without interruption, 
 have enabled him to fix the mean evaporation at 9 millimeters daily. This amount appears 
 excessive; it is probable that it resulted from observations made on small reservoirs, although M. 
 Linant does not specify the nature of the observations which lead to this result. On the other 
 hand, during the construction of the Suez Canal, and at the time of the opening of the Bitter 
 Lakes, M. Lavalley made observations on a large scale, from the month of March to the month of 
 August— that is to say— during the hot season, and he finds that over this great surface of water 
 the evaporation each day was only 3 to 4 millimeters. This is the amount which was accepted in 
 1882 by the commission officially charged to examine, in France, the project for the interior sea of 
 Gabes as representing the probable evaporation from the surface of the projected sea in a climate 
 analogous to that of Egypt. 
 
 It must be admitted, however, for canals which do not contain a large quantity of water, for 
 the inundation basins, generally subject to the action of the continuous winds which prevail in the 
 Nile valley during flood, that the total of 3 to 4 millimeters is below the true mean evaporation. 
 
 I will avoid, as much as possible, the employment of foreign names, little familiar to the 
 reader, in speaking of the territorial divisions of Egypt; nevertheless I will necessarily be 
 
lEElGATION m EGTtPf . 
 
 11 
 
 obliged to cite them to give more clearness to the subject. I prefer to indicate here the nomen- 
 clature of the fourteen provinces into which the country is divided. They are administrative 
 divisions, which correspond nearly to what are departments in Prance. 
 
 
 Surveyed 
 
 area ia 
 
 liec tares. 
 
 Population. 
 
 UPPER EGYPT. 
 
 
 
 Th,e provinces below are enumerated descend- 
 
 
 
 ing the course of the Nile from south to north. 
 
 
 
 Provincea : 
 
 
 
 Esneh 
 
 65, 700 
 
 110, 630 
 
 Keneh 
 
 128, 500 
 
 383, 819 
 
 
 149, 200 
 180, 700 
 
 515, 972 
 
 Siont '. 
 
 649, 776 
 
 ' Minieh 
 
 181, 200 
 
 294, §55 
 
 Beni-Souef 
 
 92, 000 
 
 193,305 
 
 
 123, 300 
 
 200, 967 
 
 Gnizeh 
 
 87, 300 
 
 274, 406 
 
 LOWER EGYPT. 
 
 Hast of the Damietta arm. 
 
 
 
 Provinces : 
 
 
 
 Galoubieh 
 
 81, 400 
 
 254, 198 
 
 Charkieh 1 
 
 218, 20O 
 
 435, 380 
 
 Dakalieh ; 
 
 214, 200 
 
 ,578, 144 
 
 B^ween the two arms of the Nile. 
 
 Provinces : . , 
 
 
 
 Kenoufieh 
 
 166,400 
 
 642, 609 
 
 Gar bieh 
 
 563, 900 
 
 908, 041 
 
 West of the Mosetta arm. 
 
 
 168, 600 
 
 364, 050 
 
 Total 
 
 2,410,500 
 'ised in the 
 
 Add for the population of a few cities not comp] 
 
 
 provinces enumerated above : 
 
 
 
 Cairo 
 
 
 352, 416 
 181, 200 
 
 Alexandria 
 
 
 43, 500 
 19, 267 
 
 Rosetta ........... 
 
 
 6, 302, 336 
 
 
 II. The Nile.* 
 
 Burnt from one end of the year to the other by a sun that rarely hides itself, and deprived of 
 the kindly influence of rain, Egypt only exists by the Nile, and this tiver, in order to carry to 
 her the tribute of its fecundating waters, produced by tropical rains, is obliged to meander for 
 many thousand kilometers between arid banks and savage rocks without a single affluent, a single 
 drop of water from the heavens, coming to compensate the losses from infiltration and evaporation. 
 
 At Khartoum, about 15o.40 north latitude, the Nile ia really formed by the junction of the 
 two great equatorial rivers called the White Nile and the Blue Nile. A little to the north of 
 Berber, about 17°.40 north latitude, the discliarge of the river is again added to by a last affluent, 
 the Atbara, which, dry a part of the yea.r, brings to the Nile all the waters of the northern por- 
 tion of the mountains of Abyssinia ; but from Berber to the sea, a course of nearly 3,000 kilometers, 
 no new water comes to the river. Prom Assouan to the sea the Nile flows in a bed excavated in 
 the midst of layers of mud which it has successively deposited in the bottom of its valley. The 
 latter, quite narrow below Assouan, enlarges at the thirtieth kilometer below to form a vast plain 
 above Gebel Oilcileh, a point where, as above sai4, the river passes a rocky defile which is about 
 400 meters wide. 
 
 * See Plate I, Map of the Nile. 
 
12 IREIGATIOK II? EGYPT. 
 
 Below this point the -width of the mud region and bottom of the valley increases gradually 
 and assumes presently mean normal dimensions of 12 to 14 kilometers. Kothing hinders its 
 course in the midst of these deposits, which lose their resistance by contact with the water. The 
 Nile forms a channel sometimes almost rectilinear, at others very tortuous, caving its banks on 
 one side, accumulating the mud on the other, flowing thus in a bed which changes every year, at 
 one point pushed aside by villages which seek to preserve themselves from destruction, at another 
 thrown to the Jniddle of the plain by the mountains which bound the valley. 
 
 In all Upper Egypt the bed of the Nile is almost constantly carried to the right side of the 
 valley, and flowsquite frequently along the very foot of the limestone cliffs which bound it. Most 
 of the cities and farms are found here ou the left bank of the river. 
 
 The width of the Mle is very variable. During low water the river wanders between vertical 
 banks and bars of sand and mud; ordinarily it is separated into several channels ; the level at 
 this stage is from 8 to 10 meters below the surface of the soil near Assouan, and from 5 to 6 
 meters near the apex of the Delta. During mean stage the Nile flows bank-full, with a width 
 between banks from 500 meters to 2 kilometers, and is often divided into many channels by 
 islands, which are frequently many kilometers long. It is narrowest opposite Cairo. The con- 
 struction of wharves and the closing of the ancient sloughs have reduced the width to 240 meters. 
 The depth at this point reaches 12 to 15 meters at low water. Finally, during high water the 
 greater bed of the stream, for the most part, would be the entire valley, were it not that the river 
 is confined by dikes, more or less distant from the banks ai;d sufficiently high to protect the land 
 from overflow. 
 
 From the apex of the Delta to the sea the two arms, the Eosetta and the Damietta, into which 
 the Nile divides, behave nearly like the principal trunk ; we have the same itregularities of bed, 
 the same displacements of current. The Damietta arm, which is the less important of the two, 
 presents generally a less width throughout than the Eosetta. Both arms flow through the midst 
 of alluvium, remote from mountains and deserts, except that for the upper 40 kilometers of its 
 course the Eosetta arm borders the Libyan desert. 
 
 Low water, which is from 4 to 5 meters below the general level of the soil at the apex of the 
 Delta, is not more than 1 meter below the soil level at the mouths. As for the floods, were they 
 not retained by dikes they would ofteu inundate the greater part of Lower Egypt, since the level , 
 of the ordinary floods here is at least 1 meter above the general level of the land. 
 
 Although the Damietta and Eosetta arms are the only ones which at present exist, all the 
 ancient arms are actually found either filled up or converted into derivations or canals; it would 
 not be exact to say that the Eosetta and the Damietta were the only mouths by which the river 
 empties into the sea. The Nile, iu fact, throws a part of its waters for the entire year, or during 
 flood only, according to circumstances, by natural or artificial derivations, or by drainage canals, 
 into a series of lakes which form, as it were, a girdle at the base of the Delta. These lakes are 
 separated from the sea by a chain of littoral dunes, resting on the alluvial mud which comes from 
 the Nile, and is pushed along the sea-shore by a littoral current acting from west to east. Each 
 of these connects with the sea by an opening or mouth, which permits them to discharge the sur- 
 plus water that the Nile sends them, and which should be considered true mouths of the river. 
 These lakes are: Lake Edkou, to the west of the Eosetta arm, covering 34,000 hectares; Lake 
 Bourlos, which extends between the two arms of the Nile for about 80 kilometers in length parallel 
 to the sea-shore, having a mean area of 112,000 hectares; and, lastly, Lake Menzaleh, to the east of 
 Damietta, which has been crossed by the Suez Canal, and is about 60 kilometers long and about 
 150,000 hectares in area. Two other littoral lakes are situated to the west of Lake Edkou; they are 
 Lakes Aboukir and Mariout, their combined area is about 100,000 hectares; they also receive some 
 water from the Nile by means of irrigation and drainage canals, or by infiltration, but they have 
 no outlets on the side of the sea. 
 
 Taking the general direction of the valley, without considering the numerous bends traced by 
 the course of the Nile, the total length of Upper Egypt, from Assouan to the apex of the Delta, is 
 about 860 kilometers, the length of the Delta, following in like manner the same general direction 
 of either arm, is about 170 kilometers. Measured under the same conditions, the mean longi- 
 tudinal slope of the valley, little variable from one point to another, is about 9 centimeters per 
 
lEEIGATIOH II«r EGYPT. 13 
 
 kilometer for Upper Egypt and 10 for the Delta. But if we measure the detours which the mean 
 course of the river takes, the length of the Nile would be 1,000 kilometers from Assouan to the 
 apex of the Delta, and from this point to the sea would be 266 kilometers by the Eosetta arm 
 and 272 kilometers by the Damietta, being an increase of 16 per cent, in Upper Egypt and 55 and 
 59 per cent, in Lower Egypt over the length of the valley in the Delta as indicated above. Under 
 the same conditions, the profile along the banks of the river has a slope in Upper Egypt of 75 
 millimeters per kilometer, 66 millimeters per kilometer following the Eosetta arm, and 65 millime- 
 ters per kilometer along the arm of Damietta. The mean slope of the river between Assouan 
 and the Delta may be considered, either at low water or at flood, as nearly equal to the slope 
 of the banks, or 75 millimeters per kilometer; however, it is somewhat less at low water, the cur- 
 rent making detours. In the Delta the slope of the water is somewhat greater than the slope 
 of the banks at flood ; floods may exceed by more than one meter the level of the land at the 
 junction of the two arms of the Nile. During low water, on the contrary, the river may fall 5 or 6 
 meters below the land level at the apex of the Delta. The water slope in Lower Egyjt is more 
 gentle than that of the banks, and may be as low as 42 millimeters per kilometer. 
 
 According to levels, undertaken and interrupted at different attempts, and which have just 
 been completed, the mean level of the arable lands in the neighborhood of Assouan is 94 meters, 
 and at the apex of the Delta 17 meters, above the mean level of the Mediterranean. 
 
 As in every valley where a river flows, cutting its bed in the midst of its own alluvium, 
 Egypt has a transverse slope from the banks of the Mle to the boundaries of the desert. Thus in 
 the province of Guirgueh the cultivated land which is situated near the rivQ» is higher than that 
 which extends to the foot of the western mountains, by 50 to 90 centimeters, for a total valley 
 width of from 5 to 6 kilometers. In, the south of the province of Beni-Souef, where the valley is 
 from 12 to 15 kilometers wide, this difference is between 80 centimeters and 1.20 meters. 
 
 The same phenomenon is presented in the Delta ; the banks of the two arms of the river here 
 are higher than the land farther back ; also the banks of the Damietta are higher than those of 
 the Eosetta If the levels of these two arms are taken on the same line from east to west, we find, 
 about the middle of the Delta, where they are about 50 kilometers apart, that the Damietta arm 
 is 1.30 meters higher than the Eosetta ; also that in this middle portion the difference of level of 
 the two arms is the greatest. In this same middle region of the Delta, and -to the east of the 
 Damietta arm, the transverse slope of the soU from the river is only from 2 to 3 centimeters per 
 kilometer. 
 
 All these transverse slopes are then quite gentle. 
 
 The regimen of the Nile is very remarkable for its great regularity. Every year the river 
 begins to rise, in Egypt at the end of June, the water rises until the end of September, then 
 falls, very rapidly at first, slowly afterwards, until the month of June of the following year. 
 Every year the phenomenon is repeated in the same manner, with slight variations in the level of 
 the low water and floods, and the dates of the maximum and minimum of ^the water height. 
 Therefore in Egypt those sudden, accidental, and unexpected rises are not apprehended, which 
 cause so much disaster along our rivers and which give so much uneasiness to engineers. 
 
 The regularity of this annual flood occurs because the Mle is fed exclusively by periodical 
 tropical rains, and because the contributions from irregular rains, such as occur in the temperate 
 zones, do not disturb the normal flow of water until the following year. The three great affluents^ 
 of the Nile are on one side, the Atbara and Blue Nile, which both take their rise in Abyssinia, and 
 on the other the White Nile; this latter is formed about the ninth degree of north latitude, by 
 thejunction of the three great rivers, the Bahr-el-Gebel, which flows from the great equatorial 
 lakes, the Sobat, and the Bahr el-Gazal, the first from the east and the second from the west, both 
 having their principal sources between the ninth and sixth degrees of north latitude. 
 
 The Blue Nile and the Atbara appear to have almost the same discharge; the Atbara is more 
 rapid, and remains dry a part of the year; at its mouth it is about 600 meters wide. These two 
 affluents bring to the Nile the mud which they have taken from the plains of Abyssinia. 
 
 The equatorial lakes begin to empty their waters into the White Nile in the month of April; 
 the rains then pass to the north and fill the Sobat and Bahr-el-Gazal, which hold up the floods 
 produced by the Bahr-el-Gebel. The White Nile rises at Kahrtoum about the end of April and 
 
14 . lEEIGATION IF EGYPT. 
 
 falls from the beginning of September. This river is the first to send its waters to Assouan at the 
 end of June, about forty days after they arrive at Kahrtoum; this river also, on account of 
 the storage of water in the equatorial lakes, and the immense marshes through which it flows, 
 maintains the high level of the Nile in Egypt after the Atbara and Blue Nile, which are more vari- 
 able and torrential, have regained their beds ; the maximum of the flood of these last rivers, 
 which occurs in August, reaches Egypt in September. Thus the White Nile, the outlet of the 
 great lakes, is the regulator; the Blue Nile and the Atbara give the flood its strength; these 
 are the principal factors that make up the regimen of the Nile. 
 
 From the more or less want of concordance which exists each year between the epochs of 
 the flood of the Atbara, the Blue and White Nile, there necessarily . results for Egypt corre- 
 sponding differences in the level of maximum flood and in the dates of this maximum. This is 
 in fact what occurs, and although the phenomenon of the Nile flood as a whole may be the most 
 regular in nature, nevertheless it undergoes every year variations which render the utilization of 
 the high vjater more or less difficult for irrigation, and causes the flood to be insufficient, good, 
 or too much for Egypt. 
 
 At Assouan — that is, at its entrance into Egypt— the limits between which these changes 
 iuithe regimen of the river may occur from year to year are as follows: 
 
 (1) The epoch of maximum flood is always between the 15th of August and the 1st of Oc- 
 tober. 
 
 (2) During the period of ten years, from 1872 to 1881, the level of lowest water has varied 
 between the limits of 84.29 and 86.89 meters above the Mediterranean, which gives a difference 
 of 2.60 meters between the extreme limits of low water. 
 
 (3) During the same period of ten years the level of the highest flood has varied between the 
 limits of 91.40 and 94.15 meters above the Mediterranean, which gives a difference of 2.75 meters 
 between the extreme limits of the floods. 
 
 In Egypt it is customary, by tradition, to compare the floods by the indications of the gauge 
 at Cairo; but if the regimen of the Nile is to be studied, it is preferable to use the gauge at Assouan, 
 because at this point the filling or emptying of the basins of inundation, the feeding of the canals, 
 or the diking of the river have not influenced the discharge or water levels. However, as the 
 levels which the Nile assumes each year at Cairo at low water and flood are of great importance 
 to Lower Egypt, it is useful to record them. 
 
 During the period of ten years, from 3872 to 1881, the low water of the Nile has varied between 
 heights of 11.49 and 13,76 meters, which gives a difference of 2.27 meters between extreme staged. 
 These results are now modified by the rise of water obtained by the great dam at the apex of the 
 Delta. / 
 
 On the other hand, Col. Scott Moncrieff, under Secretary of State to the Ministry of Public 
 Works, in his note on irrigation in Egypt for 1884, gives the following information concerning the 
 flood levels at Cairo for the last one hundred and twenty-six years ending in 1885, inclusive : 
 
 NILE LEVEL. 
 
 Meters. 
 
 5 years above the limit of 20.12 
 
 24 years above the limit of __ 19.58 
 
 28 years above the limit of 1 ^._. 19.04 
 
 21 years above the limit of 18.50 
 
 19 years above the limit of ^ 18.23 
 
 13 years above the limit of 17.96 
 
 11 years above the limit of 17.69 
 
 4 years above the limit of ■ 17.42 
 
 1 year above the limit of 17. 15 
 
 Total- 126 ^ 
 
 This table shows a difference of about 3 meters between the extreme floods. 
 To resume, the mea^n rise of the Nile is about 8 meters at Assouan and 7 meters at Cairo, with 
 a maximum variation of 2.50 and 3 meters in the extreme Ijmit of the low water and of the flood. 
 
lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 15 
 
 On the following diagram are represented the hydrographs at Cairo and Assouan for the year 
 1881, which may be taken as corresponding to an ordinary state of the Nile regimen. This year 
 at Assouan the Nile fell gradually about 2.50 meters, with a regular rate, from the month of Jan- 
 uary to the beginning of May, then it remained almost stationary until towards the 15th of June ; 
 at this time it began rising, and rose 7.50 meters up to the 1st September, about two months 
 and a half; this level was maintained until about the 20th September, then it fell again about 5 
 meters until the 1st January, 1882, a little more than two months. 
 
 On this curve the flood of the different affluents which contribute to form the total flood are 
 not very distinctly marked, they are almost confounded with each other ; in other years they^ can 
 be seen indicated by many maxima sharply separated and succeeding each other at intervals of 
 three weeks 6v a month, during which the water falls at times 1 meter, rising again. 
 
 In 1881 the curve at Cairo followed that at Assouan with a little retardation and with less 
 amplitude in the total rise; "here the water does not begin to rise till the beginning of July and 
 continues until about the 10th September; after this date the curve rises again very slowly, then 
 it makes a sudden jump about the 10th October; the continual upward direction from the 10th of 
 September and this sudden jump, which showed a supplementary flood of about 1 meter, are pro- 
 duced by the emptying of the basins, which goes on about this time of the year. The curve falls 
 then to the 3ist of December, at first quite fast, then more slowly. 
 
 These curves serve to give a general idea of the annual regimen of the Nile: 
 
 Higits <^ ike Mle at Cairo and Assouan in 1881. 
 
 •I 
 
 I 
 ■I 
 
 I 
 
 / 22' 
 21 
 20 
 19 
 IS 
 17 
 16 
 15 
 
 K 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 / 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 
 At 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 -'\i 
 
 V 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 / r 
 / 1 
 
 
 
 \\ 
 i\ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 l\ 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 \, 
 
 ^t 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 13 
 
 s 
 
 ^ 
 
 «v r 
 
 
 
 
 .1 N 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
 ■x^ 
 
 ^ 
 ''^-. 
 
 ^ 
 ^ 
 
 \> 
 
 fJ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 1? 
 
 
 
 
 ^'t 
 
 
 Sift.,. 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (Tan. 
 
 Fel). 
 
 Mar. 
 
 April 
 
 ■Mi^ 
 
 Jane 
 
 Jiiy 
 
 AuJ' 
 
 fiepl: 
 
 Oct 
 
 Nov; 
 
 Dee. 
 
 93 
 
 92 
 
 91 
 
 30 • 
 
 39 
 
 S8 
 
 87 
 
 36 
 
 85 
 
 
 J 
 
 s 
 
 
 Scale of tlaffs....0.aaasSme2er'='Z.dccffm 
 iScale ofjiiffi6f......O.<nB7etej' = 2Jfiei^n 
 
 The mean velocity at low water is naturally variable from point to point, the bed of the Nile 
 presenting great irregularities ; however, above Cairo it may be stated that during low water, in a 
 section where the water is well collected, the mean velocity is from 450 to 500 millimeters per 
 
16 lEEIGATION m EGYPT. 
 
 second. The engineers of the French expedition found 645 millimeters as the mean velocity at 
 flood height. 
 
 It has been determined, from observations taken at various epochs, that the discharge of the 
 Nile in Egypt, at the lowest stages, may be estimated at 460 cubic meters per second; during 
 mean flood this discharge is raised to 13,000 cubic meters per second, from observations taken at 
 Cilcileh by Linant de Bellefonds. If we compare these amounts with those given for French 
 rivers, we fiud that at Beaucaire the discharge of the Ehone during low water is 400 cubic meters 
 per second, a little less than the minimum discharge of the Nile, and that at the same point during 
 the highest flood the same river discharges 13,900 cubic meters, a little more than the Nile at 
 mean flood. 
 
 It is useless here to speak of the regimen of the Nile below Cairo, because the works and canals 
 which have been constructed for the distribution of water among the lands to be irrigated, have 
 created in the two branches of the Delta an entirely artificial condition. The investigation of this 
 will be more in place in the chapter where will be considered the irrigation of the provinces which 
 border these two branches. 
 
 • Formerly, when Egypt held Khartoum and Berber, the gauges established in these two cities 
 permitted the announcement of the Nile movements a long time before they were transmitted to 
 Assouan, because the water took forty days at the beginning and thirty days at the end of the 
 flood to pass over the distance between Khartoum and Assouan. The result was great security 
 for the country, which had thus all the time necessary to strengthen the dikes and protect the 
 works when the nilometer of the upper river announced an exceptional flood. 
 
 At present, as Egypt holds the course of the Nile only as far as Ouadi-Alfa — that is, as far as 
 the second cataract — this is the point at which is established the farthest gauge ; the water takes 
 four to six days only to pass from this station to Assouan, and it comes from Assouan to the point 
 of the Delta in from nine to eleven days, according to the stage of the flood. It has therefore 
 become very difficult to become forearmed in Egypt against the effects of the great floods. 
 
 III. — Composition of the Soil of Egypt — Nature of the Water and Mxjd op the Nile. 
 
 The geographic and climatic conditions existing in Egypt and the peculiarities of the Nile 
 regimen having been summarily indicated, there still remain to be examined the quality of the 
 soil, as well as the composition of the water and mud of the Nile, to have passed in review all the 
 elements which characterize the country in reference to irrigation. 
 
 The soil of the Nile valley in Upper Egypt, as in the Delta, is formed by the alluvial deposits 
 of the river. At the period of low water, when the level has fallen to 7 or 8 meters below the 
 surface of the cultivated lands, if we go over the river following the bank at one of the many 
 places where the river undermines its base and cuts it almost vertically, and if we observe the sec- 
 tion of the earth thus exposed, we recognize readily the different varieties of which the alluvium 
 is composed ; some layers very argillaceous and fissured stand vertical, others more sandy show 
 little cohesion, and finally from point to poiut banks of almost pure sand assume a long slope 
 these sands alternate in layers, more or less thick, between the argillaceous mud. The mud deposits 
 extend to more than ten meters in height above the bottom of the river bed ; below are found sand 
 and gravel, then, still deeper yet, beds of clay. 
 
 In the vicinity of the apex of the Delta the beginning of the sand and gravel is at a depth of 
 twenty meters below the surface, the clays are at a depth of twenty-five meters, and it is about 
 the same in Upper Egypt. Borings to great depths, made in Upper Egypt in 1848 by the Govern- 
 ment, seem to indicate that the solid foundation upon which the alluvium rests is composed of 
 chalk, sandstone, and schists; the border of the rocky basin which limits the Nile valley is formed 
 of calcareous deposits from the sea as far as Gebel Cilcileh — that is, for almost the extent of Egypt 
 beyond Gebel Cilcileh sandstone replaces the limestone, and at Assouan it is replaced by granitic 
 rocks. 
 
 The stratum of vegetable mold which forms the arable land of Egypt is of considerable depth • 
 it is in general an alluvial clay, whose chemical composition is quite uniform in Upper as well as 
 Lower Egypt. 
 
lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 17 
 
 From numerous analyses, made in 1872 at Paris under the direction of MM. Payen, Champion 
 and Gastinel Bey, it contained about — 
 
 Per cent. 
 
 Siliea 45 
 
 Clay 53 
 
 Magnesia 20 to 1.60 
 
 Lime 1.30 to 4. 90 
 
 Nitrogen 0.03 to 0.10 
 
 Phosphoric acid 0.03 to 0.32 
 
 As we approach the Mediterranean the soil contains more or less sodium chloride, in the 
 middle of the Delta it goes as high as 4 per cent. 
 
 In general the Egyptian soil contains too much silica, clay, and iron oxide, and has very little 
 lime, small quantities of phosphoric acid, and little organic matter; the portion of this latter mate- 
 rial hardly exceeds 4 to 9 per cent. 
 
 What is the composition of the water destined to fertilize this land ? 
 
 In addition to the humidity which, they afford the land, and which they alone can provide in 
 the dry climate of Egypt, the Nile waters effect vegetation by the materials which they hold in 
 solution and those carried in suspension. 
 
 Up to the present the most complete study of the chemical nature of the water and mud of 
 the Nile is that of Dr. H. Letherby, professor of chemistry in the College of the London Hospi- 
 tal, at the time of the irrigation projects, which the English engineer John Fowler proposed in 
 1876 at the invitation of the ex-Khedive Ismail. The analyses by this chemist were made of sam- 
 ples taken from the Nile at Cairo, each month during the entire year, from the month of June, 
 1874, to the month of May, 1875. The results given below are taken from these analyses. The 
 quantity of ammonia, obtained from the saline and organic matters held in solution by the Nile 
 water, varies from 114 to 270 milligrams per liter, averaging 176 milligrams. 
 
 This proportion is slightly different from what is known of the different European rivers ; 
 thus the water of the Seine, above Bercy, contains 60 milligrams of ammonia; the Thames, at 
 Hampton, the point from which the water for the use of London is taken, contains from 85 to 157 
 milligrams, and Dupnit states that 150 milligrams per liter is the maximum amount of ammonia 
 which should be contained in potable water. The amount of other soluble matter in the Nile is 
 shown in the table below ; it shows, for the purpose of comparison, the mean proportion of soluble 
 matter of the Seine water above the junction of this river with the Marne. The amoants are given 
 in grams per liter of water. 
 
 Lime .... 
 
 Magnesia 
 
 Soda 
 
 Potash 
 
 Chlorine 
 
 Snlphnric acid 
 
 Silica 
 
 Organic matter 
 
 Carbonic acid and loss 
 
 Total 
 
 Ifile. 
 
 0.0124 
 0. 0100 
 0. 0062^ 
 0.0144S 
 0. 0067 
 0. 0216 
 0. 0097 
 0. 0175 
 0. 0403 
 
 0.1G90 
 
 Seine. 
 
 0.0922 
 0. 0060 
 
 0. 0087 
 
 0.0043 
 0. 0108 
 0.0078 
 0. 0130 
 0. 0676 
 
 0. 2108 
 
 The mean composition of the Nile water, then, presents nothing specially interesting to distin- 
 guish it. In fact the total weight of material held in solution differs little from that contained 
 in most rivers of France. The following table is generally accepted as giving this weight: 
 
 Grams. 
 
 The Loire 0.135 
 
 The Garonne 0.137 
 
 The Rhine 0.171 
 
 The Rhone 0.184 
 
 During the year 1874-'75, to which the analyses cited above refer, the quantity of soluble mat- 
 ter to the liter of Nile water varied between very narrow limits, that is, from 1361 to 2047 tenths 
 H. Mis. 134 2 
 
18 
 
 lEEIGATIOX IN EGYPT. 
 
 of milligrams; it attains its absolute maximum at the moment of highest water on account of the 
 iuciease in the proportion of lime, soda, chlorine, sulphuric acid, and organic matter. Another 
 maximum is attained during the extreme low water, owing to the Increase in quantity of potash, 
 silica, organic matter, and carbonic acid. But it would be necessary to verify the yearly recur- 
 rence of these phenomena before deducing a general law from these data. 
 
 On proceeding to the examination of the amount of matter held in suspension, it is found to 
 be very variable from one mouth to another ; in fact every flood brings into Egypt water known 
 in* the country as the "red waters," which' are charged with a considerable amount of sediment 
 brought from the plains of Abyssinia by the rapid currents of the Blue Nile and the Atbara ; 
 but as soon as the great wave of the flood passes, the proportion of sedimentary mud decreases 
 rapidly, the Nile loses its red color, which it for a short time had attained, and the water resumes 
 its ordinary yellow. 
 
 In the table below the amount of material in suspension for the year 1874-'75 is shown in 
 grams per liter : 
 
 
 Minimum. 
 
 Maximam. 
 
 Mean. 
 
 Organic matter 
 
 Mineral matter 
 
 Total 
 
 0. 0051 
 0. 0383 
 
 0.1811 
 1. 3074 
 
 0. 0413 
 0.2713 
 
 0. 0431 
 
 1.4915 
 
 0. 3126 
 
 The epochs of minimum as well as maximum occur at almost the same time for organic mat- 
 ter and mineral materials; it seems generally that the proportions Vf organic matter which enters 
 into the composition of the Nile mud is not very large. During the first days of each flood, while 
 the river is still but slowly rising, it always assumes a green color, which is given to it by the 
 vegetable detritus drawn from the vast equatorial marshes by the first rise; during this short 
 period, which lasts rarely more than from 8 to 15 days, and which on this account has escaped the 
 analyses given above, the Nile is charged with little mud and much organic matter. 
 
 During the twelve months comprised between the two successive stages, the Nile transports 
 about 64,000,000 tons of alluvium at the rate of 444 grams on the average to a cubic meter of water. 
 This quantity represents a total volume of 30,000,000 cubic meters, at least half of which is depos- 
 ited during the two months nearly which correspond to the maximum of the flood. By commonly 
 accepted data, this volume of sediment is one-half greater than that carried by the Ehone to the 
 sea in the same length of time. The Po discharges annually one and a quarter, the Danube 
 twice, and the Mississippi six times as much material in suspension as the Nile. On the other 
 hand the Durance, whose mud and sediment enjoy a well-merited notoriety, during the year 1860 
 had its waters charged at the average rate of 1.454 kilograms per cubic meter, almost equal to the 
 established maximum of the Nile for the year 1874. 
 
 Thus, in spite of legendary repute, the Nile ought not to be considered a very extraordinarily 
 sedimentary river, although it may have been heretofore, when it built up, by its deposits, the 
 entire surface of the Delta. 
 
 •The mean composition of the Nile sediment, according to Dr. Letberby, is as follows : 
 
 
 Samples taken — 
 
 Dnring 
 iiood. 
 
 During 
 low water. 
 
 
 15.02 
 1.78 
 2.06 
 1.12 
 1.82 
 0.91 
 20.92 
 55.09 
 1.28 
 
 10.37 
 0.57 
 3.18 
 0.99 
 1.06 
 0.62 
 23.55 
 58.22 
 1.44 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Aluminum and iron oxiile . . . 
 Silica 
 
 Carbonic acid and loss 
 
 Total 
 
 100. 00 
 
 100. 00 
 
IREIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 19 
 
 From other analyses, made by MM. Payen, Champion, and Gastinel Bey, the sediment of the 
 Nile contains from 0.091 to 0.13 per cent, of nitrogen, but the samples tested by these chemists 
 contain only traces of phosphoric acid. • 
 
 Referring to the foregoing table, we observe that during flood, or at the time when most irri- 
 gation is going on and the basins of Upper Egypt are being submerged, the Nile sediment con- 
 tains the greatest quantity of organic matter, phosphoric acid, and potash ; the proportion of these 
 ingredients, which are energetic fertilizing agents, diminishes greatly during low water. 
 
 The soil of Egypt has almost the same proportion of sand, clay, and lime as the sediment 
 itself. It is also worthy of remark that this sediment differs notably, in its chemical composition, 
 from the ordinary alluvium of French rivers, which contain many more calcareous elements, but 
 often less nitrogen and phosphoric acid. 
 
 Thus the sediment of the Durance, which may be taken as a type, contains 36 to 49 per cent, 
 of argilo-siliceous matter, 32 to 44 per cent, of carbonate of lime, 10 to 20 per cent, of various 
 materials containing nitrogenous organic substances, and an average of .08 per cent, of nitrogen. 
 
 The sediment of the Bhone contains 49 per cent, of insoluble residue, 10 per cent, of peroxide 
 of iron, 32 per cent, of carbonate of lime, and 9 to 10 per cent, of various organic substances con- 
 taining an average of 16 per cent, of nitrogen. 
 
 On the other hand, the '' tangues," which are considered a valuable manure, are composed 
 generally of 41 to 71 per cent, of siliceous sand, 23 to 52 per cent, of carbonate of lime, 3 per cent, 
 of organic matter, and 1.50 to 7.50 per cent, of various substances, among which are magnesia, 
 alumina, iron oxide, chlorine, phosphoric acid, soda, potash, salts of lime, nitrogen, etc. 
 
 Finally the soil of the Bay of Mount St. Michael, a very rich alluviums, is formed of calcareous 
 sand containing from 3 to 5 and 6 -per cent, of organic matter with 0.13 to 0.45 per cent, of nitrogen, 
 32 to 40 per cent, of carbonate of lime, 1.50 to 2.6 per cent, of phosphate of lime. 
 
 The sediment of the Nile therefore may be classified among the alluvia richest in fertilizing 
 materials, although it is deficient in lime. Agriculturists have also acknowledged for a long time 
 that the crops which require the least amount of this material are those which succeed best in 
 Egypt., 
 
 Having concluded this study of the soil of Egypt and of the waters of the Nile, it is necessary 
 to ipention a fact of great importance in reference to irrigation. Whenever a well is sunk in Egypt, 
 through the alluvium deposits, at a certain distance from the river, to the limit of infiltration, it 
 is found that the water drawn from these wells differs entirely, in its chemical elements, from the 
 Nile waters. This peculiarity is shown plainly in the table below, which contains the mean com- 
 position in grams per liter of the water drawn, during low water, from three wells situated on the 
 left bank quite a distance from the river: 
 
 
 Well-water. 
 
 Nile water. 
 
 
 0.000057 
 0.000067 
 
 0.000061 
 0.000110 
 
 
 Materials in solntiou: 
 
 0. 1656 
 0.0153 
 0. 0820 
 0.0037 
 0.1360 
 0.0593 
 0.0017 
 0.0180 
 0.0060 
 0.1226 
 
 0.0124 
 
 0.0100 
 
 0.0620 
 
 0.0111 
 
 0.0067 
 
 0.0216 
 
 0. Trace 
 
 0.0097 
 
 0.0175 
 
 0.0403 
 
 
 Soda 
 
 Potash 
 
 
 
 Nitric acid 
 
 
 
 
 Total qnantity of solid matter after eTaporatlon. 
 
 0.6402 
 
 0.1690 
 
 Thus, in filtering through the lower strata of the soil, the water takes up four times as much 
 soluble matter as the Nile water contains; it absorbs in its passage through the ground marked 
 quantities of carbonates, sulphates of lime and magnesia, chlorine, and sodium. Moreover, this 
 
20 IRRIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 is a general fact in Egypt, all water filtered througb the alluvial soil is more or less brackish. 
 Also, whenever the waters of infiltration come to the surface of the soil for suflBcient length of time 
 they leave by evaporation a whitish efflorescence and true salt deposits, which render any cultiva- 
 tion at such places impossible. This fact is also produced in the lands which border the canals 
 when the level of the water is a little higher than the adjacent soil. These efflorescences take 
 l)lace more abundantly in the low lands where the water of infiltration has not been properly 
 drained. 
 
 This phenomenon has unfortunately caused the ruin of quite extensive regions in Egypt, where 
 the drainage of irrigation water has been too frequently neglected. Thus infiltration is the terror 
 of the Egyptian farmer, who often [)refers to have his feeding canals at a lower level than his fields, 
 and to raise the water at great expense, rather than receive it at the level of the land so as to admit 
 of natural irrigation. In all projects for irrigation careful attention should be given to this fatal 
 action of infiltration water. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 GENERAL METHOD OF IRRIGATION AND FARMING IN EGYPT. 
 QENJSBAL CONSIDEBATIONS-INVNDATION BASINS— METHODS OF 1KRI6AII0N. 
 
 I. Genebal Consideeations. 
 
 The Egyptians have always practiced agriculture, both by means of the overflow caused by 
 'the Nile floods and by irrigation, but up to a few years ago this latter method was quite the excep- 
 tion. It was only applied in a few favorable localities, where water could be had during a part of 
 the summer at a level a little below that of the soil, either on the banks of the Nile and its arms or 
 elsewhere in certain basins of inundation, notably in Lower Egypt, to supplement the effects of an 
 insuf&cient overflow. 
 ^ On the contrary, up to the first years of the present century overflow basins formed the nor- 
 
 mal system of Egyptian cultivation, both in Upper Egypt and the Delta. With this system of 
 cultivation the peasant had the stage of the Mle to consider ; it was the overflow alone which fer- 
 tilized the country and assured the subsistence of the people. Thus the fellah every year awaited 
 with impatience the first upward movement of the water ; the progress of the flood was every day 
 oflScially announced at the nilometer of Koda, near Cairo, and then proclaimed in the city; public 
 l)rayer8 were offered in the mosques when the water did not rise fast enough, and finally public 
 rejoicings marked the moment when the Nile reached the recorded height of 16 cubits at Cairo 
 and the order for filling the inundation basins was given, for a good flood presaged an assured crop 
 for the farmer and abundant revenue to the Government, which calculated the amounts of its 
 receipts by the scale of the nilometer. 
 
 A kind of religious fear and mystery always surrounded everything pertaining to the Nile 
 flood. In fact while, according to Arabian historians, in normal conditions it assured for Egypt 
 treasure and crops which sufJced to maintain it for two years, if too low it brought in its train 
 misery and famine, and if too high it caused rupture of the dikes, ravaged the country, and ruined 
 cities and villages. ^ 
 
 Mehemet Ali was the first who in Lower Egypt abolished inundation basins and dug canals, 
 designed during low water to carry the water to the land distant from the Nile. His successors 
 followed the impulse which he gave, and at present in the whole delta irrigation has been substi- 
 tuted for overflow. The Khedive Ismail Pasha introduced also culture by irrigation into a part of 
 Upper Egypt, so that to-day inundation basins extend over less than a third of the surface of 
 Egypt. 
 
 The producing power of the country has been considerably increased by these transformations. 
 In the irrigation territories the soil is in fact cultivable for the entire year, and is able to produce 
 during summer rich crops, such as sugarcane and cotton, while the basins only produce a single 
 winter crop after the flood, and then lie idle for want of water. 
 
 On the other hand, these new conditions of utilization of the Nile water have led to this result : 
 The regimen not only of the flood is now important to Egypt, but also, and still more, the regimen 
 
 21 
 
22 lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 of low water, because as the level of low water is more or less high, so the canals are fed more 
 or less easily and give more or less water for the summer crops, which are very much more 
 remunerative. 
 
 The magnitude of the flood has not on this account become indifferent to the inhabitants of 
 the plains, first, because great quantities of land are still subject to cultivation by inundation, 
 and, secondly, because in the irrigation territory the high water is used to flood the land for 
 extensive watering of the summer crops, for pushing the intermediate crops a short time under 
 ground in autumn, and finally to prepare the land destined to receive the winter seed. On the 
 other hand, in these same irrigation regions too high floods have become veritable scourges, because 
 the rupture of dikes here invariably leads to the loss of the summer crops, at this time of the year 
 already well advanced. 
 
 In considering the various conditions of agriculture in the different parts of Egypt, it is 
 admitted that when the flood exceeds on the nilometer at Eoda, near Cairo, 
 
 25 cubits* (20.13 meters), it is too high, and dangerous. 
 23 cubits (19.04 meters), it is good. 
 20 cubits (17.95 meters), it ia weak. 
 Below 20 cubits, it is bad. 
 
 For example, in the year 1877, when the flood only attained the height of 17f cubits (17.35 
 meters above sea-level), the country suffered from famine, and the revenue returns showed a falling 
 off of 50,000,000 francs. This fact shows how the height of the flood always affects the welfare 
 of Egypt, though the extension of summer cultivation has rendered the situation much less pre- 
 carious. Although it is possible, by clearing out the canals or by the artificial raising of the water 
 of the river by means of dikes and training-walls, to counteract in some measure the inconvenience 
 arising from a too low Nile, a low stage in the actual condition of the canals of Egypt is a cause of 
 great perplexity to engineers, because low water occurs at the very time when the richest summer 
 crops have greatest need of water, and a diminution of moisture at this time of the year serves to 
 diminish in a large degree the revenue of the country. 
 
 11. Intjndation Basins. 
 
 Although Egypt is the classic region of inundation, it is not here only that we find annual 
 overflows augmenting and maintaining agriculture. It is known in all the countries of the tem- 
 perate zone that submersion, practiced regularly while the soil is idle, is one of the best methods 
 of preserving the fertility of the soil, without the necessity of recourse to irrigation when the crops 
 are in the ground. 
 
 In his many works on hydraulic agriculture, M. Nadault de Buffon has called attention in many 
 places to this interesting fact, and he has cited numerous examples of land fertilized, without the 
 help of summer irrigation, by simple submersion in winter, either by clear or muddy water. 
 
 In Europe this method is only applied on the actual banks of rivers to the portions of the 
 valley which highest water overflows and on which it remains for some time. -Most frequently the 
 floods are thus utilized without the previous construction of works of regulation for receiving and 
 storing the water, and the frequent return of these inundations are invited, without which the fer- 
 tility of the soil would rapidly diminish. 
 
 This mode of watering is employed especially on the bottoms, and although clear water is con- 
 sidered good for this operation, agriculturists prefer generally muddy water. According to M. 
 Nadault de Buffon 
 
 Tlie mud obtained from natural submersion is subject to no special rule, except to the fundamental condition 
 that the water should run off completely and as much as possible before the epoch of vegetation, because otherwise 
 it proves hurtful to the crops. 
 
 In Upper Egypt, where most of the land is subject to annual submersion, and where there 
 would be no cultivation without recourse to the water of the Nile, it was not possible to leave the 
 
 * The cubit of the nilometer is 54 centimeters. 
 
IRRIGATION m EGYPT. 23 
 
 care of inundating his fields to the individual initiative of each farmer, especially since the storage 
 of water and emptying of the water in this country demands harmonious labor and methods, without 
 which nothing but disorder and confusion would result. Thus the inundation basins constitute an 
 entire system, which extends from the extreme of Upper Egypt to the apex of the Delta, and in 
 which the regulation of each basin is not only not independent, but closely connected with the 
 method of managing the neighboring basins, and sometimes the whole system of more distant 
 basins. 
 
 The essential elements of inundation basins are: 
 
 First. A dike parallel to the Nile and sufBciently elevated above the floods to protect the basins 
 against direct inundation. 
 
 Second. Two transverse dikes, one above, the other below the basin, and reaching from the 
 Nile dike, either to the hills which border the valley or to the longitudinal dike of an adjoining basin. 
 They are designed to contain the waters of submersion of the basins and separate it from the basins 
 above and below. 
 
 Third. A canal supplying the water for the filling and an escape canal for emptying. 
 
 As has been said in the preceding chapter, in a cross-section of the Nile valley the lowest point 
 is not found at the very bank of the river, but it is more or less near the border of the valley. 
 Generally it is the line of these points which is utilized at the same time for the supply and empty- 
 ing of many successive basins in the following manner: 
 
 Suppose a series of five basins separated by transverse dikes, each basin having an average 
 area of 5,000 to 10,000 hectares. A feeder, which takes its water direct from the Nile, directs itself 
 towards the thalweg of the valley and carries the water to the first upper basin, situated a few 
 kilometers below the head of the canal. The level of the water at this head, even during the flood, 
 is not sufficient usually to inundate the land in the immediate vicinity. The water enters this first 
 upper basin by one or more regulating works of masonry established in the transverse dike, fur- 
 nished with sliding timbers serving as dams. Works of the same nature are established in the trans- 
 verse dikes of the other basins. The inundation water is then carried successively, following the 
 current through these openings, from one basin to another. In maneuvering the shutters of each 
 dam the level of the water is regulated in each basin according to the height of the flood and neces- 
 sity. As for the basins near the head of the feeder, and which can not be inundated by the waters 
 of the canal itself, which are at too low a level, they are submerged by means of water from upper 
 basins, brought by secondary canals. The supply of one system of basins depends then, more or 
 less, upon basins above, by means of which, by borrowing water, the insufficient inundation of the 
 lower basins may be corrected. 
 
 "When the land of a system of basins has been submerged a sufficiently long time the outlets 
 which exist in the dikes of the different basins are opened, these basins communicate freely with 
 each other and empty themselves one into the other, and the last empties into the escape canal, 
 which enters the Nile. The river is generally so low at the time of drainage that nothing is opposed 
 to the running off of the water. Sometimes secondary works of discharge are established along 
 the intermediate basins. 
 
 The feeder generally has its bottom at a level so high that it is only fed during the maximum 
 of the flood and that its head will be already dry when the basins begin to discharge. When the 
 water of the Nile is slow in falling it is not so; the work at the head is closed with shutters at the 
 desired moment, or if there is no closing work at the head of the canal it is closed simply with 
 earth and stones. 
 
 In the present state of affairs the works of communication from basin to basin and those by 
 which the water is discharged into the Nile have not always sufficient openings to assure proper 
 legnlation of the level of the basins or a sufficiently rapid drainage of the water ; when this case 
 presents itself it is remedied by cutting breaks in the dikes, which each year have to be rebuilt 
 before the flood. This is, however, a primitive and costly proceeding, the employment of which 
 is to be restrained by the construction of new masonry works. 
 
 On the left bank of the Nile the series of basins dependent on the same feeder and the same 
 discbarge canals are sometimes very extensive; there are two which are particularly remark- 
 able. 
 
24 lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 The first* extends from Sohag to about 60 kilometers north of Siout, in the two provinces of 
 Guirgueh and Siout. It forms a strip of about 150 kilometers in length, representing an area of 
 140,000 hectares and divided into twenty-one principal basins. It is almost exclusively supplied by 
 a large canal called Sohagieb, which has its head at Sohag and crosses the whole line of basins, fol- 
 lowing the thalweg of the valley. The greater part of the drainage water of these basins empties 
 into the Nile a few kilometers above Siout, the surplus drains, at the lower extremity of the series, 
 into the Bahr-Toussef, a water-course similar to the Sohagieh canal, forming, as it were, a pro- 
 longation of it, following in the same manner the thalweg of the valley. 
 
 The Bahr-Youssef itself serves as a feeder to an important chain of basins, extending to the 
 north of the preceding series more than 200 kilometers and representing an area of about 17,000 
 hectares. These lands of inundation, divided into sixteen principal basins, are separated from the 
 Nile by a strip 5 or 6 kilometers wide, reserved for irrigation and watered by the Ibrahimieb 
 canal and its branches. They discharge the greater part of their water to the north of the prov- 
 ince of Beni-Souef. The surplus is employed to complete the submersion of the basins of the 
 province of Guizeh, which end at the point of the Delta. 
 
 In the provinces of Bsneh and Keneh, where the valley in general is narrower than in the 
 lower provinces, the series of basins is less developed than those which have just been mentioned. 
 
 It is the same along the right bank of the river. The course of the Nile being generally 
 directed to this side, the valley here finds itself blocked from time to time by rocky promontories 
 which prevent the filling of the lower basins by those above. It results that at many points of 
 the right bank submersion can only be accomplished when the Nile level exceedsthatof the ripa- 
 rian lands, and this only happens, for portions little elevated, in exceptional years, when the flood 
 reaches, at Cairo, 25 or 26 cubits. 
 
 Also on the left bank there lies all along the river a narrow strip of high land which can only 
 be cultivated regularly by submersion at great expense. There would be needed in fact, to inun- 
 date them, canals having their heads at too great a distance above, canals which would be of an 
 importance entirely out of proportion to the small amount of land thus made valuable. There- 
 fore these lands only undergo accidental submersion and are most frequently cultivated by irriga- 
 tion by means of machines elevating from the river itself. 
 
 Although the process of filling and emptying the basins, as just described, appears very 
 simple and easy of application, nevertheless in practice the attention and care with which the 
 authorities watch the distribution of the water among the basins determines in great measure the 
 proportion of land submerged and which becomes in consequence fit for cropping ; for although 
 the low land receives easily the inundation water, it would sometimes be necessary, in oi-der to 
 bring the water to the more elevated portions, either to overflow temporarily the basins or canals 
 or employ some other device in the management of the works. Besides, as the basins are regu- 
 lated by series, outlets imprudently made, or too soon or too late, may compromise the crops of 
 certain of them. But the more or less favorable results of inundation depends especially on the 
 manner in which the flood regimen behaves. 
 
 If the flood is early, it enters the basins too soon by infiltration or directly; some crops which 
 are made at this time in the lowlands, with water taken with great difftculty from wells dug more 
 or less deep in the mud, are injured before the time of maturity and gathering. 
 
 If the flood is late, the epoch of sowing, which is done after the emptying of the basins, passes, 
 and the crops in the ground are subjected to the strong heat of the following spring. If the flood 
 is too little much land is too high to get water or can not remain submerged for a suflciently long 
 time, or, again, the basins can not obtain water sufficient to assure a good crop. 
 
 If the flood is too high, the dikes, which are threatened, demand an increase of surveillance. 
 Finally, if the flood is too long, the heads of the feeders are still supplied at the moment of empty- 
 ing; the return to the Nile of the discharge water is with difficulty accomplished, and the drying 
 of the ground prqpeeds too slowly. This shows with what attention the engineer charged with 
 this service of irrigation in Egypt should watch the floods in order to take every possible advan- 
 tage in regard to culture by inundation. 
 
 • See Plates I, II, and III. 
 
IRRIGATION IN EGYPT. 25 
 
 The waters of the Nile are introduced into the basins at the moment of the high point of the 
 flood, that is to say, when they are most charged with mud and fertilizing materials ; we have 
 seen that at this epoch the Nile contains 1.50 kilograms of matter in suspension per cubic meter. 
 It is agreed, counting the losses from evaporation and other losses, that a good submersion in 
 Egypt requires 14,000 cubic meters of water per hectare, that i^ to say, the water in the basins 
 should have a mean depth of 1.50 meters ; on the other hand, experience has demonstrated that 
 the inundation water ought to remain on the land, as often as possible, from sixty to seventy days; 
 but it is often necessary to keep below these figures either by the insufflciency of the flood or on 
 account of the arrangement of the basins themselves. 
 
 Usually the basins begin to get filled in the first half of the month of August, and they are 
 emptied during the month of October, the epoch of the fall of the flood. 
 
 The water remains on the land during a time snfflcient to deposit the greater part of the sedi- 
 ment ; if it is admitted that it only leaves two-thirds, or 1 kilogram per cubic meter, the other 
 third remaining in suspension, due to the tenuity of the matter composing it, or to the currents 
 and agitation caused in the basins by the wind, the submerged surface would be enriched by a 
 quantity of mud representing 14 tons per hectare, or a layer which would be nearly 1 millimeter 
 thick, supposing it uniformly spread. This mass of sediment contains, among other substances, 
 15 kilograms of nitrogen and a variable weight of phosphoric acid. These are certainly valuable 
 elements for renewing the fertility of the soil, but alone they would not be sufficient; an average 
 crop of wheat would absorb double the quantity of nitrogen thus afforded by inundation. On the 
 other hand, the amount indicated above, 15 kilograms, should be considered a maximum; because 
 the submersion can not be accomplished everywhere with water very rich in sediment, and it is 
 often necessary, on account of peculiarities of the flood or certain local conditions, to use water 
 already partially settled, comparatively clear. If the soil of the basins preserves its power of pro- 
 duction for so long a time, without requiring the peasant to have recourse to fertilizers for main- 
 taining it, it is because the water itself, independently of the matter held in suspension, exerts a 
 specially fertilizing influence on the interior of the arable deposits. "Whatever may be the causes 
 and nature of the action, it is a fact readily proved that it assists ; after the water is withdrawn 
 from the basins the land gradually dries out and, since it is very argillaceous, it contracts, cracks, 
 and is very soon cut up by numerous and deep crevices which reach to the interior of the soil and 
 divide into fissures more or less narrow. During the whole idle season of the land the soil is thus 
 perfectly prepared by a thorough aeration ; the oxygen and nitrogen of the air penetrate into the 
 ramifications of the crevices and enter into intimate contact with the earthy particles throughout 
 the entire thickness of the active layer of the soil. The inundation water comes afterward, loaded 
 with this air, which is in a very divided state, and therefore more apt to be easily absorbed and 
 transformed into products which will afterward be assimilated by the roots of the plants. 
 
 This complete aeration of the soil duringthe drying period of the basins presents also another 
 very marked advantage for the farmer, namely, as soon as the water is drawn off and the soil, still 
 moist, has become fit to receive the seed, there is no need of the laborer ; a mere harrowing to 
 mellow the superficial deposit is required. Whatever may be the chemical or physical action of 
 the water in the inundation basins, it is nevertheless the fact that the farmers desire above all 
 things the " red water" for their submersion, that is to say, the muddy water. Experience has 
 taught them that clear wat«r is insufficient to produce good crops ; also the basins supplied by 
 feeders, whose heads are distant and which only carry water already clarified, are reputed less 
 fertile than the others. A striking example of this kind was produced during the flood of 1885. 
 The basin of Kocheicha, situated in the province of Beni-Souef, ordinarily received water which 
 had lost almost all its sediment in passing through the upper basins, and the crops were not 
 abundant. In 1885 the dike which separated it from the Nile was broken at the time the river 
 was at its maximum height; the "red waters" thus rushed in and submerged it. The farmers 
 obtained such good results upon the land which was subject to this inundation that they demanded 
 and obtained that measures should be taken to introduce in the future the Nile water directly into 
 their basins. 
 
 Inundation, besides the advantageous and fertilizing action exerted on the soil, contributes also 
 to keeping it in good condition. By the pressure exerted on the surface of the ground the water 
 
26 IRRIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 drives back the saline and hurtful solutions, which have a tendency to rise from the subsoil; in 
 places where saline deposits have already been produced it serves to wash them away, dissolve 
 them, and take them off with it. 
 
 The method of cultivation actually followed in the basins of Upper Egypt is without doubt that 
 which was followed in the most remote ages; it consists of winter and spring cultivation. The 
 winter crops are the true crops of the basins and the most extensive. Being made on land which 
 has undergone inundation they do not need watering ; however, in localities where submersion has 
 been insuflScient they fail if they can not be sustained by irrigation water. 
 
 In the basins a biennial cropping is generally practiced, comprising a crop of cereals, alternating 
 with a crop of beans, lentils, or fodder. In the best situated lands, receiving abundant water, 
 wheat can be cultivated for many successive years. 
 
 Sowing for winter crops takes place from fifteen days to a month after the recession of the water, 
 about the beginning of November ; the crops remain in the ground from four to six months, accord- 
 ing to their nature ; the soil then remains at rest until the end of the next flood, except in regions, 
 generally quite rare, where spring crops are made by irrigation, as will be indicated below. 
 
 III. Method op Irrigation. 
 
 All parts of Egypt have three kinds of crops : summer crops, and thecrops of spring or autumn, 
 and the winter crops.* The summer crops and winter crops are everywhere the most important; 
 they remain the longest in the ground and occupy the largest extent of territory ; but the spring 
 and autumn crops, which require only from sixty to seventy days, are no less important to the 
 country, for they are almost exclusively devoted to Indian corn and a kind of sorghum, called 
 dourah, which serves particularly as food for the fellahs. Of all these crops, those which are 
 made in winter on inundated lands of the basins of Upper Egypt are the only ones which do not 
 require irrigation : all the others demand it more or less, according to their nature and the season 
 during which they are matured. 
 
 The products of summer, which are for the most part sugar cane, cotton, rice, and Indian 
 corn, are generally sown at the close of winter and harvested in autumn; they therefore require 
 water during the hottest months of the year, which are exactly those during which the Nile is the 
 lowest. 
 
 Summer cropscan not be obtained in the interior of the inundation basins, these being submerged 
 just at the time when they are in the ground. In Upper Egypt these crops are worked on high lands 
 bordering the Nile, which are above ordinary floods, or at least easily protected from the high water; 
 watering is hereeflfected by means of elevating machines drawing from the river Itself, from a depth 
 which, during low water, is not less than 8 to 10 meters below the level of the soil ; on some im- 
 portant estates, situated especially in the province of Esneh and Keneh, and provided with feeders 
 by steam-pumps placed on the Nile banks ; on the line of certain unimportant canals, dug at differ- 
 ent points in the valley to bring the water of the low stage to a few lands back from the river ; in 
 the strip 5 or G kilometers wide and 200 kilometers long, extending through the provinces of Siout, 
 Minieh, and Beni-Souef, which has been transformed into irrigation land by the recent construction 
 of the great canal called the Ibrahimieh Canal ; and finally in a large portion of Payoum, a province 
 which draws its water from the Ibrahimieh Canal. 
 
 Throughout Upper Egypt, except in these last two regions, the area susceptible of cultivation 
 at the present time, in summer, probably does not exceed 40,000 hectares. 
 
 In Lower Egypt the summer crops are made wherever canals carry the water throughout the 
 year, that is for almost the whole extent of the territory. 
 
 Generally, in Upper Egypt as well as in Lower Egypt, on well-managed estates, the summer 
 crops occupy nearly a third of the cultivated area. 
 
 The winter crops, obtained by inundation, are, as in the inundation basins, the cereals, fodder 
 plants, lentils, beans, etc.; these plants are sown after the waters of the flood brought to the land 
 
 "nili." 
 
 The summer crops are called in Egypt "sefi," winter crops "ohetoui," spring and antnmn crops "nabari" or 
 
IRRIGATION IN EGYPT. 27 
 
 have caused a submeTsion of some days, and they are harvested in the spring; they grow then in 
 the least hot period of the year; they need two or three waterings, and they are more easily raised 
 than the summer crops. 
 
 In Upper Egypt these crops can be raised, outside the basins, upon the banks of the Nile; 
 they are then watered, by means of elevating machines, like the summer crops, but with less ex- 
 pense, the level of the water being at this season of the year higher than in the hot season. They 
 are raised also in all parts of CTpper and Lower Egypt wherever there are irrigation canals which 
 carry water during the winter months; that is, in the provinces watered by the Ibrahimieh Canal, 
 in Payoum, and some other localities of Upper Egypt, and over almost the whole area of Lower 
 Egypt. 
 
 In the irrigable lands the winter crops cover usually two-thirds of the cultivated area. 
 
 As to the autumn or spring crops, which consist only of Indian corn and sorghum, they are 
 sown generally at the time the flood comes to half its height, and they are harvested in sixty or 
 eighty days afterward; their value not being large, advantage is taken of the epoch of high water 
 in the Nile and canals, when irrigation can be applied most easily and with the least expense to 
 water them ; besides, as these crops are in the ground at the time of the year when the heat is 
 greatest, they need frequent watering, which should in certain cases be repeated every eight or 
 ten days; moreover, they are exhausting crops, which require fertilizers to develop. 
 
 These latter crops are the crops of rotation which can be made in Egypt wherever there is 
 cultivation byirrigation. In practice they do not occupy more than a third of the irrigable soil; in 
 many places the proportion of Indian corn and sorghum is much less. These products may also be 
 obtained in the basins of irrigation themselves; they are sown here either along the feeder, at the 
 time the canals begin to receive the Nile water directly or by infiltration, or at low points irri- 
 gated by means of infiltration water drawn from wells dug in the mud; here the crops should be 
 cut and harvested before the basins are opened to the inundation water, lest they be injured or 
 destroyed. 
 
 In Egypt, whether the water be taken direct from the Nile or brought by canals, there are 
 many places that it does not reach, at least during a great part of the year, the level of the soil; 
 the farmer is then obliged to raise it mechanically for watering. 
 
 On important estates they use for this work steam-pumps, but on small farms men or animals 
 
 furnish the motive power. In the latter case, for small heights, the elevating machine (called 
 
 "nattal")* consists of a kind of bucket of leather maneuvered by hand, by means of four cords, 
 
 by two men; for heights a little greater the same kind of bucket is suspended by a rope to the 
 
 extremity of a counterpoised lever, which turns about its point of support, this is the "chadouf,"t 
 
 I put in motion by a single man; for still greater heights several chadoufs are placed above each 
 
 I other, each taking the water from the reservoir to which it has been raised by the lower machine; 
 
 Vthe "noria" is also used, worked by meaiis of an attachment to which an ox, a buffalo, or horse, 
 
 or sometimes an ass or camel, is harnessed. 
 
 In the southern provinces of Upper Egypt no uniform system for aiding cultivation by irriga- 
 tion has been adopted; the only important works which are found here are designed for inunda- 
 tion, and, except in rare cases, the proprietor or the peasant who wishes to water is obliged to 
 obtain the water where the Nile naturally brings it and distribute it over his land by his own 
 method. Only a few small canals for summer watering have been dug, and to mature the autumn 
 crops in the basins a few inundation canals also have been deepened to a lower level than that 
 which is strictly necessary to obtain submersion. It is not so in the north of Upper Egypt and in 
 Lower Egypt, where important works of irrigation have been constructed in order to do away with 
 the old inundation basins and carry direct to the cultivated lands situated away from the Nile 
 a sufScient quantity of water for the summer crops during low water, and for the autumn and 
 winter crops during the flood and mean stages. 
 
 In the north of Upper Egypt J irrigation is governed by a single great artery, the Ibrahimieh 
 canal. This canal, constructed on the left bank of the river, has its head near Siout^ and follows 
 the Nile for a course of 260 kilometers; it is 100 meters wide at the mouth, and its bottom at this 
 
 • See Plate XVIII. t See Plate XIX. t See Plate III. 
 
28 lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 point is 2 meters below low water. The region irrigated by this great artery is about 6 kilometers 
 in mean width; it is comprised between the Nile and a parallel dike which divides the valley 
 throughout its whole length into two parts; the strip situated to the west of the dike is arranged 
 in inundation basins. The Ibrahimieh canal serves for many purposes. It furnishes, by different 
 branches, at all seasons, the water for that portion of the valley arranged for irrigation. 
 
 During the flood it furnishes to the Bahr Youssef, a great natural derivation, the water 
 required to fill the basins situated to the west of the dike of separation. 
 
 By this same Bahr Youssef it carries all the year thewater for irrigation into the province 
 
 of Fayoum. 
 
 The construction of this canal is recent ; it dates from the reign of the Khedive Ismail Pasha, 
 that is, twenty years back ; its principal object was to develop, in the provinces of Siout, Minieh, 
 and Beni-Souef, the culture of sugar cane. 
 
 In Lower Egypt * the system of watering canals is far from being so simple, and if we glance 
 at the map of the Delta we recognize with difficulty, at first sight, the principal lines of the 
 complicated net- work which is there represented. To better understand the characteristic traits 
 of the Delta irrigation, a little history is necessary and a return to the beginning of the century. 
 
 Before Mehemet Ali, seduced by the prospective wealth which would result to the country 
 from the possibility of making on a grand scale summer crops, had constructed canals designed 
 to carry to the very heart of Lower Egypt the water at the low stage of the Nile, this region was 
 arranged for inundation basins; the water of the flood was then conducted to these basins by the 
 two arms of the Nile, by a few secondary branches, and by wide but shallow canals. In a word, 
 the system of submersion was practiced in Lower Egypt as it still exists in Upper Egypt; but 
 since at many points of the Delta the water could not remain on the land more than from ten to <■ 
 twenty days, and very frequently at an insufficient depth, it was necessary to have recourse to 
 additional irrigation to insure the preservation and growth of the crops. Therefore the country 
 was, at this epoch, cut up by canals derived from the great canals of inundation and excavated, 
 as these latter, to a depth sufficient to still have water two or even three months alter the 
 maximum of the flood. As in Upper Egypt, the feeders supplied series of basins separated from 
 each other by dikes, which they passed successively, and beyond the last basin of the series they 
 were prolonged by drainage canals, ending in the lakes in the north of the Delta. Bach feeder 
 ended thus in a drainage canal. When summer irrigation was desired, it was very natural to use 
 for watering canals, as much as possible, the trunks of the principal canals of irrigation which 
 then existed ; it was sufficient for this to excavate the inlets to a depth of 1 to 1.5 meters below 
 the level of low water, and towards the south of the Delta to a depth of 8 to 8,5 below the level 
 of the soil. The slope given to these canals was less than that of the valley ; their bottom, at a 
 certain distance from the Nile, was not more than 3 or 4 meters below the soil ; like ordinary 
 canals for inundation, they were held in general at this level. As for the secondary branches of 
 the old inundation canals, some of those nearest the Nile were deepened to receive the low water ; 
 others were left as they were, remaining dry during the summer, and finally the most distant 
 were, almost without modification, supplied the entire year. Thus was created piecemeal, with 
 elements of the primitive basins, a net- work designed for watering in the summer; perhaps even 
 in certain cases it was possible to utilize for this new service works designed heretofore for 
 inundation. During the flood all these same canals were employed for watering the autumn 
 crops or for submersion, to slight depths, of lands intended to receive winter crops. As for the 
 surplus water of irrigation and submersion thus brought to the land, it was not troublesome; its 
 drainage was accomplished into the lower levels of the feeders, which were really drainage ways 
 in the system of basins and were in fact so called in the country. Such are the general principles 
 by which irrigation was substituted for inundation in Lower Egypt; they have led to the exist- 
 ence of a series of systems almost independent of each other and each comprising : t 
 
 A feeder canal having its. inlet at the Nile, divided into many pools by works regularly 
 disposed below the heads of the principal branches and holding water the entire year. 
 
 * See Plate IV. 
 
 tThe deep canals fed tbroughont the year are called Seil canals, the shallower canals which ouly have water 
 during flood are called Nili canals, and the drainage canals go by the name of Masraf. 
 
IRRIGATION IN EGYPT. 29 
 
 Secondary canals derived from the feeder, dug sufflciently deep to be supplied during low 
 water. 
 
 Other secondary canals, not deep, which receive only the water of the flood ; this secondary 
 net- work tends to disappear more and more by being transformed into deep canals. 
 
 A general drainage canal, which is nothing but the lower extremity of the feeder, terminating 
 at the lakes in the north of the Delta, but which receives little more than the surplus of the canal 
 itself; because, most frequently, there are no drains to collect and carry to it the discharge water 
 of the lands. These canals of irrigation have generally a slope of from .04 to .05 meters per 
 kilometer. 
 
 During low water they discharge the water at a much lower level than that of the land ; except 
 however, in the regions remote from their inlets from the Nile; the slope of these canals is more 
 gentle than that of the valley. During flood they deliver their water almost for their whole length 
 at the same level as the cultivated land. 
 
 This whole collection of canals is very far from having assumed its state of equilibrium and its 
 definitive position ; it presents in fact many defective points, not only in details but even in the 
 principal disposition, and engineers in endeavoring to remedy these inconveniences make continual 
 changes in the canals themselves and in the regimen of their water. 
 
 Many causes have contributed to retard the rational progress of irrigation in this country. They 
 are principally the lack of patience and perseverance in the execution of the work, the imagina- 
 tion and zeal of the contractors who urged the Government, to begin works always enormous, and 
 to leave them unfinished to pass to others, the rapidity with which an absolute power exacts that 
 a work hardly conceived should be executed, and the disdain of the operations and details destined 
 to give this work all its value. To the same effect is the facility with which manual labor, fur- 
 nished gratuitously by an army of laborers, permits the execution of works of canalization in a 
 country entirely level and in a soil composed wholly of mud, a facility valuable but whose conse- 
 quence in- Egypt has been the hasty execution of works badly elaborated and often too consid- 
 erable for their object, sometimes useless and causing detriment to the unity of the system. There 
 is also the action of the large proprietors, turning to their own profit and to the detriment of the 
 small farmer the benefits of irrigation, causing by personal and selfish combinations confusion in 
 the feeders of the net work of canals and the distribution of the water. There is again the spirit 
 of routine of the population, as well as the frequent inexperience and want of originality of the 
 Egyptian engineers charged with the regulation and regimen of the canals. It is finally meager- 
 ness and want of regularity of ofiScial resources appropriated for irrigation, and the lack of 
 maintenance which thereby reSults, and which prevents, for example, the dams echeloned along 
 the canals, and become useless, from performing the duty for which they were constructed. All 
 these defects are tending slowly to disappear, and for some years the regulation of the canals 
 of Lower Egypt has been very notably improved in these different particulars. The attention of 
 engineers is now given to two improvements whose realization will be of the greatest importance : 
 First, the establishment in the canals of a fixed level, such that irrigation may be afforded every- 
 where without the aid of elevating-machines ; and, second, the construction of drains. The first 
 result will be obtained generally, either by means of dams or by proper regulation or by combin- 
 ing the canals in such a way as only to water, with each of them, the lauds remote from their 
 inlets ; as to the question of disposal of the drainage water, it is a very complicated one to solve. 
 
 In the highest lands, those situated toward the point of the Delta or on the banks of the Nile 
 arms, the only water to be carried off is that which comes from the drainage of the irrigated lands, 
 and it demands little attention, the drying of the ground effecting it by infiltration into the sub- 
 soil. There will be doubtless some drainage undertaken later, but the need of it is not yet felt in these 
 regions. On the contrary, in the lands lower and more remote from the river, the lack of drains 
 produces hurtful eft'ects on the crops and transforms vast spaces into marshes. This notably occurs 
 in the vicinity of the lakes in the north of Lower Egypt, where the land, little elevated above the 
 sea level and having a weak slope, receives not only the overflow of the canals of irrigation, but 
 also, through the subsoil, all the drainage water of the high lands. In the present state of affairs 
 the drainage of this water is accomplished with difficulty : first, because there is in these regions a 
 lamentable confusion between the canals of irrigation and the drainage canals which form their pro- 
 
30 lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 longation, and in which the riparian owners seek to retain water for moistening the land ; secondly^ 
 because the irrigation canals, having in general their bottoms at a level lower by 3 or 4 meters than that 
 of the land, carry towards the sea uselessly the whole mass of water lower than the soil, and fill the 
 drainage canals with it, at least for a part of the year, to a level higher than the neighboring land. 
 It is evidently only possible to obtain a good result by limiting to the strict needs of cultivation the 
 quantity of water thrown into the irrigation canal by separating very thoroughly, in the low regions, 
 the drainage canals from the watering canals and by creating entirely a special net- work of drying 
 trenches. This is being worked at this time, but a difficulty of another nature is met with. All this 
 drainage water can only in fact be discharged into the lakes which border the sea. Now, these 
 lakes have a very variable level ; during the flood the enormous quantity of water which comes to 
 them, either by the arms of the river or the great canals, empties itself but slowly by the narrow 
 mouths which form the communication between the lakes and the sea, and therefore the height is 
 much increased ; besides, the action alone of the prevailing winds suffices to raise their level more 
 than a meter, tinder these circumstances the riparian lands, situated less than a meter above the 
 sea-level, can only be regularly cultivated by diking or modifying the regimen of the lakes, so as 
 to give them less water during the flood. Some attempts to better these low lands have already 
 been made, but they were very few and of too late a date to be interesting to speak of. 
 
 Such are the most notable peculiarities which irrigation presents in Lower Egypt. As to the 
 arrangements of the great canals which water this region and their mode of supply, a few words 
 will sufiEice to give a general idea. At the very point of the Delta* is built the well-known great 
 dam, with movable gates, which extends across the two arms of Eosetta and Damietta, distant from 
 each other at this point about 1 kilometer. This work, whose construction began about 1843 
 and which is not yet finished, has for its object the creation of a pool in the Mle 4.50 meters in 
 height and the distribution of all the wa ter necessary for Lower Egypt by three great canals, 
 having their inlets in the pool above, one to the west of Eosetta arm, another for the Delta proper, 
 comprised between the two arms of the Nile, and a third for the lands situated to the east of the 
 Damietta arm. The canal of the center and that of the west exist, but the canal of the east 
 is not yet constructed; moreover, on account of the unfinished condition of the dam itself, 
 there has only been obtained to the present day a maximum level of 3 meters on the Eosetta 
 arm and 1.6 meters on the Damietta; it is intended to finish and strengthen this work so as to 
 have it support a pressure of 4 meters of water. Under these circumstances the irrigation of 
 eastern Lower Egypt is assured for the present by a series of canals arranged along the right 
 bank of the Damietta arm, to the north of Cairo above and below the dam ; the provinces of the 
 center receive their water from the canal of the center, or EayahlVIenoufieh, which has its inlet 
 above the dam, and by several canals whose mouths are grouped upon the Damietta arm in the 
 first 40 kilometers below the same work ; finally the provinces of the west are watered in part by 
 the western canal or Eayah Behera, which has its inlet above the dam, and in part by two great 
 canals, the Katatbeh and Mahmoudieh, situated below, and into which the water, in time of low 
 water, is elevated from the Nile by powerful machines. To the discharge of all these canals is 
 added the product of numerous steam-pumps specially established on the banks of the arm of 
 the Nile. 
 
 Since during the period of lowest water the summer crops are the only ones which are in the 
 ground, and as the autumn and winter crops are not yet began, the wants of the summer crops 
 determine the minimum supply of the canals ; but opinions have varied much in Egypt, since 
 irrigation has been carried on, as to the quantity of water which it is necessary to give the crops. 
 
 Originally the farmers, on account of the large revenue which the products of summer af- 
 forded, had a tendency to irrigate more land than the discharge of the capals could supply • but 
 they quickly saw that the soil was giving out by this method and that the crops diminished ; 
 therefore they were brought to gradually increase the volume of water per hectare, and conse- 
 quently to reduce the area cultivated in summer. 
 
 The international commission which was appointed to study the Suez Canal was consulted by 
 the Khedive to determine the quantity of water necessary for irrigation in Egypt; it concluded from 
 
 •See Plate IV. 
 
IRRIGATION IN EGYPT. 31 
 
 study that there was needed a constant discharge of 55 centiliters per second per hectare. Linant 
 de Bellefonds indicates in his works also, as a quantity acknowledged suflScient for ordinary pur- 
 poses, 65 centiliters for the rice fields and 44 centiliters for other crops, being a mean of 55 centi- 
 liters. The same author declares in another place that 826 millimeters are hardly sufl&cifent for 
 cotton and sugarcane, and 989 for the rice fields. 
 
 Mr. Fowler, the engineer, who studied in 1875 the projects for the entire irrigation of Egypt, 
 based all his calculations upon a mean of 193 millimeters per second and per cultivable hectare. 
 Admitting, as is generally the case, that on well-regulated estates a third of the land should re- 
 ceive summer crops, this discharge would correspond to 58 centiliters per hectare of crop. 
 
 The ministry of public works, in projects for irrigation by elevating-machines, regarded as 
 sufficient a constant flow of 65 centiliters per second and per hectare. For rice fields, also, they 
 considered this amount sufficient. 
 
 At present, in the projects which are being executed or studied, it is admitted that a supply 
 of 826 millimeters per second and per hectare of summer croj^s gives a sufficient irrigation during 
 low water, and that for the rice fields a little more is needed. It is estimated also that these 826 
 millimeters per hectare, applied to a third of the cultivable surface of a region, suffices largely for 
 the needs of this region, and it is this amount of 0.825 liters divided by 3 = 0.275 liters per second 
 and per hectare which serves as a basis for calculating the low- water discharge in the canals. 
 This is the amount which should be given the canals at their inlets, making allowances for all 
 losses from evaporation or infiltration. 
 
 But as soon as the water of the Nile begins to rise it is necessary to provide for a much 
 greater distribution of water; it is, in fact, at this epoch that the lands designed to receive the 
 autumn crops are watered, while still reserving all the water necessary for the summer crops. 
 According to the custom of the country, Indian corn or sorghum is sown throughout the whole 
 of Lower ^gypt during a period which does not exceed fifteen to twenty days ; during this period 
 it is estimated that the quantity of water spread over a certain region should be five times that 
 which is furnished during low water, but generally it is confined to less quantities. Then comes 
 the preparation of the lands for the winter crops, which consists of a submersion of some centi- 
 meters and a washing of the soil ; but the requirements are not so great and less urgent in the 
 month of August, during the rising of the flood. 
 
 Upon the whole, if we compare the quantity of water recognized as necessary for irrigation in 
 Egypt with that in other countries, we see that it is not very high. 
 
 In India, for regions cultivated under almost the same conditions as iu Lower Egypt, they 
 estimate from 22 to 28 centiliters per hectare of cultivated area ; and in the province of Bengal it 
 is estimated that a continuous supply of 874 milliliters per cultivated hectare is sufficient. In 
 Egypt the calculated amount is 826 milliliters only. 
 
 In Lombardy they estimate for the natural meadows one Iffer per second per hectare; for 
 rice fields, 2.50 liters ; for the other crops, 6 deciliters, being a mean of 1 liter per second and per 
 hectare for a quite extensive region. In the south of Spain the supply varies from 75 centiliters 
 to 1 liter for ordinary crops, and goes as high as 2.48 liters for the rice fields. 
 
 Finally, in the south of France it is estimated that a continuous discharge of 75 centiliters 
 gives a sufficient irrigation, but when possible the basis of calculation is 1 liter per second and 
 per hectare. 
 
 The supply accepted in Egypt, then, is generally less than that adopted in other countries even 
 less arid. 
 
 If we consider the most extensive crop of Lower Egypt, that of cotton, which during the five 
 or six months which it remains in the ground requires about ten wettings, we find that the normal 
 supply of 826 milliliters per second and per cultivated hectare corresponds to a total supply of 
 10,700 cubic meters for the cultivation of a hectare of cotton. This quantity is less than that of 
 14,000 cubic meters which is let into the basins of inundation for the culture of 1 hectare. More- 
 over, as the wettings are made especially during low water, that is to say, at the time the water is 
 least charged with mud, and hardly contains one-twentieth of that contained at flood, it results 
 that irrigation is far from carrying to the land the same fertilizing principles as inundation; it 
 
32 lERIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 may be truly said, however, that by wetting, all the particles of water enter into more intimate 
 contact with the soil than by submersion. 
 
 The total area at present capable of cultivation in Lower Egypt as well as Upper Egypt 
 being 1,320,000 hectares, the quantity of water needed during low water for all the crops would be 
 1,320,000 multiplied by 0.275 or 363 cubic meters per second, which represents a considerable por- 
 tion of the discharge of the Nile at this time of the year. But there has not, up to the present, 
 been so much water devoted to irrigation in Egypt. 
 
 About 1860 Linant de Bellefonds calculated that the discharge of all the canals at mean stage 
 was 62 cubic meters per second ; adding to this the water of the elevating machines we have, for 
 this epoch, 80 cubic meters, more or less, per second. Up to 1882, the discharge of the canals, at 
 low water, increased by the water of the elevators, hardly exceeded the total of 275 cubic meters 
 per second at the maximum, and finally, in 1885, thanks to the pool of 3 meters height made by the 
 dam at the apex of the Delta, the quantity of irrigation water amounted to almost 300 cubic meters 
 per second. Unfortunately, in the present state of affairs, the greater part of this water taken 
 from the Nile is still lost to cultivation, and flows uselessly to the s^a on account of the imperfec- 
 tions of the regimen and system of canals. 
 
 According to Nadault de Buffon, the total quantity of water employed for irrigation in Lom- 
 bardy, about 1860, was 380 cubic meters per second, a volume a little greater than that which is 
 required in Egypt during low water; it is true that, owing to the essentially different mode of cul- 
 tivation in the two countries, these 380 cubic meters are applied to a cultivated area about a third 
 less than in Egypt ; all the land in Lombardy requires water at the same time during &ammer, 
 while only a third of the Delta is cultivated at this season. 
 
 If we wish to apply irrigation to the whole of Egypt and to do away entirely with basins, the 
 total cultivated area being 2,000,000 hectares, there would be needed during the summer a supply 
 of 550 cubic meters per second, which often exceeds the discharge of the Nile at low water. It is 
 evident, then, that it is not possible to increase indefinitely summer culture in Egypt, unless we 
 change the regimen of the Nile by creating pools and immense reservoirs which would store the 
 flood water in order to return it during low water. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE DIFFERENT IRRIGATION WORKS OF UPPER EGYPT. 
 
 DIKES OF TEE NILE AND WORKS OF PROTECTION AGAINST, OYERFLOW— INUNDATION BASINS OF THE REGION 
 OF TBE SOSAGIEH—IERASIMIEH CANAL AND TKE PROVINCE OF FATOTTM. 
 
 A complete description of irrigation in Egypt should comprise the detailed description of the 
 system of watering in each province ; but this would be a wearisome labor and without much 
 importance. Short references to some of the most interesting works and canals will serve better to 
 point out what is the present condition of irrigation in this country. 
 
 I. Dikes op the Nile and Works of Protection against Overflow. 
 
 The great bed of the Nile is limited throughout its entire course by dikes whose crests are 
 raised above the level of the highest flood. When one of these dikes becomes broken by the 
 pressure of the water great havoc may result, because in general the level of the flood much exceeds 
 that of the riparian lands, and especially in certain parts of the Delta the high water reaches nor- 
 mally 2 meters above the soil of the valley. Therefore the Egyptians pay the greatest attention 
 to the maintenance of these works in good order. In Egypt, where the country is almost abso- 
 lutely flat, a dike can only be constructed by taking the material all along its line from borrow 
 pits, whose junction form a kind of lateral canal at the very foot of the dike. The following is the 
 method of constructing the Nile dikes with the mud of the valley obtained at their base ; they 
 are located at very variable distances from the river, and are not constructed to follow it through 
 all its detours, so that the land comprised in the greater bed thus bounded is often cultivable even 
 during ordinary floods; it is very difficult to day to give the local causes which have led to the 
 adoption of one position more than another for these dikes ; the cause is doubtless the numerous 
 changes which the Nile has undergone since the construction of these works. 
 
 The profile of the dikes is generally quite irregular; the type profile adopted is 4 meters wide 
 at the crown with a height of 1 meter above the level of the highest floods and slopes of one ver- 
 tical to three base. All the Nile dikes conform more or less to this type profile. 
 
 When the riparian owners along the river desire to raise the water by means of elevating- 
 machines for the irrigation of their lands, they are allowed to build through the dikes, aqueducts 
 or culverts. These openings, although they are closed and guarded in time of floods, are never- 
 theless a threat to the safety of the country, they are, however, rarely the cause of rupture of 
 the dikes. On the score of prudence, such authority should not be granted at points where the 
 flood rises more than 1.50 meters above the soil on which the dike on the river bank rests, nor where 
 the distance between the foot of the dike and the bank proper of the Nile is less than SO meters. 
 
 The dikes being constructed of earth and their base resting simply on the mud, it is necessary 
 to employ special methods to protect them against the action of the high water. The effects of the 
 river on the banks are produced generally in two ways, either the current impinges with violence 
 against the threatened point, or the water, passing with its maximum velocity at a short distance 
 from the bank of irregular contour, creates along the bank counter currents and eddies, which 
 rapidly carry away considerable portions of the riparian property. 
 
 H Mis. 134 3 33 
 
34 IRRIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 It is very difficult, in certain cases, to counteract effectively this caving, since the water at 
 medium stage, which occupies a bed much narrower than the flood, produces an effect opposed to 
 that of the flood, filling where it has excavated, and excavating, on the contrary, where the flood 
 made deposits. 
 
 A few years ago people confined themselves to strengthening the sU»pe of the banks, 
 wherever attacked, by means of stone thrown in without plan ; much stone was thus expended 
 without great results. Now there has been adopted a system of dry stone spurs, designed to fix 
 the direction of the current, trees, branches and cages filled with stone, which are arranged along 
 the bank, in front of which it is desired to induce deposits* of sediment. They have already suc- 
 ceeded in giving to the larger bed of the river a greater stability. 
 
 There are annually expended nearly 100,000 cubic meters of stone in revetment or spurs along 
 the Nile thi-oughont the whole of Egypt. 
 
 II. Inundation Basins of the Region of the Sohagibh Canal. 
 
 It has been shown that the system of irrigation by basins consists of: 
 Canals for carrying the water. 
 
 Longitudinal and transverse dikes which inclose the basins. 
 "Works established in these dikes for receiving and draining off the water. 
 Works and canals of discharge into the Nile. 
 
 The series of basins fed by the Sohagieh upon the west bank of the Nile, to the north of the 
 province of Guirgueh and to the sou th of the province of Siout, may be taken as a type of this 
 system.* 
 
 The feeder canal is formed by an ancient watercourse, called the Sohagieh, whose inlet is on 
 the Nile, just above the city of Sohag, and which traverses, following the whole slope of the valley, 
 the series of basins which it supplies for a length of 150 kilometers. 
 
 The Sohagieh loses itself at the lower extremity in the Bahr Youssef, another natural water- 
 course, which forms, so to speak, its prolongation. A large inlet work is established at the head 
 of the canal. It comprises 214 arches of 3 meters span, and has very much the character of the 
 irrigation works established in this country at the beginning of the present century, which have 
 almost all forms too strong for the pressure to which they are subjected, with enormous abutments 
 and exaggerated openings for the discharge which they were required to furnish. 
 
 As with most works constructed in the Nile valley, the foundation rests on mud plentifully 
 mixed with sand, and also gravel when depths 8 to 10 meters below the level of the soil are reached, 
 that is to say, upon earth highly subject to scour and slightly compressible. The foundation bed 
 is 40 meters long and 2 meters thick throughout. It is of beton revetted with two layers of brick 
 placed upon the earth." This is the method of construction most generally employed for the founda- 
 tion beds of such works. Stone work in ashlar forms the rear foundation below and protects the 
 mass of masonry from undermining. The superstructure of the work is of brick, except the corners, 
 faces, rabbets, etc., which are of cut stone. 
 
 The piers are 2 meters thick ; their total height is 5.69 meters from the level of the foundation 
 bed to the springing line of the arches. Also the top of the piers on the up-stream side are 10 
 centimeters above the level of the highest flood. The surface of the foundation bed is placed at 
 3.50 meters above the lowest water. The bed of the canal is then dry during mean low water and 
 while the river is below this level. 
 
 To regulate the discharge of the Sohagieh and close it, either before or after filling the basins, 
 grooves 30 centimeters wide are arranged in the faces of the piers, which permit the arches to be 
 closed by means of shutters 25 centimeters thick. The maneuvering of the shutters is very difii- 
 cult, for they are heavy and it is often necessary to raise them under a pressure of from 4 to 5 
 meters of water. They use for this purpose a car furnished with winches, which is moved along 
 the bridge by traveling on rails laid on longitudinals which rest on the starlings of the piers.* 
 
 In 1885 the inlet work of the Sohagieh was opened August 10 and closed October 1. 
 
 This work, as well as all the hydraulic work in Egypt, is built with mortar formed of a mixture 
 of fat lime and brick-dust. 
 
 * See Plate 11. tSee Plate V. ~~ 
 
lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 35 
 
 The dikes of the basins are constructed entirely of mud ; the cross-section is, as with the Ifile 
 dikes, quite irregular. The slopes are generally 2 base to 1 vertical, but the type profile adopted 
 has slopes of 3 base to 1 vertical with 4 meters thickness at the crown ; all the dikes are generally 
 coming to this type. 
 
 The slopes of 3 to 1 are maintained perfectly and give sufficient solidity to the embankments, 
 which are often, in the low parts of the basins, 5 to 6 meters in height. Besides, the north winds, 
 which blow continuously during the season of inundation, form the surface of the water into waves 
 which erode the north slopes of the dikes; they are now protected, to prevent rupture, by mats of 
 reeds, which lessen the effect of the waves. In spite of these precautions it is necessary each year, 
 before the flood, to repair these slopes. 
 
 The dikes describe, in their plans, many zigzags; doubtless they were originally nearly recti- 
 linear, and built on the boundaries of the low lands of the different villages, but at the points of 
 accidental rupture, or of cuts made for drawing off the water, it has been necessary to reconstruct 
 them, to make detours, up-stream, around the deep holes dug by the current caused by the breaks. 
 There has resulted, all along the general direction of the dikes, numerous elbows, whose cause at 
 first sight are not evident. In the upper part of its course the bed of the Sohagieh canal is sepa- 
 rated from the basins, which border it, by longitudinal dikes, whose crest is horizontal, all along 
 the same basin, in order to permit them to retain th^ water; the canal feeds each of th*e basins by 
 an intffl-val left between the upper end of its longitudinal dikes and the lower transverse dike of 
 the basin above, without the necessity of establishing dams on the canal itself. Many of these 
 basins inundate, by means of bridge dams, others of less importance which do not receive the 
 water direct from the canal. Finally, a few small basins are still filled, at least in part, by sec- 
 ondary canals having a direct inlet from the Mle. These last are those whose level is the highest 
 in the transverse profile of the valley. 
 
 In the lower part of its course the Sohagieh is no longer diked ; its bed simply crosses the 
 transverse dikes of the basins by means of bridge dams, which permit the miiintenance of a suitable 
 level in each of the successive reservoirs ; in these basins the bed proper of the canal is simply 
 the lower portion of the land, and its greater bed is bounded on the west by the mountains of the 
 Libyan chain, and on the east by the Nile dikes. 
 
 The basins thus laid out on the surface of the valley are often of very diff^rent dimensions, 
 as the following table, which comprises all the basins supplied by the Sohagieh, shows : 
 
 BasiDS.* 
 
 West of Sobagieli . 
 Iforth of Soliagieh'. 
 
 SamarLa 
 
 Benawit ..-^ 
 
 Enebis 
 
 Sahel 
 
 Kom Badr 
 
 Banabo 
 
 Ondomah . . . 
 
 Madmar 
 
 Sabel 
 
 "Douer 
 
 Bent Smia . . 
 
 Zerah 
 
 Mesra 
 
 ElKelbi ... 
 Beni Bafa . . 
 
 Mabarra 
 
 Kossieh 
 
 Dalgaoin — 
 
 Total 
 
 System of supply. 
 
 By the Sohagieh diked along the basin 
 
 By the Sohagieh and secondary canals 
 
 By the basin above - 
 
 do..: 
 
 do 
 
 By the basin above and secondary canal 
 
 By the Sohagieh diked along both banks and crossing the basin. 
 
 By the basin above 
 
 do : 
 
 By the Sohagieh, -which crosses it diked on bath banks 
 
 By the basin above and secondary canals 
 
 do..: 
 
 By the basin above 
 
 By the Sohagieh, -which crosses the basin -without dikes 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 Hectares. 
 
 21, 969 
 4,200 
 4,894 
 4,216 
 4,248 
 1,695 
 3,375 
 771 
 1,322 
 5,902 
 2,040 
 1, 624. 
 4,238 
 
 15, 038 
 
 16,312 
 3,424 
 8,331 
 5,334 
 6,237 
 5,198 
 
 19,254 
 
 139, 622 
 
 * See Plateg H and III, 
 
36 lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 The map of the basins of the Sohagieh, comprised betweea Sohag and Siout, indicates also 
 the components of the system of basins-on the right bank of the valley, a system cut up by many 
 rocky promontories, which on this side advance even to the bed of the river. 
 
 The same map shows that the villages are built in the interior of the basins ; in order to avoid 
 inundation these centers of population are established on artificial mounds raised to the height at 
 least of the dikes. 
 
 The communication between the different basins, as well for filling as for emptying, is accom- 
 plished generally by means of masonry works, which are composed of arches of 3-meter span, 
 closed by means of shutters, and which, although less important, are disposed almost similarly to 
 the inlet bridge of Sohagieh.* As these works are not always sufficient to discharge the requisite 
 volume of water at the desired moment ; it is usual to make breaks in the dikes. This latter 
 method, which is costly, since it necessitates each year the establishment of heavy earthwork, 
 will disappear in proportion as the number of regulating works are increased. Often to avoid the 
 difficulty of placing and raising the horizontal shutters, with depths of water which may be as 
 much as 5 or 6 meters and with a great resultant pressure, horizontal beams are placed permanently 
 across the arches, at intervals of 1 to 1.50 meters, supported at their extremity in the grooves of the 
 arches; the closing of the work is then accomplished by means of vertical timbers, which are sup- 
 ported below by the sill of the foundation^ and at intermediate points by the fixed transverse 
 beams. But this method forms with difficulty tight fermeture, and many of the timbers are 
 broken in handling them, which is done by means of winches and cranes placed on the top of the 
 bridge. It can not be said, up to the present, that there is in Egypt a very complete or well- 
 considered system of fermeture for all these works. 
 
 There have not yet been constructed, although they have been planned for a long time, spe- 
 cially important works for emptying the basins into the Nile, and a barbarous method is employed, 
 which consists in cutting a portion of the dike along the river and allowing the water to escape 
 through this breach. All the basins between Sohag and Siout are discharged for the most part 
 by cuts made every year in the dike between Aboutig and Siout. 
 
 As to the basins situated to the north of Siout, they empty themselves into the Bahr Youssef, 
 which itself with the whole series of basins along the Ibrahimieh canal, of which mention has 
 already been made in the preceding chapter, empties into the Mle by a breach made in the dike 
 of the Kocheicha basin to the north of the province of Beni-Souef and by another breach made in 
 the Eacca basin, situated below the preceding. 
 
 As the emptying of the basins is done most frequently at the time when the Nile is still high, 
 it is necessary to be careful to regulate the time of the different discharges and their intensity, so 
 as not to produce a supplementary flood too liable to submerge a portion of the crops situated 
 below. Thus, in certain years the breach in the Kocheicha dike having been opened suddenly, 
 the water rose at Cairo more than 1.50 meters in twenty-eight hours. This is an accident to be 
 avoided. A great exceptional flood was produced in 1878 because, the water having continued to 
 rise for a long time, it was necessary to empty the basins at the time that the Nile at Assouan was 
 not yet falling. This flood was thus a disaster for several provinces. 
 
 In 1885, when the return of the inundation water was made under good conditions, the dis- 
 charge of the basins of Upper Egypt were so regulated that it extended regularly over the first 
 twenty days of the month of October. 
 
 The maintenance of the works necessary to manage the basins comprises principally the 
 rebuilding and repair of the profile of the dikes after each flood, refilling the breaches made for the 
 discharge of the water, and the cleaning of the canals, in which deposits of mud are principally 
 formed near their mouths. These works of repair, which consist consequently of earth-work, are 
 quite considerable. Up to 1883 they were executed exclusively by the corvee, but since that time 
 they have been let partly to contractors. 
 
 In the province of Guirgueh, which incloses 137,000 cultivated hectares, the mean annual vol- 
 ume of earth-work which was heretofore executed by the corv6e, from the offloiali accounts ren- 
 dered to the ministry of public works, was 3,500,000 cubic meters, half upon the dikes and half 
 
 * See Plate VI, the type of these works. 
 
IREIGATIoir IF EGYPT. 37 
 
 in the cauals. This makes 26 cubic meters of earth- work per cultivated hectare. The total expend- 
 iture in connection with these works, supposing them done entirely by contract, is now estimated 
 for the service of irrigation at 1,170,000 francs yearly, being 8 francs 65 centimes per hectare under 
 cultivation. 
 
 In the province of Keneh, which contains 118,000 cultivated hectares, the mean yearly amount 
 of earth moved by the corvee was 3,800,000 cubic meters,- of which 1,450,000 cubic meters were in 
 dikes and 1,350,000 were in the canals. This gives 12 cubic meters per hectare for dikes and 20 
 cubic meters for the canals, in all 32 cubic meters. 
 
 The cost of the work of maintenance in this province, if done by contract, is now estimated at 
 1,140,000' francs, or 9 francs 50 centimes per hectare. 
 
 In the province of Bsneh, which, is of much less extent and which only includes 63,000 hec- 
 tares, the annual volume of earth-work is 900,000 cubic meters, 350,000 on the dikes and 550,000 
 in the canals, which gives per hectare 5.50 cubic meters for the dikes and 8.70 cubic meters in the 
 canals ; in all, 14.30 cubic meters. 
 
 From present estimates the repairs of the canals in this province will be done by contract for 
 535,000 francs, or 8 francs 50 centimes per hectare. 
 
 In the three provinces of Esneb, Keneh, and Guirgueh, which are the only provinces in which 
 there are no special great canals for summer watering, and which have an^rea of 318,000 hectares 
 cultivated, the total volume of earth annually moved was, a few years ago, 3,550,000 cubic meters 
 on the dikes and 4,650,000 cubic meters in the cauals; in all, 8,200,000 cubic meters; and the an- 
 nual expenditure for executing all this work by contract is estimated to-day at 2,845,000 francs. 
 
 These reported amounts, to the hectare of cultivated laud, correspond to an average movement 
 of 11.16 cubic meters on the dikes and 14.62 cubic meters in the cauals, or 25.78 cubic meters in 
 all per hectare, and the annual expenditure is a mean of 9 francs per hectare. 
 
 As the canals of the basins only receive water during low water, all this earth-work is exe- 
 cuted dry. 
 
 III. IBRAHIMIBH CANAL AND THE PROVINCE OF FATOUM:. 
 
 The Ibrahimieh canal has its inlet near the city of Siout. By itself and branches it serves 
 to submerge or irrigate all or a great part of the province of Siout and all the crops on the left 
 bank of the Nile in the provinces of Minieh, Beni-Souef, and the whole of Fayoum, which repre- 
 sent an area as follows : 
 
 Hectares. 
 
 Part of the province of Siout 75,000 
 
 Provinces : 
 
 Of Minieh (left bank) 165,000 
 
 Of Beni-Souef (left bank) 93,000 
 
 Fayoum 97,000 
 
 Total 430,000 
 
 Of this amount 240,000 hectares are arranged as basins of inundation, and it is not advisable 
 here to make summer watering, as the water reserved for the more favored lands, which are 
 devoted to the cultivation of sugar-cane, can not be used for this purpose. 
 
 The Ibrahimieh canal* is composed of two very distinct sections. The first is 61 kilometers 
 long. This is only in reality a feeder canal, which is not utilized for watering the riparian lands ; 
 they are too high^ above thei level of low water. 
 
 At the sixty-first kilometer this feeder is divided into many branches. 
 
 The Ibrahimieh canal, a direct prolongation of the common trunk, designed to carry the water 
 of irrigation, and which is 195 kilometers long. 
 
 The canals of Sahelieh and Deroutieh, which flow, the first between the Ibrahimieh canal and 
 the Nile, the second to the west of the Ibrahimieh canal, and which are specially reserved for the 
 irrigation of lands nearer the point: of bifurcation. 
 
 The Bahr Youssefk This canal, or rather this water-course, serves to carry.the water of the 
 low stage as far as Fayoum, and during the flood to fill the series of basins of inundation arranged 
 to the west of the belt of land which is reserved along the Nile for irrigation. 
 
 • See Plate IH, 
 
38 IRRIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 The first portion of tbe Ibrahimieh canal, or the feeder, has its mouth a short distance north 
 of the city of Siout and extends as far as Derout. The canal at first describes a curve, directing 
 itself towards the north, then it follows very nearly the course of the Nile. In this locality the 
 lands situated on the left bank of the canal are cultivated by inundation and receive their water 
 from the basins above. As to the lands, of little extent, which are situated between the canal and 
 the river, they are cultivated by irrigation, by means of elevating-machines drawing from the Nile 
 or from the secondary canals. 
 
 The Ibrahimieh canal has no inlet work from the Nile ; the water of the river enters it freely. 
 The banks dug in the mud are simply strengthened by means of riprap reaching back from the 
 mouth for about a kilometer in length, that is to say, to the point where the canal is crossed by 
 the railroad from Slout to Cairo. 
 
 The normal width of the bottom at the mouth is fixed at 35 meters, and the slopes at 2 base 
 to 1 vertical; but the canal, in this level, being a true river with a rapid current, it is difl&cult to 
 preserve for it between its muddy banks a very stable profile. The width also varies, at the bot- 
 tom from 50 to 70 meters, and at the level of the soil it is comprised between 90 and 120 metgrs. 
 The limit of 35 meters indicated above is then at present purely theoretical. The canal having 
 its mouth free, the level of the bed at the inlet varies continually, according to the deposits brought 
 by the water. They always endeavor to maintain during low water by dredging this level at the 
 42.65 meter mark, or at a depth of 2 meters below the level of low water for the normal width of 
 35 meters. The level of the cultivated lands at this place is the 51.80 meter mark. The bottom 
 of the canal is therefore found to be 9.15 meters at low water, 7.15 meters below the soil of the 
 valley. The slope of the canal being less than that of the valley, the level of low water gradually 
 approaches the cultivated lands and very soon reaches it in the secondary canals. 
 
 The maximum high-water mark at the mouth of the Ibrahimieh canal is 63 meters, or more 
 than 8 meters above the level of low water and 10 meters above the bottom of the canal; the 
 dikes have a command of 1 meter at least above the highest water. 
 
 The railroad bridge, which crosses the canal 1 kilometer below its mouth, is composed of a 
 draw span of 30 meters, supported at its middle point by a masonry pier 6 meters wide, and three 
 iron spans, each having a clear opening between piers of 18 meters. The lowest point of the 
 roadway is 11 meters above the level of the lowest water. 
 
 The mean slope of the canal in the first 61 kilometers, between Siout and Derout, is 45 milli- 
 meters per kilometer. 
 
 Under the conditions indicated above the canal takes, in low water, 50 cubic meters per 
 second, or more than one-tenth the total discharge of the Nile at ordinary low water ; at high 
 water it takes 740 cubic meters per second. 
 
 The discharge of the Ibrahimieh is never well assured in low water, because it depends both 
 on the height of low water and the level of its bottom obtained by dredging, in fact it is not 
 ' alone the deposits of mud which fill this canal, but, especially at its mouth, even at low water, 
 the sand and heavy matters are drifted along the bottom and tend to raise it at the time that 
 watering is most necessary for the crops. Thus, notably in 1882 and 1883, a bank of sand, 
 which was deposited along the bed of the river in front of the mouth of the Ibrahimieh, sent to 
 the canal deposits in such quantity that four powerful dredges could hardly make headway against 
 the choking up which resulted. 
 
 The volume dredged on the 61 kilometers between Siout and Derout in the last four years is 
 as follows: 
 
 Cubic meters. 
 
 ^^^ 636,744 
 
 1S^3 716,195 
 
 1^* 818,430 
 
 ^^^ 634,269 
 
 At Derout (kilometer 61) begins the distribution of the water of the Ibrahimieh canal. At 
 this point the canaj widens into a kind of basin, along which are constructed six works of distri- 
 bution; they are: 
 
 First. Upon the right bank, a reservoir to carry back to the Nile the surplus water of the 
 principal trunk. This work consists of five openings of 3 meters ; a lock 8.50 meters wide and 34 
 
lEEIGATION m EGYPT. 39 
 
 meters long between miter-sills is here built, and affords, during high water, communication 
 between the Nile and the Ibrahimieh by the return canal. 
 
 Second. On the right bank, a little below the reservoir, the inlet of the Sahlieh canal, com- 
 posed of two arches with openings 3 meters wide. 
 
 Third. In the axis of the basin, the distribution work built for the Ibrahimieh canal itselfj 
 it consists of seven arches of 3-meter openings, with lock 8.50 meters wide for navigation. 
 
 Fourth. On the left bank of the canal, the water inlet of Deroutieh, composed of three arches 
 of 3 meters. 
 
 Fifth. Again, on the left bank, the inlet of the Bahr Toussef, comprising 5 arches of 3 meters 
 and a lock 8.50 meters wide for navigation. 
 
 Sixth. Finally, on the same side, an inlet of two arches of 3 meters, for filling several basins 
 situated on the left bank of the Bahr Toussef, and at a level too high to be filled by the Bahr 
 Youssef itself. 
 
 All these works are closed by means of horizontal stop-planks. 
 
 The principal ramifications of the Ibrahimieh canal are, then, the two great navigable arteries 
 which are the prolongation of the Ibrahimieh itself, the Bahr Youssef and the two secondary 
 canals, viz., the Sahelieh and the Deroutieh. The sills of the inlets of these different canals are 
 at different levels; the highest are those of Deroutieh and Sahelieh. These sills have been estab- 
 lished for a regimen of distribution different from that adopted at present; they are in general 
 below the level adopted for the canals themselves, a level very variable and which, on account of 
 large deposits of mud, depends entirely upon the depth of the yearly dredging. 
 
 At present the 39.90 meter mark above the sea level is fixed for the bottom of the principal 
 trunk at Derout, or about 5.50 meters below the level of the soil. The level of low water is there- 
 fore 3.50 meters below the land, the slope of the surface being considered the same as the slope 
 of the bed^ that is, supposing the level is not affected by the regulating works. As to floods, the 
 flow is regulated so that it will not exceed at this point the level of the crown of the works, fixed 
 at 47.515 meters, or 7.60 above the bottom. 
 
 Sahelieh canal. — The Sahelieh canal, which has a width of 8 meters at the bottom, at its 
 mouth is kept at a depth of 4 meters below the level of the soil, or 1.50 meters above the bed of 
 the Ibrahimieh. It trends between the Mle dikes and the Ibrahimieh canal for a length of about 
 40 kilometers as far as Abou Kourkas, using most frequently the bed of the ancient canals. 
 Vq,rious works for holding the water are arranged along its course. The first kilometers of the 
 canal are costly to maintain on account of the mud deposited annually, and because the products 
 of dredging dumped each year on the banks render the work more and more difficult. This earth- 
 work is done dry ; it amounts annually to a mean of 90,000 cubic meters. 
 
 Deroutieh canal. — The Deroutieh canal, constructed entirely anew at the same time as Ibra- 
 himieh, has a regular course. The width at the bottom is 10 meters at its inlet at Derout : its 
 level is the same as the Sahelieh. 
 
 The normal slope of the bed is 65 millimeters per kilometer. 
 
 The length of the canal is 70 kilometers, and the cross-section diminishes in proportion to its 
 distance from the inlet. 
 
 The cross-section is quite irregular in consequence of defective dredging, which has been done 
 by the men of the corv6e. At certain points the distance between dikes varies from 30 to 40 meters. 
 It is therefore difilcult to specify at present a typical cross-section for this canal. 
 
 During low water the discharge can be increased to 7.56 cubic meters per second by com- 
 pletely opening the dam at the inlet. There are necessary for agriculture about 4 cubic meters. 
 
 During high water the canal should discharge about 28 cubic meters per second. This dis- 
 charge is necessary on the one hand for the winter crops of the region between the Ibrahimieh 
 and the chain of the basins on the west, and on the other hand to complete the filling of the 
 basins of Achmounin and Tanachaoui, representing 32,000 hectares of surface, which, as we will 
 see farther on, can not be completely filled by the Bahr Youssef. This partial inundation is made 
 by simple breaches cut in the west bank of the canal. 
 
 At about the thirty-third kilometer the Deroutieh canal can receive, in case of need, the 
 water from a branch of the Ibrahimieh, an ancient canal bed, capable of supplying to the thirty- 
 
40 IRRIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 eighth kilometer, which terminates the Deroutieh, the water needed to irrigate the whole territory 
 between the Ibrahimieh and the basins as far as Minieh. 
 
 This communication, established by the Sabaka between the Deroutieh and the Ibrahimieh 
 canal, presents another advantage. The necessity of introducing in great quantities the muddy 
 water into the bed of the Deroutieh for the partial filling of the basins causes, for the first 10 
 kilometers, considerable deposit. To remove these deposits it is necessary to drain the bed dry, 
 beginning at the outlet. The Sabaka canal during this time furnishes the water needed for the 
 summer crops, and this quite conveniently, because at the first kilometers the irrigable area is not 
 extensive, the Ibrahimieh canal being very close to the longitudinal dikes of the inundation 
 basins. 
 
 When the work of clearing out the Deroutieh was performed by the corvee it was done twice; 
 the first time in the month of March, before the planting of the sugar cane needed the water, and 
 the second time at the end of May, a little before low water, in order that the young plants should 
 not be deprived of water before the flood. 
 
 At present this work is done by contract. It is possible with the new arrangements for the 
 distribution of water to shut the upper part of the canal during the months of October, November, 
 December, and January while there is less need of irrigation, and thus allow the contractors all 
 the time required to perform their work dry ; it amounts to 120,000 meters. 
 
 Prolongation of the Ibrahimieh canal. — Prom the point of bifurcation at Derout the Ibrahimieh 
 canal is prolonged to some distance north of Beni-Souef for a length of about 195 kilometers. 
 
 The level of the bottom, below t;he distributing works at the head, is at present fixed at about 
 1 meter above the bottom of the feeder canal, or at 4.50 meters below the neighboring lands, and 
 the bed has a slope of 6 centimeters per kilometer until the bottom has attained a depth of 1.50 
 meters below the level of the neighboring cultivated land, or at about the seventeenth kilometer 
 from Derout. The slope of the canal then becomes the same as that of the valley, and thffordi- 
 nary level of the water is maintained at the height of about 1 meter above the surface of the land. 
 
 Four works are established along the canal to facilitate the regulation of the water during 
 low water. They are : an old bridge with nine arches, situated at the sixtieth kilometer, in a part 
 of the ancient canal, whose bed the Ibrahimieh uses for a short distance, and three works, com- 
 posed of three arches of three meters and a lock, are situated at Minieh (kilometer 70), Matia (kilo- 
 meter 110), and Magaga (kilometer 138). 
 
 Immediately above these four dams are the outlets of the principal derivations. 
 
 The Ibrahimieh, except at a few points where it follows portions of ancient canals, is very 
 regular in direction ; it flows parallel to the Nile, and does not leave between itself and the river* 
 a distance of more than 4 or 5 kilometers. 
 
 The width of the bottom diminishes gradually from 20 to 12 meters, the embankments are 2 
 base to 1 vertical, with a berme 5 meters wide on each side above the ordinary level of the water- 
 but here, as in most Egyptian canals, which are more or less deformed by deposits and irregular 
 dredging. It is difficult to fix a typical cross-section. 
 
 Although locks have been established at Derout, Minieh, JMattai, and Magaga, the Ibrahimieh 
 is not considered navigable, the last two locks have never been completed, and navigation is im- 
 possible between Derout and Mattai on account of an old bridge with nine arches mentioned above. 
 
 Many works recently constructed in the eastern dike of the Ibrahimieh allow, during high 
 water, the emptying of the surplus into the Nile, and the maintenance therefore of a current suflft- 
 ciently rapid to prevent, in a notable degree, the deposits of mud held in suspension. 
 
 Finally, a masonry syphon, composed of two openings 1.20 meters wide, has been constructed 
 recently under the Ibrahimieh for a double purpose. In the first place, during the flood it joins 
 to the Nile a transverse canal connecting with the inundation basins of Minieh to which it fur- 
 nishes water provided directly by the river and strongly charged with mud ; while, before the 
 establishment of this work, this basin was only fed with water already partially settled. This 
 same syphon serves in the second place, during high water, for the drainage of irrigable lands 
 situated to the west of the Ibrahimieh, and in which the want of drainage has increased consider- 
 ably the portion of saline material hurtful to cultivation ; it is also a culvert which carries to the 
 Nile the surplus of irrigation water. 
 
IRRIGATION m EGYPT. 41 
 
 Although the turbid waters have already deposited a great part of their mud before reaching 
 the works of Derout, nevertheless it is necessary to dredge annually in the Deroutieh and Sahelieh; 
 the same obtains for the first 20 kilometers of the Ibrahimieh below Derout. The amounts dredged 
 each year on this section are : 
 
 Cubic meters. 
 
 1882 : 92,000 
 
 1883 274,000 
 
 1884 330,000 
 
 1885 182,000 
 
 In 1886, by opening the regulating works along the canal during flood and allowing the water, 
 whose surplus escapes to the Nile by several drains, to flow freely, the dredging of this portion of 
 the Ibrahimieh has been avoided ; but some earth-work is necessary in the upper pools of the 
 secondary canals where some deposit takes place. 
 
 The Ibrahimieh canal having always water, the clearing is here effected by dredging. 
 Distribution of water. — As has been said, the feeder of the Ibrahimieh canal, under present 
 conditions and with ordinary low water, discharges 50 cubic meters per second. This has not been 
 the case very long, for in the years 1880, 1881, and 1882, at a time when excavation by means of 
 dredges was not very well organized, the minimum discharges were, respectively, 38.27 and 30 cubic 
 meters per second. 
 
 Taking as a basis the normal discharge at low water of 50 cubic meters, this volume of water 
 it is estimated should be distributed at Derout in the following manner : 
 
 One-third to the Bahr Toussef to be utilized by Fayoum, as we will see further on. 
 Two-thirds to the canals of Ibrahimieh, Deroutieh, and Sahelieh. The 33 cubic meters thus 
 disposed of by these three canals permit the cultivation, in summer crops, every year of about 
 42,000 hectares, which, taking into account the rotation of crops, corresponds to an irrigable area 
 of 126,000 hectares. 
 
 The surface, cultivatable by irrigation, is separated from the region of inundation basins, fed 
 by the Bahr Youssef, by means of a great longitudinal dike, of the usual type of Egyptian dikes, 
 which extends, almost parallel to the Ibrahimieh, from Derout to the extremity of the canal. 
 
 The Bahr Youssef. — The Bahr Youssef is really a natural water-course, whose ancient bed is 
 crossed by the Ibrahimiah canal at Derout, and which was formerly fed from the Nile. It trends 
 immediately towards the west of the valley and hugs the Libyan chain, which it follows as far as 
 Fayoum. 
 
 The Bahr Youssef has a very tortuous course. Measured along its general direction it has 
 nearly the same length as the Ibrahimieh from Derout. 
 
 Its bed has a very variable section from point to point. In the most regular section the lesser 
 bed is from 50 to 60 meters wide with a maximum depth from 6 to 8 meters. At high water the 
 greater bed is limited by the dikes, and everywhere on the west by the mountains which also bound 
 the valley. 
 
 The slope of the Bahr Youssef is almost equal to that of the Nile ; its level, taken on a section 
 across the valley, is therefore a few meters below the level of the Ibrahimieh canal, which runs par- 
 allel to it, and of the canals derived from the latter. 
 
 During low water the Bahr Youssef discharges about 17 cubic meters per second. At the time 
 of highest water, which occurs when the basins which it crosses are being emptied, it discharges at 
 least 850 cubic meters per second. Its water is therefore about 4.50 meters above the level of low 
 water. The discharge, at low water, of the Ibrahimieh canal above Derout being hardly sufficient 
 for the summer crops of the province of Fayoum, and the region of the irrigating canals of the prov- 
 inces of Siout, Minieh, and Beni-Souef, it is necessary to stop all summer cultivation along the banks 
 of the Bahr Youssef. Therefore during low water this water-course takes all its water to Fayoum. 
 
 During the flood it is utilized for filling the inundation basins, which are arranged along its 
 banks from Derout as far as the dike of Kocheicha, then in the north of the province of Beni-Souef, 
 for emptying the same basins and also for the discharge of the basins fed by the Sehagieh, between 
 Derout and Siout. Also, and finally, it serves at the same time to carry to Fayoum the water 
 intended to submerge the lands for the winter crops. 
 
42 
 
 lEEIGATIOK IN EGYjpT. 
 
 The basins fed by the Behr Toussef, and situated on the right bank of that river, are as 
 follows : 
 
 Basins. 
 
 Area. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 
 Rectares. 
 2,229 
 
 12, 566 
 
 19, 293 
 
 8,656 
 7,686 
 7,876 
 
 12, 337 
 2,656 
 
 13, 399 
 10, 573 
 13, 711 
 21,514 
 33, 600 
 
 Fed by the Bahr Toussef; emptied partly into the basin 
 
 of Achmounin. 
 Fed partly by the Bahr Tonssef, partly by a cut in the 
 dike of Deroutieh ; discharges into the Bahr Yonssef. 
 Fed by the Bahr Toussef; discharges partly into this 
 river and partly into the lower basin. 
 Do. 
 Do. 
 Do. 
 T>». 
 Do. 
 Do. 
 Fed partly by a syphon under the Ibrahimieh. 
 Fed by the Bahr Toussef. 
 
 Do. 
 Fed by the Bahr Toussef; discharges into the Nile by a 
 out in the dike. 
 
 
 
 El Knran-El Tahawi 
 
 Dehrl-Menkatin 
 
 
 
 Sultani . 
 
 Miniftli 
 
 Niiera _.... 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 166, 095 
 
 
 There are also a few submergable lauds between the Behr Youssef and tbe mountains, but 
 these basins are of little importance. 
 
 This whole collection of basins, separated from the Nile by the Ibrahimieh canal, also fed 
 throughout its whole length by the Bahr Youssef alone, is too extensive, for the lower basins only 
 receive water too much settled and not very fertilizing. It was to overcome this inconvenience 
 that the syphon of Minieh was built uuder the Ibrahiinieh, as above mentioned, and many others 
 have been projected. 
 
 The last transverse dike of this system of basins, the dike of Kocheicha, presents a remark- 
 able peculiarity ; it is the only dike in Egypt which is not entirely built of mud. It is built with 
 an interior core of earth, retained above and below by masonry walls from 8 to 10 meters apart. 
 This work serves, therefore, very well to secure the whole series of basins, and to prevent them 
 from precipitating all their water upon the lower parts of the valley by rupture of the dikes. 
 
 Fayoum.* — This province' presents characteristics entirely different from those existing in the 
 rest of Egypt. The soil is lighter and tbe slope is much greater. 
 
 Fayoum forms a great basin scooped out of the desert. The low part oi this region on the 
 northwest side is occupied by a lake called Birket-el-Keroun, whose mean level is 40 meters below 
 the sea, that is to say, almost 70 meters below the gorge which forms the only communication of 
 this province with the valley of the Nile, and by which the Bahr Youssef brings it water. The 
 distance of this gorge from Lake Keroun being 40 kilometers', the mean slope of the land in the 
 direction of the lake is 1.80 meters per kilometer. To the west of Lake Keroun the slopes are sterile 
 and abrupt. 
 
 The entrance to Fayoum, inclosed between two plateaus, leaving an open space between them 
 of about 1,500 meters, is closed by a dike which completely separates thife province from the inun- 
 dation basins of the valley of the Nile. The Bahr Youssef crosses this dike by means of a masonry 
 work called the bridge of Ellaoun, composed of three arches, one of 4 meters and the two others 
 of 3 meters openings. 
 
 Fayoum was formerly cultivated by basins, like the whole of Upper Egypt, .the bed of Bahr 
 Youssef being too high to receive the Nile water at low water. Spring water, generally saline, still 
 comes to this province during summer and still feeds the Bahr Youssef. These waters were far 
 from being sufficient for the requirements, and it was necessary to economize them ; thus has been 
 created throughout the whole of Fayoum a very complete system of distribution by means of 
 
 "See Plate III. 
 
IREIGATION IN EGYPT. 43 
 
 masonry works, established along the principal canals and along the pools and reservoirs, which 
 form the true basins of supply. 
 
 Since the Ibrahimieh has furnished water to the Bahr Youssef during low water, the summer 
 crops have been much developed in Fayoum, and the inundation basins tend to disappear more 
 and more. 
 
 The general system of canals is very simple here. After the bridge of Ellaoun, the Bahr 
 Youssef continues as far as the chief place of the province [Medinetel-Fayoum] whence start all 
 the canals which water the province, forming divergent ways along which are arranged the special 
 outlets and whose surplus flows into Lake Keroun. 
 
 In consequence of the abundance of irrigation water, the level of the lake has been raised some 
 4 meters in latter years, thus overflowing land heretofore cultivable ; also the lack of drainage 
 canals in the low parts has tended to render salt and sterile quite a quantity of laud. 
 
 For the whole area of cultivated land in Fayoum, which is 97,000 hectares, it is estimated at 
 present that the quantity of water to be given to the province might be, during low water, between 
 17 and 23 cubic meters per second, which might be raised during flood as high as 58 and even 
 80 cubic meters. But a part of this water is lost in Lake Keroun by defective distribution. 
 
 The mean amount of earth- work, which was formerly executed entirely by corv6e, for the repair 
 of canals and dikes reached, according to official figures, 1,300,000 cubic meters per year, or 14 
 cubic meters per hectare. 
 
 These works of repair, which are now done by contract, are estimated to-day as representing 
 an annual expenditure of 295,000 francs, which amounts to 3 francs per hectare. 
 
 These amounts, very much less than those mentioned for the other provinces, are explained 
 thus : Fayoum being far from the Nile the water which it receives is slightly charged with mud, 
 and because the slope of the land is much greater than the rest of Egypt the velocity of the water 
 here is much greater, and therefore the deposits are less considerable. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE MOST IMPORTANT IRRIGATION WORKS IN LOWER EGYPT. 
 
 ISMAILIJSB OAKAL-rOBEAT DAM AT TBE POINT OF TEE DELTA— PROriNOES SITUATED Ta TBE EAST OF THE 
 DAMIETIA BRANCH— PBOTINOES OF THE CENTER— BEQION OF THE WEST, OR PROTINOE OF BEHEBA. 
 
 I. ISMAiLiEH Canal,* 
 
 The Ismailieh canal, although it belongs to the irrigation system of the provinces to the east of 
 the Delta, deserves nevertheless a separate description. It is, in fact", the only important canal in 
 Egypt which has been constructed throughout by contract, and which lias been constructed as a 
 single job. There results a regularity in its flow and profile which the other canals, built by the 
 corv6e are far from possessing ; it is much oftener used for navigation than irrigation. It was con- 
 structed, in virtue of agreements between the Egyptian Government and the Suez Canal Company, 
 for the purpose of creating a navigable water-way between the Nile and the maritime canal; to 
 furnish water for irrigating some lands conceded to the company, and finally to provide for the 
 needs of the maritime canal and the towns and stations established along its course a daily sup- 
 ply of 70,000 cubic meters. According to the specifications the bottom of the Ismailieh was to be 
 established so that the depth of water should always be 2^ meters at high water, 2 meters at mean 
 .stage, and 1 meter at low water. 
 
 The Ismailieh canal has its inlet at Cairo; it has two inlets — one called the Kasr-el-Nil, in the 
 heart of C liro, is the oldest, but it is only utilized as an accessory on account of its want of solidity ; 
 the other, called Ohoubrah, is situated 7 kilometers below. The canal kilometers are always 
 counted from the old inlet; the branch leaving Ohoubrah is 4 kilometers long and joins the main 
 canal at the ninth kilometer. 
 
 Eunning at first to the northeast the Ismailieh follows the edge of the desert until it reaches the 
 little valley of the Ouadi, which it crosses and follows the north side, trending direct to the east 
 as far as the town of Ismailia, where it discharges into Lake Timsah. A branch, which begins a 
 little before Ismailia, stretches toward the south across the desert, following a Hue parallel to the 
 maritime canal and empties into the channel of the port of Suez. 
 
 The line of the Ismailieh conforms at many points to the direction followed by the ancient canal,* 
 which, according to historians, put the Nile in communication with Lake Timsab, or with theEed 
 Sea itself, and of which traces have been found on the surface. 
 
 The length of the canal between the Nile and Lake Timseh is 136 kilometersj and the length 
 of the Snez branch is 89 kilometers. 
 
 The width of the bottom is 13 meters; the slopes are generally 3 base to 1 vertical up to the 
 level of the soil, with a slight berme of 50 centimeters wide 2 meters above the bottom. The crest 
 of the embankments, having a thickness at the crown of 7 meters as a minimum, was originally fixed 
 at 11 meters above the bottom from the head to the twentieth kilometerj thence at 9 meters as far 
 as the fifty fourth kilometer, and finally at 5 meters for all the rest of the canal ; but these profiles 
 
 » See Plate IV. 
 
 45 
 
46 
 
 lERIGATIOK IK EGYPT. 
 
 of the embankment have now been modified in many places by the earth taken out by dredging. 
 A banaaette of 8 meters wide is generally arranged between the foot of the embankment and the 
 crest of the slope of the canal trunk. 
 
 In sandy localities the slope of the canals are held at 6 base to 1 vertical from the bottom to 
 the summit of the embankment. 
 
 On the Suez branch the normal width of the bottom is only 8 meters; but it is not everywhere 
 kept to this dimension and in certain places it does not exceed 5 to 6 meters. 
 
 The longitudinal profile for the first 98 kilometers has a slope of 42 milimeters per kilometer ; at 
 the ninety-eighth kilometer a fall of 60 centimeters is obtained by the Gassassine lock ; the slope 
 of the canal then becomes 20.5 millimeters per kilometer as far as Ismailia, where the bottom of 
 the canal is 4.30 meters above the level of Lake Timsah. This difference of level is overcome by 
 two locks. On the Suez branch the mean slape of the bottom is 25 millimeters per kilometer. 
 
 At Cairo the trunk of the canal has been excavated to 1 meter below the level of the lowest 
 known water, or to the 9.725 meter mark above the sea level, and to a depth of 11.90 meters below 
 the top of the wharves* and adjoining land. 
 
 At the crossing of the valley of Ouadi the canal is in embankment, and the level of the water is 
 2.50 meters above the adjacent land. TLis causes frequent infiltration, which extends quite a dis- 
 tance alongboth banks, and, no arrangement having been made for drainage, large areas, formerly 
 cultivated, have been ruined. 
 
 Fine regulatingbridge-dams with locks, including the work at the Ghoubrah head, are arranged 
 along the canal as far as the Suez branch, not including the second inlet work on the Nile, called 
 Kasr-er-Nil, almost abandoned, which is composed of six arches with 3 meter openings and a lock 
 
 6 meters wide. 
 
 These works t are designated as the locks of Ghoubrah, Siriakos, Belbeis, and Gassassine. 
 Except at Gassassine, the bottom of the canal has no fall due to these works, which only differ by 
 the variable height of the chamber-walls. They are composed of a lock 8.50 meters wide and 59.50 
 meters total length, with an available length of 38.50 meters ; in one of the chamber-walls of the 
 lock is built a regulating work, composed of two openings 2.75 meters wide, separated by a pier 
 2.50 meters thick; the openings are formed by an arch of 1.25 meters radius, supported upon 
 vertical piers 2.50 meters high. 
 
 Lateral culverts, 1.90 meters high and 70 centimeters wide, are built in each one of these lock 
 walls, and afford communication between the pool above and the interior of the lock or the pQOi 
 below. The lock is provided with an iron gate with shutters. 
 
 The openings and lateral culverts are closed by means of cast iron shutters. | The works are 
 not built upon a solid subsoil ; their foundations are generally about 3 meters thick. 
 
 Bridges, having a movable span across the lock, are placed above each bridge dam; this 
 movable part is composed of an iron draw on all the works, except at Ghoubrah, where they have 
 built a turn-bridge, of two wings 9.50 meters wide between parapets. 
 
 The terminal locks of Ismailia are of the same type as the others, but they have lift-walls and 
 no regulating works built in them. 
 
 The locks of the Suez branch, of which there are five, and the first of which is at Neflcha, the 
 head of this branch, and the other four at the sixteenth, forty-second, and sixty-eighth kilometers 
 and at Suez, have no dams built, but are furnished with the lateral culverts, permitting the estab- 
 lishment of a current in the canal. 
 
 Among the other necessary works for the regulation of the Ismailieh canal are two outlets: 
 
 One, about the seventy-fifth kilometer, on the right bank, is composed of three openings of 3 
 meters, with piers 1 meter thick, closed by stop-planks, and intended to empty into the Ouadi, 
 whose level is 1.10 meters lower than the Ismailieh canal, a part of the surplus water. 
 
 The other, situated at Neflche, near the city of Ismailia (one hundred and twenty-ninth kilo- 
 meter), contains five openings of 2 meters, closed by stop-planks, and separated by piers 1 meter 
 thick and 3 meters long; the sill of this outlet is 2 meters above the bottom of the canal; it sends 
 the surplus water into Lake Timsah. § 
 
 * See Plate VII, Fig. 2, for designs of ihem wharves, * See Plates IX and X, 
 
 tSee Plate VHI. { See Plate XI. 
 
IRRIGATION IN EGYPT. 47 
 
 A nuiuber of outlets, more or less important, connect the Ismailieh canal with the net-work 
 of canals which water the provinces of .the eastern part of the Delta ; these outlets have in gen- 
 eral iron fermetures. The most important of the communications is that which is established with 
 the Ouadi canal, about the seventy-fifth kilometer; a lock constructed at the point of junction of 
 the two canals, with a lift- wall of 1.60 meters, the level of the Ouadi canal being below that of 
 the Ismailieh canal; this canal only serves for irrigation in the first, part of its course, and the 
 Suez branch flows through the open desert. 
 
 The minimum discharge fixed for the Ismailieh at low water is 17.36 cubic meters per second. 
 
 At high water the discharge is nearly" the same. From this it results that the muddy water 
 coming into the canal with a very weak velocity, at a depth of about 5 meters, causes considerable 
 deposits in the first pool, which it is necessary to dredge each year. The small extent of existing 
 inlets and the low height of the banks in the lower pools forbid a free entrance of the Mle into 
 the canal at high water. They always decrease notably the volume of water by closing almost 
 completely the works at the head during high flood, taking the greater part of the necessary 
 water by means of an opening in the second pool, which connects the Ismailieh with a second- 
 ary canal called Chibini ; the water thus introduced is then far enough from the Mle to have de- 
 posited all its mud. 
 
 The annual dredging in the Ismailieh, which was formerly more than 300,000 cubic meters, not 
 including the work in the ancient arm of Kasr-el-Nil, is found by this means to be reduced by at 
 least 150,000 cubic meters. The greater part of this work is required to clear out, on the side of 
 the Nile, the inlet itself of Choubrah ; the work at the head is in reality established not upon the 
 bank of the river-^it is almost 500 meters distant, and is connected by a channel whose head is 
 backed up every year by the back water of the flood. 
 
 II. The Great Dam of the Apex op the Delta. 
 
 The general view given above of irrigation in Lower Egypt has already shown the important 
 part which the great dam established at the apex of the Delta was destined to fill, and the small 
 r61e to which it has been reduced in consequence of its unfinished condition and the economy ' 
 which was introduced in the foundation. 
 
 In spite of these defects, this dam is nevertheless a grand work. It was undertaken with 
 much boldness by M. Mougel-Bey, engineer des ponts et chauss6es, about 1843, at a time when the 
 use of movable dams was little known, when there had not yet been projected a work of such im- 
 portance in the deltas of great rivers. Unfortunately, he experienced in his undertaking all the 
 vicissitudes which works requiring a long time undergo in this country ; at first begun with fever- 
 ish activity, then neglected and abandoned, and finally put in use before it was even finished. 
 
 This great dam was constructed at the exact locality where the two arms of the Rosetta and 
 Damietta separate. *It consists really of two dams, each established on oneof the arms, including 
 between them a tongue of land about IjOOO meters wide, which forms the point of the Delta ; this 
 is bounded by a circular wharf f and is cut in the middle by the great canal of Menoufieh, which 
 is designed for the watering of the land included between the two aims of the Nile and takes its 
 water from the pool above the dams. 
 
 The dam of the Rosetta branch is formed of sixty-one arches of 5-meter openings separated by 
 piers 2 meters thick ; at each extremity is a lock, one 12 and the other 15 meters wide; the total 
 length of the work is 465 meters. 
 
 The dam of the Damietta arm is identical with the preceding, except that it has ten more 
 arches ; its length, therefore, is 545 meters. 
 
 According to the project, the pool created by this work was to be, at the maximum, 4.50 
 meters above the level of low water, supposed to be 11.80 meters above the level of the sea ; the 
 water of the pool above was thus to be held at 16.30 meters, that is, very nearly at the level of the 
 cultivated lands at this locality. But it was afterward found that if the water necessary for the 
 irrigation of the whole of Lower Egypt was taken from the pool above the dam, the level of the 
 
 * See Plate XII, Fig. 1, tSeePlate VII, Fig. 1. 
 
48 IRRIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 pool below would be much less than 11.80 meters, and it was necessary that this level should be at 
 least above the IOmeter mark ; the dam then, in order to obtain the required height, should se- 
 cure a pool of 5.80 meters. 
 
 The foundation* consists of a bed of beton covered by a layer of brick with belting courses of 
 cut stone ; the total width of the bed is 34 meters, with a thickness of 3.50 meters, with retaining 
 walls above and below 5 meters in height. The foundation bed is prolonged below by an apron 8 
 meters long, formed of a bed of stone of a mean thickness of 1.50 meters covered by a bed of beton 
 1 meter thick, with a slope of 20 centimeters per meter. This apron is terminated by a mass of 
 beton 4 meters wide and 3 meters thick.. The total width of the foundation bed is thus 46 meters ; 
 riprap strengthens the bed of the river below. 
 
 In the Damietta arm and the greater part of the Rosetta arm the bed is built on the mud ; 
 but in the middle of the Rosetta branch, where at the time of construction the bed of the river was 
 lower than was the intended level of the bottom of the foundation, they simply, for about 70 meters 
 in length, to even up the bottom, threw in riprap upon which beton was spread to the proper depth. 
 This mass of riprap reached to a depth of 12 meters below the beton masonry. 
 
 It has for a long time been doubted whether in this country such a foundation would stand 
 under a pressure of 5 to 6 meters of water, and, in fact, the dam to this day having, owing to 
 various circumstances, never been required to stand more than 3 meters pressure, it can not be 
 said what would be the effect of a greater pressure of water on the mass of riprap; nevertheless, 
 the English engineers now in the Egyptian service affirm that in India, where there are large 
 dams built on river mud similar to that of the Nile, they often, to economize masonry, have raised 
 the bed by means of sand filling, or stone riprap ; the water filters for a certain time through these 
 masses, which soon become an impermeable barrier. M. Fowler, in one of his reports on the Nile 
 dam, mentions, among other things, the case of works built under these conditions on the Kistuah 
 and the Godavery in India as having been perfectly successful. 
 
 However this may be, it seems certain that beton established on riprap, on the Nile, has been 
 put in without the proper precautions, that the greater part of the mortar has been carried away 
 by the current, which filters through the masonry, and therefore that the masonry does not present 
 the necessary resistance to "withstand a great pressure. In consequence of this fact, when it is 
 desired to use the dam, cracks formed in many places and settling occurred ; coffer-dams were often 
 built iu the most threatened places, but in spite of everything they have never dared, until the last 
 few J ears, to subject the dam to a pressure of more than 2 meters of water. 
 
 The piers are 2 meters thick, 15 meters long, and 10 meters high ; they support full centej 
 arches forming a bridge 10 meters wide between heads; the top of the piers are at the level of 
 high water. 
 
 The system of fermeture first projected, and which has been arranged for the Rosetta arm 
 only, is complicated and very imperfect ; it is composed of sheet-iron gates of cylindrical form 
 turning about a horizontal axis and carrying many floats designed to lighten them in the water aod 
 thus facilitate their maneuvering. These gates do not give a tight fermeture ; in fact, it was 
 thought that the discharge of the Nile at low water was sufficient to allow a great part of it to flow 
 through. 
 
 Until the last three years, the dam of the Damietta not being furnished with apparatus for 
 closing it, they were content to close the Rosetta arm, at least partially, and thus obtain a pool of 
 two meters. This choking of the river allowed a quite plentiful supply for the central canal or 
 tlie Menoufleh, and the Damietta arm supplied all the water for the provinces of the east and 
 center of the Delta. But since 1882 they determined to use this work more thoroughly; for this 
 they shut the Damietta arm partly by means of stop planks, and the Rosetta arm as completely 
 as possible; they obtained thus a pool of 3 meters above low water at the Rosetta arm and of 1.60 
 meters at the other, and were able to largely feed the central canal and increase the discharge of 
 the canals situated on the right bank of the Nile between the dam and Cairo. 
 
 To obtain this result without compromising the stability of the dam, M. Willcoks, the engi- 
 neer in charge of the direction of this work, employed an ingenious method which consisted in 
 
 * See Plates XIII and XIII bis. 
 
lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 49 
 
 diminishing the pressure on the foundation bed by dividing the total fall of 3 meters into two falls 
 of 1.50 meters each. For this purpose along the extremity of the apron for the whole length of the 
 dam a dike of riprap* was established, whose crest, 2 meters wide, was 3.25 meters above the level 
 of the apron ; in spite of its permeability this dike was sufficient to create a difference of level of 
 1.50 meters, and it reduced thus the pressure on the apron to that of a fall of 1.50 meters. Now 
 it is proposed to strengthen and place the dam in such condition that it may produce normally a 
 pool of 4 meters, that is to hold the water above at a level of 14 meters at low water ; projects 
 have been elaborated for this which will shortly by executed, and which consist particularly in 
 strengthening the apron, repairing the bad portions, erecting iron apparatus for fermeture of easy 
 maneuver, and in strengthening the bed of the river below by strong and massive riprap. 
 
 III. Provinces situated to the East of the Damietta AEM.t 
 
 The watering of the provinces of Lower Egypt, situated to the east of the Damietta arm, is 
 accomplished at present by seven principal canals leading from the Nile and by their branches. 
 Three of these canals are between Cairo and the dam ; they are the Ismailieh, the Gberkaouieh, 
 the Bessonssieh. The other four are below the dam ; they are the Bahr Moez, the Sabel, the Cm 
 Salama, the Mansourieh. 
 
 The Ismailieh canal. — This canal has been mentioned above ; it is not necessary here to go over 
 it; it is able to contribute to irrigation along its course, because of its constant discharge of at 
 least 11 cubic meters per second. 
 
 GherTcaouieh. — The Nile mouth of this canal is about 12 kilometers above the dam ; it is formed 
 by a masonry work, reconstructed a few years ago, and composed of five arches of 2.40 meters, 
 closed by stop-planks.J The level-mark of its sill is 2 meters below the level of low water, but 
 the bottom of the canal at the mouth is held at the 11.50-meter mark, or at 1.50 meters below the 
 highest pool obtained hitherto at the great dam. 
 
 The work is of brick and of cut stone ; the bed lies on a foundation of sand ; it is of beton, 
 and has a thickness of 2 meters with retaining walls 2.70 meters high above and below ; it is 
 covered with two overlying layers of brick masonry laid on edge. The piers are 2 meters thick, 
 11.25 meters high, and 15.80 meters long ; they support a bridge 8 meters wide. 
 
 The bottom of the canal is 10 meters wide, and the slopes are 2 base to 1 vertical ; the longi- 
 tudinal slope is quite irregular on account of defects in dredging ; the normal slope should be 4 
 centimeters per kilometer. 
 
 This canal follows a line almost parallel to the Ismailieh canal for about 28 kilometers of its 
 length ; here it separates into two branches, of which one, the Ghibini, communicates with the 
 Ismailieh canal at Zaonamel by an inlet formed of two arches of 2,50-meter openings. 
 
 The canals derived from the Oherkaouieh carry the surplus of their water to the eastern part 
 of Lake Menzaleh. 
 
 At low water this canal discharges easily 6 to 7 cubic meters per second, especially since they 
 have obtained a good rise in the water above the dam of the Delta. 
 
 During flood the Oherkaouieh receives a supply of water 5 to 6 meters in depth. 
 
 Bessoussieh.— This canal has its mouth 2 kilometers below that of the Oherkaouieh. The 
 work at the head is an old bridge-dam, composed of three arches, one of which has an opening 
 3.60 meters and the other two openings of 1.90 meters, closed by vertical stop-planks. The bot- 
 tom of the canal at the mouth is held at the 11.60-meter mark, or 1.40 meters below the highest 
 level obtained hitherto at the great dam. Its width is fixed at 8 meters, and the slope is 4 centi- 
 meters per meter. 
 
 The Bessonssieh follows at first a line nearly parallel to the Nile for 12 kilometers of its length. 
 It is designed in this portion for watering the high lands which border the river, then it ramifies 
 into two principal branches, the Filfileh canal, which still flows parallel to the Nile, and the Abou 
 Akdar, an ancient Pelusian branch, which empties into Lake Menzaleh. 
 
 * See Plate XII, fig. 2. t See Plate IV. X See Plate XIV, 
 
 H. Mis. 134 4 
 
50 lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 The discharge of the Bessoassieh at low water is 5 to 6 cubic meters per second. 
 
 Bahr Moez. The Bahr Moez leaves the Nile 70 kilometers below the dam. It has no masonry- 
 work at its mouth. It is an ancient arm of the Nile, 60 to 80 meters wide, which flows freely as 
 far as Zagazig, for 40 kilometers following the ancient bed of the Tanitic branch. At Zagazig this 
 water-course is provided with distributing works, established at the heads of different canals which 
 branch from it. One, the Ouadi, is provided with a lock, and forms a navigable communication 
 between the Bahr Moez and the Ismailieh canal. The Bahr Moez is itself dammed at Zagazig by 
 a work composed of nine arches, with openings of 2.30 meters. 
 
 The normal discharge of the Bahr Moez is to-day, at low water, 23 cubic meters per second, but 
 it seldom attained this amount except in the last few years, for it formerly discharged from 10 to 
 15 cubic meters only. 
 
 The level of the Bahr Moez at its head, formerly fixed at 6 meters below the neighboring culti- 
 vated land, or at 6 meters above the sea, is now held a little above this, because instead of annually 
 dredging this canal to the 6-meter mark they prefer to raise the water of the Nile 1 meter by means 
 of a temporary dam. 
 
 The. employment of these temporary works dates from 1885. It affords a temporary solution 
 for feeding the Bahr Moez during low water until the works for placing the great dam of the Delta 
 in working condition are completed and allow the water to be brought by a lateral canal from the 
 Nile. The temporary work was as follows. Since a more complete fermeture of the Damietta arm 
 has been obtained at the point of the Delta, the canals which have their inlets on this branch have 
 with diflQculty maintained their discharge, and, in fact, in 1884 it was very difiQcult to obtain water 
 for the irrigation of the northern portion of the eastern provinces. To remedy this inconven- 
 ience it was decided to build across the Nile, a little below the head of the Bahr Moez, a massive 
 riprap, damming the bed of the river and forming a dike 430 meters long and 25 meters wide at the 
 crown. A maximum rise of the water of 1.10 meters was thus obtained, which signally improved the 
 supply of the Bahr Moez and gave it even much more water than was necessary. This temporary dam 
 contained 16,000 cubic meters of stone. It cost about 65,000 francs, which is much less than would 
 have been expended for dredging the Bahr Moez to a depth equal to the damming up of the water. 
 When the Nile begau to rise as great a part as possible of the stone was taken out and placed on 
 the bank, to be utilized the following year. The remainder was left in place, and caused only an 
 inappreciable rise in the flood level, the section of the lesser bed upon which the dike was built 
 being only a small portion of the greater bed. 
 
 For this work, and also at other places where stone for riprap or spurs is too expensive, as a 
 substitute they have used blocks of rough brick. This material is manufactured in ordinary brick 
 kilns; the earth is cut in the form of bricks, roughly squared, dried, placed in the kiln and burnt 
 so that some portions are vitrified, and agglomerated pieces of more or less size are then drawn 
 from the kiln, broken into irregular shapes, and may be employed in riprap ; the soil of Egypt, 
 almost everywhere, is adapted to the fabrication of these blocks. 
 
 Sahel Canal. — The Sahel Canal has its inlet 2 kilometers below the Bahr Moez. Designed for 
 the irrigation of the high lands between the river bank and the territory to the east watered by the 
 derivations of the Bahr Moez, it follows the banks of the Nile for a course of 30 kilometers and 
 then diverges, under the name of Bouhieh Canal, to empty in the Lake Menzaleh. 
 
 The work of the inlet consists of six arches of 2.50-meter openings, closed by stop- planks ; the 
 bed is at the 6.Q7-meter mark above the sea ; the mean width of the bottom is 10 meters, and the 
 normal slope is^ centimeters per kilometer. 
 
 The mean discharge of the Sahel Canal is from 10 to 12 cubic meters at low water; it has been 
 notably increased for the last two years by the temporary dam just mentioned, and which was 
 placed below the inlets of the Bahr Moez and Sahel, in order that the rise in the water might be 
 taken advantage of by both canals. 
 
 Mansourieh and Om Salama Canals. — These two canals have their inlets very near each other, 
 and 110 kilometers below the dam of the Delta. Each is provided at its head with a masonry 
 work composed of three arches of 3-meter openings. The aprons are at the 2.79-meter mark for 
 the Om Salama, and at the 3.44-meter mark for the Mansourieh, the level of the soil being about 
 the 9.30-meter mark ; but the canals are not dredged out to the level of the apron. 
 
IBEIGATION i:^ EGYPT. 
 
 The two canals follow two lines slightly apart and parallel to the general direction of the Kile, 
 to which the Mansourieh is the nearest, being designed for the irrigation of the high lands. About 
 the fortieth kilometer they separate, the Om Salama being prolonged by the Bahr Tanah, which 
 inclines at first towards the east, and the Mansourieh by the Bahr Saghir ; both, after following a 
 sinuous course and an irregular profile, empty into the western part of Lake Manzaleh. 
 
 The mean combined discharge of both these canals, at low water, is 18 cubic meters per second. 
 This discharge was notably increased in 1886 by the construction, below their head during low 
 water, of a temporary dam similar to that of the Bahr Moez and Sahel. 
 
 This work *erected at the point where the greater bed of the Nile is 450 meters wide, and where 
 the floods attain an altitude of 11.50 meters, has its crest at the 5.50-meter mark ; it has a length 
 of 239 meters and a maximum height of 4.40 meters above the bottom. For 82 meters of its length, 
 in the portion where the bed is the highest, it is a simple earthen dike; tor the remaining 157 
 meters it is composed of a riprap of stone and blocks of rough brick; a platform 18 meters wide 
 is arranged at the 4-meter mark, and is surmounted by a small dike 1.50 meters high and 1 meter 
 crown. A rise of 80 centimeters is thus obtained, sufficient to assure an abundant discharge for 
 the Om Salama and Mansourieh canals, which, from unforeseen circumstances, have not been 
 dredged to a depth sufficient to secure proper irrigation for the region without this artificial ele- 
 vation of the water level. 
 
 From the lower extremity of the Mansourieh Canal, at the point of junction with the Bahr 
 Saghir, a second canal about 60 kilometers long branches off; this follows a line parallel to the 
 Nile, and is specially designed for the watering of the rice fields as far as Damietta. This canal, 
 which is called the Cherkaouieh of Damiettta, had a few years ago an inlet on the river, but it 
 has been closed and is to-day completely out of use. 
 
 Such are the principal canals which serve for the irrigation of the eastern provinces of Lower 
 
52 lEEIGATIOIir IN EGYPT. 
 
 is necessary even to elevate the flood water in order to make winter crops. As we approach the 
 sea the difference of level between the soil and low water diminishes, and consequently the expense 
 of irrigation decreases. At a certain distance from the Nile, with a good system of distribution, 
 the raising of water may be dispensed with for nearly the whole year, because it reaches the same 
 level as the soil, but farther the lands are too low, and they are in danger of being damaged by 
 the overflow and infiltration of the water above. 
 
 The total area of cultivated land in the eastern provinces is 455,000 hectares. There would be 
 needed for summer irrigation, under favorable conditions, according to approved estimates, 275 
 milliliters per hectare to insure for these provinces a constant supply of 12 cubic meters per sec- 
 ond. Now, according to official reports, the quantity of water furnished during low water, which 
 was 100 cubic meters in 1880 and 81 cubic meters in 1881, was only 66 cubic meters in 1882, a year 
 of disorder for Egypt, during which the work of dredging was badly executed. It is seen-by this 
 how the results of a bad administration are felt and affect quickly the prosperity of the country, 
 and how fragile is a system of irrigation which can not stand, without great damage, a single year 
 of neglect. Since 1882 a larger discharge, exceeding perhaps the 125 cubic meters necessary, has 
 been given this region, but unhappily this volume is badly distributed on account of the difficulty 
 met with in supplying the canals situated to the northward. It results that certain lands have not 
 been cultivated, some because they were too dry and others because they were injured. 
 
 To assure under good conditions the watering for summer and winter in these provinces it is 
 nec( ssary to remove annually enormous volumes of earth. There are in fact public works, includ- 
 ing the strengthening of the bank and dikes, to be executed in these provinces each year of about 
 6,000,000 cubic meters of earth-work, or more than 13 cubic meters per hectare. This volume may 
 perhaps have been diminished in late years by the Improvement adapted for the distribution of 
 water. Still the annual expenses of the care of the canals and dikes of this whole region is esti- 
 mated at 2,600,000 francs, which represents an expenditure of about 5.70 francs per cultivated 
 hectare. 
 
 IV. Provinces op the Center. 
 
 Until last year the irrigation of the province comprised between the two branches of the Nile 
 was accomplished by means of five principal canals, each having an inlet from the Nile. 
 
 The Eayah Menoutteh, much the most important, with an inlet above the great dam at the 
 apex of the Delta; the Bahr Chibine, the El Atef canal, the Hadraouieh canal, the Sahel canal. 
 
 The four last have their inlets upon the Damietta arm between the fiftieth and sixtieth kilo- 
 meter below the dam. To day, during low water, all the irrigation water of these provinces is 
 furnished by the Eayah Menoufleh and by the Hadraouieh canal, all the great canals having been 
 placed in communication with the Eayah Menoufleh, and their outlets from the Nile having been 
 closed. The Hadraouieh canal will also, according to present projects, be connected with the 
 Eayah Menoufleh, which will then provide all the irrigation for the region comprised between the 
 two arms of the Nile. At the time of autumn crops it will doubtless always be necessary, at least 
 for some time yet, to have recourse to the canals along the Nile, as it has been shown that at 
 this epoch the discharge of the canals should be for several days equal to four or five times what 
 it is during low water. 
 
 The principal canals thus have their inlets in the southern portion of the Delta, consequently, 
 their direction being from south to north, they form a fan between the Eosetta and Damietta arms. 
 The greater part of the most important canals of this region are nothing but ancient arms of the 
 Nile, and notably the Bahr Chibine, which occupies the bed of the Sebennitic arm. 
 
 The Eayah Menoufleh is a wide canal; its inlet is composed of six arches of 4.16 meter open- 
 ings, closed by stop-planks, and a lock 15 meters wide. The apron is 9,75 meters above the sea- 
 level, and the total width of the bed varies from 50 to 55 meters, with a pool at the dam of the 
 Eosetta arm of 3 meters (13 meters above the sea-level); this canal has a discharge of nearly 115 
 cubic meters per second. 
 
 The Eayah Menoufleh trends towards the north, apiiroaching at flrst the Damietta arm ; some 
 secondary canals branch from it for the irrigation of the high lands situated between it and the 
 
lEEIGATIOF IN EGYPT. 53 
 
 Eosetta branch. About the twenty-second kilometer it feeds two branches, the Sersaouieh and 
 the Bagourieh, which flow toward the northwest ; the Menoufieh then meets the Bahr Chibine, 
 and continues as far as the El Atef canal ; then, by means of a derivation which crosses the 
 Hadraouioh canal, by means of culverts, it takes the water bo the Sahel, a canal designed to water 
 the high lands bordering the Damietta arm. 
 
 The Bagourieh and the Sassaouieh are more especially designed for watering the lands situ- 
 ated towards the east, and the Bahr Ghibiue, by itself or its branches, waters the middle region. 
 All these canals, or their ramifications, reach Lake Bourlos, where they empty their surplus water, 
 with the exception of the Bahr Ohibiue, which empties directly into the sea, and the canals situated 
 between the Bahr Chibine and the Damietta arm, whose surplus water is discharged into the Bahr 
 Chibine itself or returned to the Nile opposite Damietta. 
 
 In all this region of the Delta, where a dike can only be built by making a borrow pit in the 
 neighboring soil, they often utilize as irrigation canals the trenches which were necessary all 
 along the railroad to push forward the establishment of the roadway. This occurs notably for 
 the greater part of the lower line of the Sahel canal. 
 
 The area of the lands at present cultivated in this part of the Delta being 500,000 hectares, 
 without counting the marshy region, the littoral dunes, and Lake Bourlas, the quantity of water 
 necessary to be supplied at low water is 138 cubic meters per second, but so large a quantity of 
 water has not yet been supplied. 
 
 Without counting the work of clearing the trenches and small canals which concern only indi- 
 viduals, 6,300,000 cubic meters has been estimated, since several years, as about the total annual 
 amount of earth-work to be executed by the corvSe to repair the canals and dikes of the provinces 
 of the center of the Delta, or 13.00 cubic meters per hectare. Efforts have frequently been made 
 of late years to reduce this volume, and to-day the annual expenditure is estimated at 1,600,000 
 francs simply for these repairs, or 3.20 francs per hectare. This amount is not relatively great 
 when compared with that shown for the other parts of Egypt. This result has been obtained by 
 the suppression of most of the direct inlets from the Nile, which was accomplished by joining all 
 the great canals to the Eayah Meuoufieh, and by establishing a judicious system of distribution, 
 consisting in never allowing the muddy water to remain in certain pools with low velocity; the 
 amount of deposit has been much reduced. Another ingenious method has given very good results 
 in decreasing dredging. The Eayah Menoufieh feeds on its left bank, at about the fifth kilometer, 
 the Naggar canal, from which a short distance from its mouth branches the Omel-Sebel, then 
 about the tenth kilometer it supplies the Nauieh canal.* There three secondary canals run almost 
 parallel in a northwesterly direction and reuuite, after a course of about 25 kilometers, not far 
 from the Eosetta arm. Formerly, to irrigate the riparian lands, which are very high during flood, 
 they closed the gates, situated a little below the mouth of these three canals; this caused the water 
 remaining in the upper pool to settle and deposit here annually a total volume of 900,000 cubic 
 meters of mud. Mr. Willcocks, inspector of the Delta irrigation, conceived the idea of establishing 
 ui.on each bank of the canals a small parallel canal of little depth, having its inlet on the Eayah 
 Menoufieh and terminating at nearly the same level as the first regulating work of each canal. 
 Under these conditions, at the moment when the height of the flood was sufiBicient to give water 
 to the lands, they partially opened the first regulator of the three deep canals so that a current 
 of red water was established and flowed at the level of the lands situated below these regulators. 
 For the lands situated above these regulating works they use small canals of little depth, from 
 which the deposits of mud which are formed are easily removed at small cost. A drainage canal 
 also permits the return to the Nile of the surplus of muddy water which circulates thus, with- 
 out diminution of velocity, in the three canals of Naggar, OmelSebel, and Nanaieh, By this 
 arrangement the volume of dredging has been reduced from 900,000 to 256,000 cubic meters, 
 and a saving of more than two-thirds effected. The execution at small cost of canals of this 
 kind, whose cross-sections and lengths are naturally very limited, affords thus a great relief to 
 agriculture. 
 
 ' See Plate XII, Fig. 3. 
 
54 lEEIGATIOF IN EGYPT. 
 
 V. Eegion of the West, or Peotincb op Behera.* 
 
 The region situated to the west of the Eosetta arm, which forms the province of Behera, is 
 the least important of the three portions of the Delta; in fact it contains only 196,000 hectares of 
 laud now cultivable. It comprises, on the south, a narrow strip of land whose width does not 
 exceed 3 to 4 kilometers, and is often considera bly less, extending along the Nile, below the dam, 
 for about 70 kilometers. To the north the cultivated lands spread in a triangle bounded on the 
 west by the desert, on the east by the Nile, and on the north by the sea, or rather by Lakes 
 Mariout and Edkou, which form a girdle along the sea-shore. 
 
 The irrigation of the province of Behera is effected under very special conditions. At the 
 period of cultivation by basins the lands were inundated by a number of shallow canals arranged 
 along the left banks of the Kile and trending in a westerly direction. When watering was intro- 
 duced into the country a canal, called the Katatbeh, was dug with an inlet from the Nile, about 
 40 kilometers below the position of the dam, crossing the province from one end to another and 
 cutting all the inundation canals, to which it was in future to furnish water during low stage and 
 during flood. 
 
 At the same time, to furnish fresh water to Alexandria, and to connect it with the Nile by a 
 navigable water-way, the Mahmoadieh canal, having its inlet at Atfeh at' the two hundred and 
 tenth kilometer of the Eosetta arm, was opened. It was sufficiently low to be able to have water 
 the whole year, and follows a general direction from east to west. This canal receives through- 
 out its course the surplus water of the Katatbeh. 
 
 Some years later, about 1850, the inlet of Atfeh was closed by deposits of mud, and the canal 
 itself was partially filled up. As they had great difficulty, with the means of working then pos- 
 sessed by the country, in maintaining, by dredging, the bottom at its proper level, they deter- 
 mined to raise the water into the Mahmoudieh by steam-pumps established on the banks of the 
 Nile itself. 
 
 Very soon the extension of summer crops compelled the insurance of more regular discharge 
 for the Katatbeh, and first made the necessity felt for the distribution of the water for irrigation 
 at a higher level. They then moved the inlet of this canal 40 meters up-stream to a point above 
 the great dam. The new channel thus constructed, between the old mouth of the Katatbeh and 
 the dam, is called the Eayah Behera. 
 
 Unfortunately, the Eayah Behera is established for a great part in the desert, whose sands 
 encroach on it; it is also dug in a very movable soil, so that it requires every year enormous dredg- 
 ing. As the province is too small, already overburdened with other works, to have such consider- , 
 able earth- works imposed on it, recourse was had to aid it to the contingents of the corvSe furnished 
 by other provinces. On the other hand, with the low pools obtained by the dam, this canal was 
 not capable of giving a sufficient supply for all the crops of the region. This state of affairs could 
 not last, and in 1880 they allowed the Eayah Behera to be filled up, and arranged steam-pumps 
 near the old inlet of the Katatbeh so as to furnish this canal all the water needed at low water 
 and at a sufficiently high level for the crops on the lands situated on the banks of the Nile. At the 
 same time, the summer crops having been developed along the Mahmoudieh canal, they increased 
 the machines established at Atfeh. All the water of the province of Behera could thus be pro- 
 vided, during low water, by the establishments of Atfeh and Katatbeh, and by numerous special 
 machines established along the banks of the river. The projects now in course of execution have 
 caused the irrigation of this province to enter a new phase. In fact, as soon as the work of fin- 
 ishing and strengthening the great dam is completed, so as to obtain a sufficient damming of the 
 Nile water, it is the intention to re-establish the Rayah Behera by the employment of dredging- 
 machines, if necessary, for the excavation and repairs, and to use it to supply all the region of the 
 west Delta; the elevating machines established at the head of Katatbeh and Mahmoudieh may 
 then be dispensed with. 
 
 For the moment these hydraulic machines constitute the principal point of interest in the 
 irrigation of the province; they are probably the most powerful plants in the world employed for 
 raising water for irrigation. 
 
 'See Plate IV, 
 
iERiGATio:t!ir m egtpt. 55 
 
 Rayah Behera.^— The inlet of the Eayah is a few meters above the great dam ; it is provided 
 with a masonry work having 21.20 meters of clear openings ; the level of the apron is at the 8.85- 
 meter mark, or 65 centimeters above the level of the apron of the great dam. 
 
 The length of the canal is 42 kilometers from its head to the Katatbeh. In the original profile 
 the width at bottom was 20 meters, and the slopes were 2 base to 1 vertical, except in sandy 
 portions the mean slope was 10 centimeters per kilometer. But, time and again abandoned and 
 replaced in service, this canal is now almost filled up for the greater part of its course. 
 
 What renders the keeping up of the Eayah Behera specially difficult, at least in its upper por- 
 tion, is that the banks, which are here of sand, degrade under the action of the current, and their 
 falling in fills up the bed; this effect is much more marked, since every year it is necessary to 
 throw into the canal, during flood, considerable quantities of water, for, having cut off, the reflux 
 of the inundation basins of the province of Giuzeh from the Nile, which used to enter below the 
 dam, it serves now as a drain for these basins, and their drainage water assumes here a velocity 
 much greater than obtained in the pools, all along the Eayah, its' slope being relatively strong. 
 It was hoped that by keeping here, during the entire flood, a rapid current of water, these deposits 
 might be carried away, but up to the present this has not succeeded, and the crumbling of the 
 banks has continued to raise the bottom. To replace the Eayah in service, it will be necessary to 
 excavate anew for the greater part of its length. According to the present projects the level of 
 the sill of the inlet will be held at 10.60 meters, the slope at 75 millimeters per kilometer, and the 
 width at the bottom at 16 meters. We might cite, among the causes for the filling up of the canal, 
 the wind of the desert which drifts the sands, but this is but a secondary cause and certainly does 
 not produce a fill of more than 10 centimeters per year in the places where it blows most. 
 
 CTnder the conditions in which the Eayah Behera was found before the erection of the Katatbeh 
 machines, the minister of public works estimated the volume of annual deposit to be removed, at 
 800,000 cubic meters, and in spite of this enormous quantity of work, the discharge at low water 
 would hardly reach 16 cubic meters per second. 
 
 Katatbeh canal. — The Katatbeh canal, which forms a continuation of the Eayah Behera, has its 
 inlet about 40 kilometers below the dam. Before the installation of the elevating-machines, which 
 to-day supply this canal, the work at the head was formed by a bridge dam of masonry of five 
 arches of 4 meter openings. 
 
 This canal has a mean width at its head of 20 meters at bottom ; it is 123 kilometers in total 
 length from its head to the Mahmoudieh canal, into which it empties ; it follows at first the Eosetta 
 arm until about the eightieth kilometer and turns then abruptly towards the west ; it supplies all 
 the canals with water which trend toward the boundary of the desert of the west, and which empty 
 their waters into Lake Mariout. Several bridge-dams are established along the Katatbeh canal 
 to facilitate the distribution of water. 
 
 The Katatbeh canal, which, as has been said above, was formerly only fed by its inlet, was 
 afterward fed by the Eayah Behera at low water, for this later, the elevating-machines were sub- 
 stituted, but to-day in reality the water is provided partly at the inlet and partly by the Eayah 
 Behera, and during flood it is placed today, as formerly, in direct communication with the Mle 
 by the work at its bead. 
 
 Mahmoudieh canal. — This canal has its head at a point situated very low on the Nile, at Atfeh, 
 56 kilometers from the mouth of the Eosetta arm. At this place the level of low water is often 
 as low as 13 centimeters above the sea, and the level of the flood is 3.80 meters, the level of the 
 soil being about 3 meters. The length of the canal being 77.50 kilometers from Atfeh to the sea 
 at Alexandria, we see that the slope of the canal when it was fed directly by the Nile water was 
 insignificant, at least during low water. Linant de Bellefonds claims that this canal was thus 
 established with almost no slope, and that the head was placed thus near the mouth of the river 
 because it was desired to allow the water in the canal a free course without locks, while with a 
 more decided slope bridge-dams and locks would have been needed to facilitate watering and nav- 
 igation. Naturally this solution produced all sorts of inconveniences, and especially very consid- 
 erable deposits, whose removal became in time more difficult and costly. 
 
 To supply such a canal during low water and provide fresh water for Alexandria in a satis- 
 factory manner they had transformed a large low area near Atfeh into a reservoir by means of 
 
56 lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 earthen dikes. This was filled during flood and emptied gradually into the canal during low-water 
 season, the canal inlet being then closed. Since at this epoch there was no lock at this locality, 
 they were always obliged to transfer freight from above and below the work at the head. In 1842 
 a double lock was built at Atfeh, one 12 meters wide, the other 8.50 meters wide. The apron ot 
 the Atfeh lock is held at the 1.37-meter mark and that of the Alexandria lock is held at 1.90-meter 
 mark, a difference of only .53 centimeter between the two. 
 
 At this epoch the Mahmoudieh only received water during low water from the Katatbeh, 
 whose inlet is 170 kilometers above. Formerly the summer crops were very little developed along 
 the Mahmoudieh canal, and it was hardly necessary to irrigate in this region more than 2,000 hec- 
 tares. It is no longer so today; this canal waters almost 70,000 hectares and more than three 
 hundred and thirty outlets are scattered along its banks. 
 
 To conform to these new conditions and supplement an insufficient supply obtained from the 
 Katatbeh, since 1850, Said Pasha established at Atfeh elevating-machines capable of raising 
 800,000 meters of water in twenty-four hours to a height of 2.50 meters. These machines work 
 nearly one hundred and fifty days yearly. Daring high water the supply is taken directly from 
 the Nile. 
 
 In consequence of the maladministration of the country and the neglect of the agents of the 
 Government, the canal lacked little of being again filled with mud, and in 1870 it was necessary to 
 remove"by contract 2,000,000 cubic meters of mud. These large deposits resulted in part from the 
 lack of longitudinal slope and partly from the large deposits produced at the point of junction with 
 the Katatbeh. 
 
 At present the type-profile of the Mahmoudieh canal has been fixed at 20 meters width at 
 bottom, \rith slopes of 2 base to 1 vertical as a maximum, with a banquette of 4 meters, 50 
 centimeters above low water. The depth below the plane of low water was held at 2.60 meters, 
 the level of high water reaching 4 meters. The level of the bottom being, at the head, 50 centi- 
 meters above the apron of the Atfeh lock, and that of the lower end being 69 centimeters above 
 the apron of the Alexandria lock, the total slope was 34 centimeters; the pool of the Alexandria 
 lock was 1.39 meters and that of the Atfeh lock was 1 .50 meters at low water. 
 
 For the last five years, the discharge of the machines at Atfeh having been increased, the theo- 
 retical depth of water at low water is 2.90 meters, but it has rarely attained this level because it 
 has not been j)ossible, up to the present, to regulate the outlets established along the canal, and 
 because individuals often consume water out of proportion to their needs. 
 
 The plan of the Mahmoudieh could not be more defective, and shows the condition under 
 which it was built. According to Linant de Bellefonds, this canal was built by the men of the 
 corv6e, whose number went as high as 350,000, who came upon the ground and began to work 
 before the plan was even staked out. Each contingent began thus to dig at the locality where it 
 found itself, in a direction roughly indicated on the ground. Naturally the lines adopted by each 
 gang of workmen formed a broken line, which it was necessary to bring together by numerous 
 and sharp elbows. The canal also crosses low and marshy lands, in which the embankments were 
 very difficult, notably at the crossing of Lake Abonkir, where for 10 to 12 kilometers it was neces- 
 sary to sustain the banks by masonry walls; in addition, on leaving Atfeh, to avoid Lake Edkou, 
 it was necessary to trend towards the south instead of directly towards Alexandria. 
 
 Under present conditions the Mahmoudieh canal requires each year from 200,000 to 300,000 
 cubic meters of dredging. 
 
 Elevating-machines of Atfeh and Katatbeh.* — The elevating- machines, which serve for irrigation 
 in the province of Behera can only be compared in importance with the magnificent establishments 
 which are used for elevating the water of the great polders and drained lakes in Holland. 
 
 It was in 1880 that the Egyptian Government determined to establish these large plants for 
 irrigation. This was not to be an isolated experiment, but a system which it was proposed to 
 extend over a greater part of Lower Egypt, and which had for its first object the supply, during 
 low water, of all the principal existing canals by means of machines established at their inlets, 
 and as a result the suppression of canals of great depths. Although this method was costly, and 
 
 * See Plates XVI and XVII. 
 
lEEIGATION m EGYPT. 57 
 
 certainly more onerous than a system of irrigation based on the complete utilization of the great 
 dam of the Delta, and the distribution of the water in the provinces of the east, center, and west 
 by three great derivations from the dam, the Government was induced to study it and apply it, partly 
 for many reasons due at the same time to the financial situation and the feeling of the country. 
 In the first place, the work of the dam had fallen into discredit, and on the other hand the possi- 
 bility of its completion had encountered many skeptics, and caused such an enterprise to become 
 problematical ; also the little confidence which could be placed in the oflBcial resources and spirit 
 of perseverance of Egypt, overloaded by debt, rendered doubtful the proper execution of this 
 work. It might in fact be doubted whether this country, under the existing conditions, could 
 complete so considerable a work, comprising not only the completion of the dam but the digging 
 or adaptation of the other watering canals and their connections with these great arteries, the 
 construction of indispensable drainage canals, aiid all the accessory works, foreseen or unforeseen, 
 which result from a complete change in the hydraulic regimen of a region. At this time people 
 acquainted with the country, and among others Rousseau Pasha, under Secretary of State for 
 Public Works, recoiling before the difficulties which a complete execution of such work met with, 
 undertook the system of irrigation by machines, which had the advantage of doing way with the 
 heavy work of dredging to great depths, which was necessary every year, at the inlets of the 
 principal canals ; the advantage of insuring quickly a normal discharge to the canals by giving 
 to companies the privilege of the elevating-machines, paying only for the first outlay in a certain 
 number of years ; the advantage of changing as little as possible the actual arrangements for 
 irrigation, so as not to alarm the farmers, who always have a great dread of any raising whatever 
 of water, on account of the infiltration and saline alterations of the soil which follows. Moreover, it 
 should be added that the financial resources of the ministry of public works did not permit, except 
 for the three great canals of Ibrahimieh, Ismailieh, and Mahmoudieh, the execution of dredging 
 by contract or with dredging-machines, and it was compelled for all these works, and even for 
 deep dredging, to have recourse to the manual labor of the corvee, which was becoming very diffi- 
 cult to recruit under the influence of the more benignant and humane ideas introduced by 
 Europeans into Egypt. Besides it was very desirable to give by the quickest methods the regular 
 normal watering to the different provinces, doing away with the laborious work of dredging the 
 deep canals. 
 
 The difficulties of maintenance were very great in the province of Behera on account of the 
 length of the principal canals and the scarcity of laborj it was here that the first elevating plant 
 was installed. It was proposed to erect new ones for the watering of the northern part of the 
 province of Dakahlieh when the events of 1882 led to the intervention of England in the affairs 
 of the country. 
 
 The English engineers, following the practice of irrigation in India, then took in hand the 
 administration of this service in Egypt, and the new resources were placed in the hands of the 
 ministry of public works, both for the execution of the new works and to allow the substitution 
 of the contract system for the system of corvee. This made it possible to undertake a complete 
 project for the utilization of the great dam and for abandoning, at least for the greater part of 
 Lower Egypt, the system of irrigation by machines which is now confined to the province of Behera. 
 
 A contract was made May 11, 1881, with a company represented by Mr. Ed. Easton, an 
 English engineer, to supply by means of steam-pumps the Mahmoudieh canal at Atfeh and the 
 Katatbeh at its inlet. The undertaking comprised first, the extension and, if necessary, the trans- 
 formation of the old plant, which had been established at Atfeh by Said Pasha to carry water to 
 the Mahmoudieh during low water ; second, the erection of a plant and its accessories at the 
 mouth of the Katatbeh. 
 
 The principal agreements of this contract were as follows : 
 
 The water was to be raised from the Ifile — 
 
 At Atfeh to a height of 2.90 meters above the level of the sea, or to a maximum height of 2.75 
 meters above the lowest stage of the ^Nile (the level of the neighboring land is 3 meters); 
 
 At Katatbeh to a level of 9.50 meters, or 3 meters at most above the low- water stage of the 
 Mle (the level of the riparian lands being 13 meters). 
 
58 lERIGATIOF IN EGYPT. 
 
 The discharge of each of these establishments was to be 1,500,000 cubic meters in twenty- 
 four hours. „ , ■,. • . 
 
 In 1883 the company had not yet completed its work on account of the disappointments met 
 with in the use of the machines of the Katatbeh. The Government then perceiving, after the 
 suppression of the Eayah Behera and when all the water for the province would be furnished 
 by the machines at Atfeh and Katatbeh alone, that a discharge of 3,000,000 cubic meters would 
 not be sufficient, especially since the amount of cultivated ground had been much increased on 
 the side of the desert, a new contract was entered into with the same company to place its elevating- 
 machines in a condition to raise at Atfeh 2,500,000 cubic meters and at Katatbeh 2,500,000 cubic 
 meters in twenty-four hours. 
 
 At Atfeh the plant has been working since 1885, but at the Katatbeh it was not until 1886 
 that the pumps were able to deliver regularly the required discharge. 
 
 The date of starting the pumps is fixed each year by the ministry of public works according 
 to the level of the Nile water, but the normal datSs stipulated in the contract are February 5 for 
 the Mahmoudieh and April 15 for the Katatbeh. 
 
 A heavy fine, as high as 26,000 francs, can be imposed on the company for a total stoppage 
 of one day of one of the establishments 
 
 The Egyptian Government pays the Society of Behera — 
 
 First. An annual fixed sum of 684,300 francs, representing the interest on the capital invested 
 and the general expenses independent of the working of the machines. 
 
 Second. A sum of 723 francs per million cubic meters raised at Atfeh and 1,092 francs per 
 million cubic meters raised at the Katatbeh. 
 
 In order to make comparison with other countries it must be understood that the price of coal 
 delivered at the pumps was 40 francs per ton on the average at the time of signing the contracts. 
 The society has the right of raising water for a period of thirty-five years. The Government 
 has the right to buy back this concession on certain conditions at any time after the twentieth 
 year. 
 
 Such are the general conditions under which the society furnishes water to the Mahmoudieh 
 and Katatbeh cauals. As soon as the concession was obtained in 18S0 Mr. Easton immediately 
 began the works of installation at Katatbeh as follows : 
 
 First. A feeder canal, 35 meters wide at the bottom, about 80 meters long, between the Nile 
 and the plant. 
 
 Second. An inlet work formed of three masonry arches of 7-meter openings, closed by means 
 of iron gates, whose apron is 1.50 meters below the lowest water of the Nile. 
 
 Third. A discharge canal, 20 meters wide at the bottom and 500 meters long, between the 
 plant and the Katatbeh canal. 
 
 Fourth. A reservoir, between the inlet work and the discharge canal, containing the elevating- 
 machines. 
 
 Fifth. The plant and its accessories. 
 
 The elevating-machines were composed originally of ten enormous sheet-iron Archimedian 
 screws, 4 meters in diameter and 12 meters long. These ten screws, arranged parallel, were moved 
 by a shaft 50 meters long, actuated at one of its extremities by a compound vertical engine of the 
 marine type. This project, badly conceived, badly elaborated, and badly executed, gave deplora- 
 ble results. From the first day the screws broke and the plant was stopped. 
 
 After several futile efforts to repair this disaster the society, finding itself obliged by its new 
 contract to furnish a larger quantity of water than was at first expected, took radical measures 
 and decided to change completely the adopted system, and gave the house of Porcat, of Saint- 
 Ouen, an order for new machines, requiring them to use as much as i)ossible the inlet and old 
 foundation in the installation of the new plant. 
 
 The plant is composed now of five horizontal engines, each moving directly, without interme- 
 diate mechanism, centrifugal pumps with vertical shafts. The engines are steam-jacketed, com- 
 pound, condensing; the cylinders are 1 meter in diameter, and the piston has a stroke of 1.80 me- 
 ters. The vertical shaft has a horizontal crank on its upper end, the wrist receiving the action of 
 the connecting-rod. 
 
lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 59 
 
 A fly-wheel weighing 22 tons is keyed to this shaft, which carries lower down the wing- wheel 
 of the rotary pump. The toe for the vertical shaft is arranged outside of the water taken for the 
 turbines. 
 
 The suction of the pumps is 2,10 meters in diameter and the wing-wheel measures 4 meters 
 over all, having a height of 2 meters. The suction-pipe is bell-shaped and placed below the level 
 of the water. The wing- wheel pushes the water towards the exterior into an annular receptacle 
 which surrounds the wheel and is supported by three cast-iron pillars upon an apron. This annu- 
 lar ring is prolonged to the discharge-pipe, at first curved to the shape of a siphon, to preserve 
 the priming, and then increasing in section in order to fit the masonry conduit which lets the 
 water into the feeder canal. 
 
 When it is desired to start the machine, friction is produced on the toe of the vertical shaft 
 and necessitates a special method of lubrication. This vertical shaft, about 8 meters long, carrying 
 a crank, fly wheel, wing-wheel, and the weight of the water raised, causes a pressure at the toe of 
 about 50 tons. In order to diminish the friction, and to transmit the weight between the extremity 
 of the shaft and its step plates, five disks are made use of, 220 millimeters in diameter, two of 
 hardest steel and three of hard bronze, lenticular in form, with surfaces alternately concave and 
 convex. The upper disk is made fast to the turning shaft and moves with it, the following only 
 takes part of the motion, the third receives still less, and so on to the last, which is fixed to the 
 step. These disks are inclosed in a cast-iron box filled with oil, but this did not permeate to the 
 center of the disks and heated rapidly. To remedy this defect an arrangement invented by M. 
 Vigreau, professor in the Central School of Arts and Manufactures, was employed. It consists in 
 establishing around the pivot a continuous current of oil. The cold oil comes through the axis of 
 the disks and drives out the hot oil into a tube, which descends to the Nile; here it isrecooled in 
 a worm and is raised by a pump to the roof of the establishment, whence it returns by its own 
 weight to the pivot. 
 
 This system is now used for three of the machines. For the other two M. Forcat has adopted 
 a similar airangement for circulating the oil, but in this the movement is given the oil by a small 
 rotary pump connected with the pivot itself ; the oil is cooled in a refrigerator turning with the 
 pivot, into which cold water is injected by a pump, also turning with the shaft. This method seems 
 a little complicated. 
 
 These centrifugal machines are boldly conceived, but they have not been in use long enough 
 to determine their advantages or defects. 
 
 These centrifugal machines work with a mean speed of thirty -five revolutions per minute and 
 a maximum of 40 revolutions. They are capable of discharging 7 cubic meters per second. 
 
 To these five pumps, are added as a reserve, three of the large Archimedian screws originally 
 used ; these screws have been carefully strengthened. The upper ends of the axes are held by 
 collars, and the lower rest in sockets ; also the bodies of the screws are supported at their middle 
 point by means of radial braces. Each of these screws can discharge 2 cubic meters per second. 
 They are actuated by a compound vertical engine of the marine type. 
 
 The total capacity of the plant is, then, more than 40 cubic meters per second, or about 3,500,000 
 cubic meters in twenty-four hours ; the total effective horse-power of the machine is 3,500. 
 
 The steam is furnished by a battery of eleven tubular boilers, three of which, furnished by 
 the Creusot shops, have a heating surface of 190 square meters, and the other eight, of the Forcat 
 pattern, have each a heating surface of 175 square meters. 
 
 At Atfeh the conditions were very different. In the first place, the height to be overcome 
 was less ; besides, it was necessary to use, as much as possible, the old plant. M. Boghos Pasha 
 Nubar, a director of the contracting company, ordered the machines for this plant from M. Ferey 
 d'Essonne. 
 
 At Atfeh the plant is composed of eight large Sagebien wheels, 3.60 meters wide and 10 meters 
 in diameter, raising the water to a maximum height of about 2.60 meters, each having a possible 
 discharge of 400,000 to 500,000 cubic meters in twenty-four hours. Four of these wheels are placed 
 in the old government pump building. They are worked by the four old engines which formerly 
 worked the Archimedian screws. These engines, with walking beams and vertical guides built 
 by the English firm of Forester, have one cylinder ; the steam system was modified and they were 
 
60 lERIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 changed to engines of the Wolf type by the addition of extra cylinders. Their performance was 
 in this way much improved. 
 
 The other four wheels are arranged iu another building and moved by compound engines of 
 the marine type, which were originally set up at Katatneh to move the Archimedian screws. 
 
 Steam is furnished by a battery of ten tubular boilers, each with a heating surface of 190 
 square meters. 
 
 The greatest power which the plant has been able to develop is 1,250 horse-power in water 
 raised. 
 
 At Atfeh the plant is located on the left bank of the Mahmoudieh canal at the height of the 
 lock at the mouth. 
 
 The feeder canal, 170 meters long, is 30 meters wide at its mouth with an inlet work of two 
 arches of 8 meters and one of 5 meters, closed by iron gates. The level of the apron of this work 
 is at the 90-centimeter mark, below the sea. 
 
 The discharge canal, 90 meters long, is 26 meters wide at the bottom. It empties into the 
 Mahmoudieh canal by a work crossing under the canal embankments, composed of five arches of 
 4 meters. The height of the canal bottom is 1.26 meters above the sea-level. 
 
 After the Rayah Behera was absolutely abolished and the province supplied solely by the 
 machines of Atfeh and Katatbeh, it would very probably be necessary most frequently to begin 
 working the machines before the normal dates, fixed bj- contract as February 5 and April 15 for 
 each plant respectively ; more especially since by the hermetical closing of the great dam the 
 discharge of the Damietta arm has been diminished; besides, as the machines should work until 
 the flood is sufiflciently high, and as they hardly ever can be stopped on this account before the 
 end of July, it is necessary to calculate on two hundred days' annual work at Atfeh and one hundred 
 and fifty at the Katatbeh. 
 
 Under these conditions the irrigation of the provinces comes to about 1,400,000 francs. As 
 the cultivable surface is 196,000 hectares, this gives an expenditure of 7 francs 10 centimes per 
 hectare, not counting the necessary cleaning of the canals and strengthening of the dikes and other 
 earth-work, which would amount to nearly two-thirds of the same sum. Thus we have an annual 
 expenditure of 11.80 francs per hectare — a very considerable sum. 
 
 But, up to the present, the Rayah has always contributed in a certain measure to the irrigation 
 of the province. Thus, according to official reports, in 1880, 1881, 1882, and 1883 the daily receipts 
 of water for this region were estimated at 2,000,000 cubic meters at low water, which corresponds 
 to a continuous discharge of 23 cubic meters per second. These receipts were divided as follows: 
 
 Cnbic meters. 
 
 EayahBebera 1,300,000 
 
 Atfeh machines 700 000 
 
 Total 2,000,000 
 
 In 1884 the daily receipts were 4,500,000 cnbic meters, divided thus : 
 
 Cubic meters. 
 Machines of Katatbeh and Atfeh 2 5qq qqq 
 
 Eayah Behera l^SOO.OOO 
 
 Total 4,000,000 
 
 This corresponds to a continuous discharge of 46 cubic meters. 
 
 In 1885 the daily receipts were 4,350,000 cubic meters, divided as follows : 
 
 » ij? 1- t • Cubic meters. 
 
 Atfeh machines...... .. ----..-..--..-.....-....,..... . 700 000 
 
 Katatbeh machines __ j kqO gno 
 
 Eayah Behera '""" I'^gSo'.OOO 
 
 '^°*'^^ • 3,850,000 
 
 In these amounts are not included the volumes elevated by the few individual machines which 
 are stiU worked along the Nile. 
 
 In 1880, 1881, and 1882, including the dredging of the Mahmoudieh, the mean annual volume 
 executed was estimated as 1,800,000 meters for the repair of the canals and dikes of the province 
 
lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 61 
 
 of Behera. This amonnts to almost 10 cubic meters per cultivable bectare. This amount of earth- 
 work having been for the most part executed by corv6e, it is dilHcult to estimate its actual expense. 
 To this expenditure it is necessary to add the amount paid by tlie Government for the elevation of 
 700,000 cubic meters of water daily at Atfeh, in order to obtain the total cost of irrigation per 
 hectare. 
 
 With the present system of distributing water and repairing the canals by contract the annual 
 expense for the repair of canals and dikes in Behera is placed at 1,250,000 francs ; in addition, the 
 mean sum paid in 1884 and 1885 to the Irrigation Society for raising water was 750,000 francs ; 
 therefore the total annual expenditure, under the conditions of 1884: and 1885, was 2,000,000 francs, 
 or 10.20 francs per cultivable hectare. This is a high price compared with other provinces. 
 
 In 1884 and 1885 the almost hermetical closure of the great dam of the Delta, on the Eosetta 
 arm, lowered considerably the level of the water on this branch. As a consequence, low water at 
 Katatbeh was lower than it had ever been imagined before. It is necessary, to allow the pumps 
 to be fed, to build below the inlet a temporary dam similar to those already mentioned for the 
 provinces of the east. This dam of earth, sacks, rough brick and stone, raised the level of the 
 water 50 centimeters ; which was sufficient. 
 
 Moreover, in 1884, the sea- water, owing to this diminution of discharge, reached as high up as 
 Atfeh, so that the pumps on several occasions sent salt water to Alexandria and the city of Eosetta, 
 and the entire cultivable territory comprised between Eosetta and Atfeh was deprived of fresh 
 water. To remedy this inconvenience there was built across the Nile, below Eosetta, an earthen 
 dike 430 meters long, with a channel cut through it 70 meters wide, bounded on both sides by pile- 
 dikes. The depth of the bed at this point varied from 2 to 5 meters. The rise thus obtained was 
 sufficient to prevent the sea- water from backing up the river. 
 
 Since then a special canal has been constructed from the Mahmoudieh, near Atfeh, following 
 the Nile dikes as far as Eosetta, about 30 kilometers long, designed on the one hand to assure a 
 supply of fresh water for this city, and on the other to irrigate the low lands along its course. But 
 since the great dam of the Eosetta arm has been kept closed during low water, and the Eayah 
 Behera has not been put in condition to supply by itself the province without recourse to the Atfeh 
 and Katatbeh pumps, it has been necessary every year to rebuild at great expense the temporary 
 works across the Nile. 
 
 To obtain the cost of restoring irrigation to the province of Behera during the period of 
 transformation, when neither the Eayah nor pumps can be fully utilized, it is necessary to add to 
 the amounts already mentioned above the cost of building these temporary works, or 340,000 francs, 
 which give an addition of 1.60 francs per cultivated hectare. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIRS OF CANALS, DIKES, AND WORKS OF SKILL. 
 
 QENEBAL OONSIDEBATIONS—OOBT^E—DnYElRTH WORK—DREDQIFQ—WOSKS OF SKILL— EXPENSE OFBEPAIBS— 
 
 WOBE EXECUTED BY INDIVIDUALS. 
 
 ■ I. General Considerations. 
 
 When we consider the condition of Egypt, where all works of skill are built on alluvial soil, 
 very compressible, where all the canals are dug in the mud, where all the dikes are formed of soil 
 easily degraded, where the fertilizing water carries with it every year a great quantity of material 
 in suspension ; finally, where the Nile flows in a bed naturally movable, it is readily seen how im- 
 portant to the prosperity of the country is the continual and regular repair of all the irrigation 
 works, and at the same time how costly this repair must be. For the execution of all these works 
 there was needed in the hands of the Government a powerful instrument, independent of financial 
 resources and revenue, more or less difficult to collect. This instrument was found in the corv4e; 
 that is to say, the obligation imposed on all the inhabitants of the country to labor gratuitously on 
 the works designed to insure the irrigation of the land. Thus each year large gangs of unpaid 
 laborers were drafted from their villages to strengthen and clean out the dikes and canals. Nat- 
 urally such removal of men was not accomplished without cruelty and arbitrary action, and the 
 lash was the great auxiliary of the functionaries charged with assembling the corvee for work. 
 Under the influence of more benignant methods and progressive ideas, which Europeans have 
 introduced into Egypt, violent means are tending to fall into desuetude, the recruitment of the 
 corv6e has become each year more difficult, and it has become imperative to reduce the amount of 
 forced labor imposed on the farmer. This has been accomplished either by applying special rev- 
 enues to the construction of certain works of skill, intended to diminish the annual work of repair, or 
 by supplementing with paid labor the insufficient work of the corvSe. Moreover, since the general 
 introduction of summer crops and the extension of the net- work of deep canals, the most important 
 part of the labor of dredging has become too heavy to be accomplished by the method practiced 
 in the corvee ; therefore it is confined as much as possible to earth- work, which requires the least 
 removal of the peasants and which can be executed dry. Other earth-work, as far as official 
 recourse allows, is done mechanically by means of dredges or executed under contract by paid 
 labor. 
 
 II. CORT^E. 
 
 Although the system of the corvee is properly repugnant to our modern ideas, it is no less true, 
 if we consider the state of Egypt at the time when cultivation by inundation basins prevailed 
 throughout the whole land, that the use of forced labor was in a certain degree legitimate, and 
 that it is still so in the regions where this method of watering still exists. Liuant de Bellefonds 
 stated this correctly in- his work already referred to, which contains so much valuable information 
 as to all the public works of Egypt. 
 
 A basin, in fact, constitutes a great farm, to whose prosperity all those who own a part should 
 contribute J and as there is generally only a single crop a year, which only lasts five or six mouths, 
 
 63 
 
64 IKEIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 the peasants, after the harvest, shoald at least employ themselves in clearing the canals and 
 strengthening the dikes. Each owner being able to cultivate his fields only when the whole basin 
 is put in condition to receive and hold the inundation water, it is then very natural that they all 
 should join to execute together during the season of repose, the work of the dikes, the construction 
 of drains, and the clearing out of canals which are of general benefit. 
 
 An absolute power could greatly abuse the facility which a corvSe, without control, presents for 
 great works. This, in fact, is what has already happened in Egypt, notably when Mehemet Ali 
 began the irrigation canals which to day cut up the country. CorvSes of more than 300,000 men 
 were then seen, drafted from every part of Egypt, digging the Mahmoudieh canal, which was of 
 very little importance' to cultivation, and which was especially designed for the benefit of the city 
 of Alexandria. At this time the labor demanded annually from the corvee corresponded to the em- 
 ployment of 450,000 laborers for four months. 
 
 Most of the canals were thus constructed by unpaid people, who received no benefit from them- 
 Afterwards, in the same way, to clear out the Eayah Behe.ra and the Katatbeh Canal, which water 
 the provinces of Behera only, it was necessary to bring every year more than 15,000 men from 
 other provinces; also, under the Khedive Ismail Pasha, the great Ibrahimieh canal, which bene- 
 fited almost solely the immense vice-regal possessions, was dug by contingents of the whole corvSe, 
 and the principal canals derived from it are still repaired by the inhabitants of the province of 
 Siout, to whom it is of no benefit. 
 
 Also, when we consider the great development of the net- work of canals which afford fertility 
 to the land of Egypt, while doing justice to the intelligence and energy of the sovereigns who have 
 pushed the execution of the gigantic labor, we can not avoid referring to the amount of fatigue and 
 misery and to the excess of rigor and tyranny at whose cost the present generation has inherited 
 from their fathers such a method of irrigation. 
 
 The despotism which has prevailed in the allotment of the labor of constructing canals among 
 the corvee also obtained in the repair of these works, and it often happened that the large propri- 
 etors were exempt from sending their laborers to the corvee for the cleaning out of the canals nec- 
 essary for their own crops, while the poor fellahs were driven to onerous labors whose results were 
 of no benefit whatever to their land. 
 
 On the other hand, the corvee was often diverted from the purpose it was specially intended 
 for, and used for the construction of railroads, for a part of the Suez Canal, dry-docks, and in gen- 
 eral all kinds of public works, sometimes also to private works to the great profit of the sheiks, 
 pashas, and agents of the Government. 
 
 The corvee under such circumstances can be only odious to the country. Besides, although it 
 is indispenSable in certain exceptional and imperative cases, especially in the regions of irrigation, 
 and as a means of utilizing the vital energy of the country, it is only suitable to countries whose 
 administration is bad and whose treasury is empty. 
 
 The Khedive's decree of 26th January, 1881, determined in a general manner the works which 
 are now placed in charge of the corvie. 
 
 According to this decree, the works relating to irrigation are divided into three categories : 
 Those charged to the state, that is to say, whose expenses are charged to the resources of Egypt; 
 those charged to the population in general, that is, whose execution must be done by the corv6e, 
 and those charged to the owners of the land benefited. 
 
 The works charged to the state are as follows : 
 
 Labor in reference to the works of skill, which concern one or more provinces, existing or to be 
 constructed on the Nile and its branches, on the dikes, on the principal canals, on the dikes of the 
 basins of Upper Egppt, and other dikes of general interest. 
 
 The dredging which is done by means of dredging-machines, in which are comprised all the 
 expenses of plant, working, and repair. In 1881 the dredging-machines were hardly used, except 
 for the three great canals of Ibrahimieh, Ismailieh and Mahmoudieh. 
 
 The supply and transportation of material, such as stone, wood, etc., required for the general 
 good, ani for the preservation of dikes and works, and for closing dams and inlets of the 
 canals. 
 
lEEIGATION m EGYPT. 65 
 
 The works charged to the population in general are as follows : 
 
 Earth-work, filling and excavating and hand dredging, which benefit one or more provinces, 
 the villages of one or more districts. [The districts correspond almost to French cantons.] 
 Guarding the dikes and works during the Nile flood. 
 
 Eandling and preparing the materials destined for the preservation of dikes, canals, works of 
 skill, and for closing the dams and inlets.- 
 
 The works charged to those interested are : 
 
 Earth-work, watching, closing dams and inlets, which benefit alone one or two villages or spe- 
 cial proprietors. 
 
 The labor which concerns the works of skill, constructed or to be constructed, on the canals or 
 dikes, benefiting either villages of one or more districts, or one village or special proprietor. 
 
 ' The works incumbent on the corvee are those which are designated above as being charged to 
 the population in general, and they are thus perfectly defined. It maybe said except in what con- 
 cerns the construction and repair of works of skill, and except for the last ramifications Of the 
 canals, the corvSe should furnish, according to the regulating decree of January, 1881, all the man- 
 ual labor for the construction, repair, and watching of canals and dikes. These requirements have 
 been much modified and much of the construction of dikes and canals, and even works of repair, 
 has been done for cash by contractors. 
 
 The methods of executing work by corvee are most primitive. 
 
 For earth- work the only tools which the corvee use are the /ass, a kind of iron hoe, very large, 
 and with a short handle, and the couffin, a kind of cylindrical basket woven from the stems of 
 palms. The fass serves to loosen the earth, and the couffin to carry it. The ordinary couffin is fur- 
 nished with two handles of palm rope, and it holds practically from 10 to 15 liters, although it 
 has a capacity of 20 liters. These cou^ni when repaired are bound and re-enforced with ropes of 
 palm. The ordinary couffin can be used, before becoming worthless, to transport about 40 cubic 
 meters of dry earth and 30 cubic meters of wet earth, and the repaired couffins may be re-enforced 
 to transport as much as 50 or 60 cubic meters of earth, either dry or wet. But most frequently, 
 and especially when the couffins are employed by the eorv^, they are completely used up after 
 having transported from 4 to 5 cubic meters. The price of a couffin is 35 to 40 centimes; the 
 re-enforced couffins cost 50 to 60 centimes. 
 
 To work deep canals, that is, the feeder canals, basins and canals designed solely to carry flood 
 water, they wait until they are dry. The men of the corv4e are then arranged along the canals 
 and divided into diggers and carriers; the latter are generally children. The man with his fass 
 hoes up the bed of the canal and puts the earth into the couffin which the child raises np by its 
 two handles and carries it upon his head to the embankment and places the deposit. In general 
 the bottom of the canals are formed of mud stiff and cracked; when the deposits to be removed 
 are composed of sand, the hand often replaces the /ass to move the soli and fill the couffin. These 
 labors can be executed at any time whatever in the interval comprised between the two floods. It 
 is always so arranged that they occur in the period of repose for the peasant in the intervals of 
 cultivation. 
 
 For the deep canals the work is very heavy. In the first place, the b»nks are very high; this 
 increases very much the length and difiSculty of haul; also, frequently in the vicinity of the heads 
 of the great canals, the height of the embankments above the bottom extend 10 meters. In the 
 second place, since they are obliged to execute the carrying when the water is already low in order 
 to facilitate drying, as at this moment the crops still require water, the time allowed for drying 
 and making embankments is very limited. It is not then possible to obtain, in the lower pools, 
 by drainage or by simple evaporation a complete drying of the mud ; besides at such depths below 
 the soil it is often difficult even with time to completely get rid of the water. Under these condi- 
 tions the unhappy peasant of the corvSe, almost naked, in this miry soil at the bottom of great 
 trenches, whose banks are heated by the rays of a burning sun, fills, sometimes with a fass and 
 sometimes with his hands, the couffins, which are hoisted along the slope of the canals slowly and 
 with great toil by his companions in labor, to the summit of the embankment. Such labors, which 
 are to-day almost abolished for the corvee, can only be executed by a severe use of the lash, and 
 H. Mis. 134 5 
 
66 lEEIGATIOX IN EGYPT. 
 
 even with these barbarous methods it is almost impossible to have the earth carried as far as 
 the top of the dikes; it is deposited merely at the foot of the embankment or along the slope 
 a little above the level of low water — a true labor of Sisyphus, because each year this same earth 
 slides to the bottom of the bed in high water and has to be removed with the same trouble and 
 fatigue. 
 
 In certain cases, also, the needs of irrigation do not allow them to wait until the bed is almost 
 dry to commence clearing. Then the men of the corvSe, immersed in the water up to their middle, 
 try to draw from the bottom of the canal with their hands most of the sediment, which they pass 
 one to the other across the slope. This is work which a progressive government evidently should 
 not demand by forced and gratuitous labor. 
 
 The deep canals are cleared by the corvSe before mean water, so that they can carry their 
 normal discharge during lowest water. At times it is impossible, on account of the requirements 
 of the crops, to stop the discharge of the canal long enough to finish at one time the total clearing; 
 so it is done at two periods, the first before the time of sowing and the second at the time of lowest 
 water. 
 
 Besides the canals, the corvee has also to execute the repair of the dikes. 
 
 For the dikes of the*Nile, the work consists especially in the repair of the slopes, the dikes, 
 and repairing and filling the cuts made for irrigation during low water. The earth designed for 
 this work is always taken from a little distance from the foot of the dike and all along the part 
 repaired; this is then simple dry earth-work which is done with the/ass and couffin. 
 
 The labor of repairing the dikes of the basins is of the same nature. It comprises mere slope 
 repairs of the dikes at points where the regulating works and outlets consist merely of breaches 
 in the body of the embankment itself to drain the inundation water into either the lower basin or 
 into the Nile. The amount alone of these breaches has been 40,000 to 50,000 cubic meters. As 
 the flow of waters through the breach produces excavations which would be too considerable to 
 fill, they construct a dike above i his excavation and connect the new dike with the old by curves, 
 paying no attention to the regularity of their plan. 
 
 The works of the dikes are executed at the same time as the works of the clearing of shallow 
 canals. 
 
 In case the corv6e is called out to construct new dikes and canals, the method of executing the 
 work is the same as has just been described; however, in concordance with present ideas, the 
 corvSe is almost exclusively devoted to the works of repair. 
 
 Even during the period of the flood the corvie does notremain idle; as soon as the water reaches 
 a certain height contingents are called out for guarding the dikes. The men are then stationed 
 along the dikes of the Nile and the basins to watch carefully the effect of the water, protected by 
 small huts of reeds, night and day they are called out to help if a spring or a leak shows itself 
 in the portion of the work confided to their care. 
 
 The north slopes of thebasinsrequireespecially very particular attention; in fact, as has already 
 been seen, the north wind prevails during the inundation, and the water of the basins under the 
 influence of this wind forms small waves, which break against the dikes and abraid them without 
 cessation. Thus the watchmen are obliged to watch with care that the protection of rushes and 
 reeds which is placed along the slope is maintained in good condition, and immediately replaced 
 in case of removal. 
 
 The watching of the Nile dikes commences about the 1st of August and ends about the end of 
 September or the 1st of October, and for the basin dikes it lasts from the moment of filling to the 
 moment of emptying. 
 
 Another portion of the contingents of the corvie, during flood, is called out to watch and 
 maneuver the gates at the regulating works; they are charged especially to attend to breaks which 
 may be produced in the shutters which close the dam openings and to raise and put in place these 
 shutters, either to regulate the level in the basins of inundation or to obtain a suitable height of 
 water in the canals of irrigation. The maneuvering of the shutters of the gates, which are in 
 general vertical needles, is accomplished by means of cranes and tackle, or by means of movable 
 winches. 
 
lEEIGATION m EGYPT. 67 
 
 Finally, when the works of skill are injured, or when their banks are attacked by the water, or 
 one of the dikes of the Nile or canals is threatened, the Government brings stone, which the corvee 
 use either for riprap or for spurs. 
 
 Such is the method by which the corv^ executes throughout the whole year the works of dif- 
 ferent kinds which are allotted to them. 
 
 Every year after the flood the agents of the Government prepare the allotment of the labor 
 incumbent on the corvSe, and submit it about the middle of the month of December to the agri- 
 cultural council, of whom there are six for the whole of Egypt ; three in Lower Egypt, and three 
 in Upper Egypt. These councils, in which the notables of the region, under the presidency of an 
 administrator of the province, discuss the allotments presented, classify the work into works of 
 general interest — that is to say, of interest to one or more provinces — and works of communal in- 
 terest — that is to say, interesting villages of one or more districts ; they apportion these then among 
 the population of the provinces and districts, and finally the number of men to be raised for their 
 execution, and the number of days which the contingents will remain on the works. The decis- 
 ions are submitted for the approbation of superior authority. 
 
 It is always a very delicate task to assign equitably the burden of the corvee. Thus the popu- 
 lation nearest the inlet of the canals — that is to say, the part whose repair is most onerous — are 
 not always those who profit most by the water of the canals. But, nevertheless, to avoid great 
 displacement of men as much as possible, they are charged with the dredging; this is the case, 
 for example, in the province of Galonbieh, where are the inlets of numerous canals which water the 
 Charkieh, and in the Menoufieh, where are all the heads of the canals of Garbieh. In other cases, 
 as in the province of Behera, the population is not sufficient for the execution of the work, A few 
 years ago recourse was had to the contingents of other provinces to insure the clearing the Bayah 
 Behera. 
 
 The works of repair begin about the 15th of January and end in July; they are less during the 
 period of winter crops, and in Upper Egypt they are completely stopped at this time ; the work 
 is done during two intervals, from January to March and from June to August. 
 
 For the work of guarding the dikes the councils of the provinces meet in the month of July. 
 A part of the contingent called out come to their posts on the 1st of August and the rest on the 
 1st of September, and the entire contingent remains on guard until the danger of rupture to the 
 dikes is passed. 
 
 When once the work is thus determined and when the time arrives to begin it, the men of the 
 village are called to their places by the administrative authority of the province. Under the 
 direction of engineers they are conducted by the chiefs of villages to their camps. They camp at 
 these places until the completion of the work ; often also, when the places to which they are 
 assigned are far from the village in which they live and if their stay is to be a long one, their wives 
 and children follow their steps, and true wandering hordes are thus established along the canals 
 and dikes to be repaired. In such cases, after they have arrived, the Government furnishes tools 
 and provisions. Such a displacement of population causes fdr some months each year great hard- 
 ships in the lives of the peasants, and is for them a source of considerable expense which it is 
 difficult to estimate, but which increases in a great measure the cost of the profit, already high 
 without this, of forced labor. 
 
 In a general way payment in kind is due in Egypt from all the able male inhabitants between 
 the ages of fifteen and fifty years, with the exception of the inhabitants of cities who do not 
 possess land, and of some other classes, as the Ulemas and the Bedouins. These latter, charged 
 especially with the guarding of the frontiers of Egypt all along the desert, are in fact exempt 
 both from regular military service and from the corvSe. They own, nevertheless, great quantities 
 of cultivable land in the different provinces. 
 
 According to the last census, it is calculated the male population between the ages of fifteen 
 and fifty years make up about 43 per cent, of the male population of the villages. 
 
 In fact, in practice this rule has many exceptions, and the burden of the corvee, instead of 
 being equitably divided amongst the population, is borne everywhere by the simple peasant and 
 small farmers. The pashas, the intendant of church property, and the rich farmers, themselves long 
 
68 
 
 lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 exempt from the duties of the corvde, use their influence to free their workmen from this tax. 
 Thus in the district north of the Delta, the district of Kafr-Cheik, which contains 60,000 hectares, 
 22,000 hectares contribute in no manner whatever to the corvie. Of the other 38,000, 22,000 
 profiting by the privilege of escaping under the conditions which are indicated above, all the 
 weight of forced labor falls on the 16,000 heel ares. This charge is very heavy, because the 3,500 in- 
 habitants who people the 16,000 hectares must furnish eight hundred men for one hundred and 
 eighty days. In the entire province of Behera, which represents 196,000 hectares, during late 
 years they have never been able to bring together more than three thousand men. This is be- 
 cause this province is almost entirely occupied by large native farmers, by the Bedouins, and the 
 European proprietors who hide themselves behind treaty stipulations to avoid contribution in 
 kind. 
 
 If we compare the census of 1848, which served recently as a basis for recruiting the corvee, 
 with the census of 1882, it is seen that for the six provinces of Lower Egypt the number of cor- 
 v^eable men has diminished in a great degree. In this period of thirty-four years it has been 
 reduced from 634,000 to 376,029. This diminution is due without doubt in a great part to the 
 increase of population of the cities, and perhaps also to the want of accuracy in the census, but 
 it shows quite plainly that in all this interval of time the data for recruiting the contingents was 
 not exact, consequently it was easy to escape the duty of the corvSe. 
 
 It was admitted formerly that the execution of irrigation work required the calling out of 
 one-fourth of the male population, as given in the census of 1848, during forty-five days; then 
 later they preferred to call out one-eighth of the population for ninety days. It is considered gen- 
 erally that in Lower Egypt the work is equitably distributed when four men are furnished by each 
 21 hectares. The table below shows the distribution and duration of labor and number of men 
 called in 1879 in each province, according to the official allotment of the ministry of public works, 
 an allotment based on information which can not be considered as absolutely correct and which 
 gives amounts somewhat exagerated. 
 
 Provinces. 
 
 Number. 
 
 » 
 
 Amount 
 executed. 
 
 Days. 
 
 Men. 
 
 Dakalieh 
 
 180 
 180 
 180 
 180 
 180 
 180 
 180 
 105 
 113 
 101 
 109 
 160 
 150 
 150 
 
 5,737 
 4,079 
 2,341 
 6,845 
 9,446 
 2,703 
 6,168 
 1,819 
 4,602 
 11, 186 
 13, 160 
 30,038 
 17,536 
 3,552 
 
 Cubic m^tert. 
 3,153,543 
 1,261,265 
 
 1, 541, 114 
 3, 562, 154 
 2,690,843 
 
 609,001 
 
 902, 272 
 
 454,335 
 
 573, 119 
 
 2,516,491 
 
 4,485,923 
 
 3,039,830 
 
 2, 981, 608 
 1, 068. 101 
 
 Charkieh 
 
 
 Garbieh 
 
 
 
 
 Fayouna 
 
 
 Minieh 
 
 
 G-airgneli 
 
 Keneh 
 
 
 Mean of days and totals 
 
 152 
 
 119, 312 
 
 28,829,599 
 
 At this epoch certain proprietors had not yet been authorized to bay themselves off from the 
 corvSe by the payment of a certain sum of money. They had not yet begun to substitute for 
 forced labor the system of paid labor and contracts. These 29,000,000 cubic meters represented 
 then the annual work of the corvSe, executed by nearly 120,000 men, working on an average of 
 one hundred and fifty-two days; this corresponds to 181,000 men working for one hundred 
 days. 
 
 In 1885, the epoch when many improvements had been introduced by the English engineers 
 of the irrigation service into the supplying of canals and the distribution of water, and when the 
 
IRRIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 69 
 
 system of contract for repairs was already applied, the burden of the corvee had been very notably 
 decreased, as is indicated in the following table: 
 
 ProTinces. 
 
 Dakalieh 
 
 Charkieh 
 
 Galoubieh 
 
 Garbieh 
 
 Kenoufieli 
 
 Beliera 
 
 Guizeh 
 
 Fayoum 
 
 BeniSouef. 
 
 Minieh 
 
 AsBiout 
 
 Cruirgneh 
 
 Keneh 
 
 Esneh 
 
 Mean of days and totals 
 
 Nnmber. 
 
 Days. Men. 
 
 210 
 195 
 195 
 
 7,941 
 6,426 
 3,109 
 
 Amoant 
 execated. 
 
 Citbic meters. 
 1, 868, 911 
 937, 689 
 667, 639 
 
 ) Corvee suppressed, all workbe- 
 ^ ing done by contract. 
 
 165 
 
 4,140 
 
 110 
 
 4,952 
 
 60 
 
 • 3,433 
 
 145 
 
 5,700 
 
 95 
 
 9,441 
 
 105 
 
 14,491 
 
 105 
 
 17, 852 
 
 114 
 
 9,774 
 
 148 
 
 3,888 
 
 117 
 
 91,146 
 
 499, 107 
 930, 256 
 400, 096 
 
 1, 516, 721 
 
 2, 852, 316 
 4, 125, 670 
 
 3, 733, 840 
 2, 593, 925 
 
 952, 316 
 
 20, 968, 492 
 
 The amonnt required of the corvSe is here reduced to 21,000,000 cubic meters ; it represents 
 the work of 160,000 men for one hundred days. 
 
 In 1886 the earth-work done by the corvee was still more decreased in amount in consequence 
 of of^cial arrangements which permitted the diminution of the amount allotted to gratuitous 
 obligatory labor. 
 
 The amount exacted per man of the corvee per day amounts on an average to about 1.8 cubic 
 meters. Generally, in calculating the number of men necessary for a certain work, it is estimated 
 that one man can accomplish in one day 2.3 cubic meters of earth- work for the repair of shallow 
 canals and dikes and 1.35 cubic meters for cleaning deep canals. These results would not be had 
 if it was certain that the earth- work would be actually executed according to the direction of the 
 engineers, that the dredging was well done to the bottom, the dikes and the slopes well regulated; 
 but this is not the case, and it is necessary to add to the estimated cost of the whole in consequence 
 of the disturbance which results to the country by considerable displacement of inhabitants, 
 diverted from their ordinary labor for nearly three months yearly. 
 
 The difficulty of forcing the large proprietors to obey the communal law; the impossibility of 
 obtaining by the corvee the proper and regular cleaning of the deep canals; the necessity, recog- 
 nized for a long time in a humanitarian point of view, of gradually abolishing the corvee, at least 
 for the heaviest work, and consequently the obligation of tbe Government as to financial resources 
 which would permit it toexecute certain works of repair for cash — all these reasons led the Egyptian 
 Government, about 1880, to determine whether it would not be able to authorize the corvSe to buy 
 itself oft" under certain conditions. It was resolved at first to allow this ransom to everybody indis- 
 criminately, but it was very soon feared that the hands would be wanting which were necessary 
 for certain works, and in the decree of the 25th of January, 1881, it was stipulated in the first place 
 that each individual who was obliged to contribute in kind could be exempted by furnishing a 
 substitute; and in the second place, that only certain classes would be allowed to ransom them- 
 selves by the payment of a sum of money. These were as follows : The inhabitants comprised in the 
 special domains conceded to private parties with exemption from taxes, and not counted in the 
 villages in the census of 1848 ; the Bedouins, a class of proprietors to whom Mehemet Ali had 
 granted special privileges to attach them to Egypt and the soil, and to stop their exactions and 
 brigandage ; the inhabitants of the villages needed for the crops of certain large properties which 
 the state farms itself. The privilege of ransom for these latter were limited to Lower Egypt. 
 
 In the villages where the cultivation of rice predominates contribution in kind remains oblig- 
 atory, according to the same decree, but each man of these villages was only required to do half 
 
70 lEEIGATION IE EGYPT. 
 
 the work imposed on the inhabitants of other villages. This privilege was doubtless created 
 because the attention given to the cultivation of rice is much more exacting and more continuous 
 than for other crops. 
 
 The tax of ransom was fixed at 31.10 francs per man in Lower Egypt and 20.70 francs in Upper 
 Egypt. In 1880 tUe tariff was fixed at 15.50 francs for the whole of Egypt. 
 
 The money derived by the ransom from contribution in kind was set aside to be solely employed 
 for works having for their object the reduction or abolition of the corvSe. 
 
 The ransom from the corvSe from these data has given for the five years from 1880 to 1884 the 
 total sum of 5,126,000 francs, or an annual mean of 1,032,200 francs, distributed very unequally 
 between Upper and Lower Egypt. Thus in 1883, in a total receipt of 883,350 francs for the whole of 
 Egypt, Upper Egypt only furnished 55,250 francs, the privilege of ransom being so much less 
 extended in this region, and besides the labor of the corvee here being in general, especially in the 
 provinces of the south, a lighter charge for the population than in Lower Egypt. 
 
 In 1885, on account of the greater and greater difficulties presented in the recruitment of the 
 corvie, the tax of ransom was still further diminished ; it was reduced to 7.80 francs per man in 
 Lower Egypt, and in the region of the Ibrahimieh to 3.90 francs for the rice fields and to 5.20 francs 
 in Upper Egypt. But the resources thus produced were insufficient at many points and the Govern- 
 ment was obliged to add to its budget the sum of more than 600,000 francs to complete the work 
 of the eorvde. 
 
 The Government is now occupied in decreasing in a still greater measure the charge imposed 
 on forced labor. It is calculated now that the labors incumbent on the corvSe, according to the 
 decree of 1881, for the repair and watching of the dikes and canals, represent an annual sum of 
 about 12,000,000 francs, which corresponds nearly to a total volume of from 18,000,000 to 20,000,000 
 meters of earth- work. In 1886 the Egyptian Government devoted in its budget the sum of 6,500,000 
 francs to the execution by contract of a part of these works ; the corv4e only remained charged with 
 the surplus. The corv4e was thus free from the heaviest work. 
 
 III. Dry Earth- woek. 
 
 In the whole of Egypt dry earth- work, whether done by forced labor or contract, is executed 
 in the same way with the two tools which have already been described above — the/ass, to dig the 
 earth, and the couffin, to transport it. It is rarely that the moving of the earth is otherwise than in 
 transverse profile; the embankments are generally executed by means of borrow pits which border 
 the embankments to be raised ; it is not then necessary to carry for any distance along the embank' 
 meut. In the rare case where a carry is required of more than 100 meters the employment of men 
 as carriers becomes too costly and they substitute the donkey or camel. 
 
 From each side of the pack-saddle of the animal hang baskets of woven palms of the form of 
 a truncated cone, whose bottom, moving about a kind of hinge of palm cord, in the manner of a 
 valve, can be held firm by means of a cord and a wooden pin. Each basket is 80 to 90 centimeters 
 high and 60 to 70 centimeters wide at its mouth ; it contains about 70 liters. These baskets are 
 filled by means of ordinary covffins ; to empty them it is sufficient to open the bottom. The camel 
 is obliged to kneel for the load, but remains standing to discharge it. They frequently substitute 
 wooden boxes for the woven baskets when the camels are employed for the transportation of the 
 earth: 
 
 In Egypt the peasant is a natural digger ; nevertheless for heavy work and for contracts lasting 
 a long time they prefer the men of Upper Egypt; they are known by the name of Saidiens. The 
 diggers are paid generally 1 franc to 1.25 francs, the children from 50 to T5 centimes, for a day's 
 work. 
 
 Frequently in the camps the workingmen join in bodies and take small tasks of from 5 to 10 
 cubic meters. The price for a day's work of a camel is 5 francs, including the driver. 
 
 This work is paid for at the rate of from 30 centimes to 1.50 francs per cubic meter, according 
 to whether it is ordinary earth-work or the work is rendered more difficult by the presence of 
 water or moistnre. In the case of cleaning deep canals the administration manages the work in 
 such a manner as to prevent water entering the level to be cleared out, and to facilitate the drain- 
 
IRRIGATION IN EGYPT. 71 
 
 age of the water which they contain. It is a part of the contract to complete the drying as may 
 be most suitable to the progress of the work. In each province there is let out in a single contract, 
 with one price per cubic meter of embankment, most of ^;he earth- work of repair required for the 
 year, at least that which can be done dry. Heavy penalties are exacted as a guaranty for this 
 work, whose completion in a certain time is a vital necessity for the crops. 
 
 They hav« hesitated for a long time giving the contractors the repair of the canals on account 
 of the known difficulties which the assembling of the corv6e presents every year. Indeed, it 
 was thought that they would fail in their engagement in consequence of the obstacles met with in 
 obtaining workmen ; but these fears have not been realized, and the contracts for repairs have 
 permitted the relief in part of the corvee and the execution of the clearing-out work at leisure with- 
 out the necessity of hastening the work, and in a measure sparing the population a prolonged 
 displacement. 
 
 IV. Dredging. 
 
 The three canals of Ibrahimieh, Ismailieh, and Mahmoudieh are the only ones which for some 
 years have been regularly repaired by means of dredges; every year some dredging is done at cer- 
 tain points on the Nile near the mouths of some large canals. Until 1884, the Government exe- 
 cuted these works as a tax with a plant belonging to it. At this epoch a contractor was charged 
 with dredging the Ibrahimieh for some years with a plant of the Government; the repair of the 
 Mahmoudieh was treated in the same way by another contractor. Finally, in 1885, in order to 
 relieve the corvie, they gave up to certain contractors the general execution by means of dredges 
 of the clearing of the principal canals of Lower Egypt for the period of eight years. These con- 
 tractors were allowed to use in part their own plant and in part the plant of the Government ; the 
 repair of the Ismailieh canal was comprised in one of these last two contracts. All the dredging 
 of the canals is now done by contract, the Government having entirely given up the execution as a 
 tax of works of this nature. 
 
 The dredging plant of the Egyptian Government is composed of the machines bought origi- 
 nally from the contractors of the Suez and Ismailieh canals. The type of these machines is known ; 
 a very complete description of them is found in many technical treatises ; some of them have a long 
 discharge, others are made to discharge the earth into scows or steam barges. This plant is now 
 old and much used and requires considerable outlay for repair and maintenance. To replace two 
 of these old dredges which became useless the Egyptian Government ordered in 1884, in England, 
 two new powerful machines intended for the repair of the Ibrahimieh canal, and which are of this 
 general description : 
 
 The hull is of iron ; it is 30.20 meters long, 8.10 wide, and draws 1.80 meters of water. 
 
 The dredge has a single frame at one end, and a chain of buckets working in an opening 13.50 
 long by 1.70 meters wide cut in the axis of the hull. This machine is worked by a compound ver- 
 tical engine with coupled cylinders of 60 nominal horsepower. The engine works the upper drum 
 of the frame, without the use of a vertical shaft, by means of direct spur gearing, with a starting 
 level on the bridge and a friction brake. The boilers are two in number ; they are tubular and 
 internally fired. 
 
 The length of the frame is 23 meters, measured from the upper axis of suspension to the lower 
 drum ; the upper axis is not rigidly connected to the axis of the lower drum ; it is so arranged that 
 the frame may be lowered to dredge to a depth of 8 meters, and raised so that the lower drum may 
 be above the water. 
 
 A special steam-engine works the machine for raising the frame, and a quadruple steam wind- 
 lass, placed on the bridge, serves to move the dredge from point to point. 
 
 The drums have four sides, and carry at the corners four tempered, square cast-steel bars, and 
 the chain of buckets is so arranged as to be supported not only by the bars but also by the body 
 of the drum itself, covered with steel plates. 
 
 The buckets hold 450 litres; they are of soft steel and armed with beaks of hardened steel; 
 the articulation pins are of hardened steel, and the links are also furnished with steel bashing. 
 Each dredge can raise about 150 cubic meters per hour. 
 
 Each of these dredges cost 425,000 francs, delivered in Egypt. 
 
72 lEEIGATION m EGYPT. 
 
 In the dredges employed in Egypt it is important that the buckets should have a form suffi- 
 ciently flaring to prevent the mud from sticking to the sides. 
 
 It has been shown above that the amounts to be dredged annually are: 
 
 Cubio meters. 
 
 For the Ibrahimieh 730, 000 to 1, 150, 000 
 
 For the Ismailieh 150, 000 to 300,000 
 
 For the Mahmoudieh 200, 000 to 300,000 
 
 The plant required to excavate such an amount of dredging is necessarily large ; thus the 
 Egyptian Government owns for dredging the Ibrahimieh alone ten dredges in a more or less good 
 condition, twelve steam-lighters, three barges, and two steam-launches. 
 
 For this canal the dredging is done by three different methods, according to the locality. 
 Near the mouth the dredges dump the soil into steam-lighters, which take it to the Nile. Farther 
 off, in order to avoid carrying the spoil a long distance, they employ dredges with long delivery, 
 but as the banks are very high, and also the width of the bed too gfeat, they are satisfied to dig a 
 ditch in the middle of the channel, on the edges of which the spoil is dumped. The method is 
 very vicious, because the current, in a short time, redeposits necessarily on the bottom the spoil 
 dumped on the edges; therefore it is very necessary to abolish this method of work. 
 
 Finally, below Derout, they also employ dredges with long delivery, but they are careful to 
 excavate, in the embankment itself, at a level above the water, a longitudinal ditch 6 or 8 meters 
 wide, into which the pipe empties the spoil. Every year, before beginning to dredge, they are 
 obliged to dig this ditch along a part of the canal to be dredged, and to carry behind the embank- 
 ment the spoil of the preceding year. The development which this accumulation of yearly spoil 
 gives to the dikes here and for almost all the canals of Egypt is one of the grave inconveniences 
 of the system of dredging employed; the dikes attain rapidly considerable heights, which inter- 
 fere with the deposits of the later dredging and render the work more and more costly and diffi- 
 cult, and also cover large areas of good land thus rendered unproductive. 
 
 On the Mahmoudieh and Ismailieh canals they operate the same as on the Ibrahimieh, with 
 dredges and barges near the mouths; in the Mahmoudieh canal the dredging for the first 10 kilo- 
 meters is done in this manner; farther on they are dredged with chutes and ditches dug on the 
 banks. The contractor for the repair of the Mahmoudieh has used advantageously, in the middle 
 portion of the canal, dredges dumping into barges, whence a centrifugal pump raises the spoil 
 and throws it by means of pipes on the neighboring lands ; here the spoil is used either to grade 
 the land or to fill up the marshy portion of the ground. 
 
 The dredging by contract of the Ibrahimieh and Mahmoudieh canals has succeeded very 
 well, but up to the present the two general contracts for dredging in Lower Egypt have not given 
 very good results, and it may be said that machines capable of economically dredging the unim- 
 portant canals do not yet exist in this country. One of the two contracts was for an annual maxi- 
 mum of 600,000 cubic meters, to be taken from the principal canals of the province of Behera, 
 with the plant belonging to the Government; the other contract was for the provinces of the east, 
 and comprised two periods — ^the first of three years, during which the contractors agreed to dredge 
 yearly 1,500,000 cubic meters, and the second of eight years, during which the annual amount 
 was reduced to 500,000 cubic meters. This last contractor, except on the Ismailieh canal, for 
 which he was authorized to use gratuitously the plant belonging to the Government, was to fur- 
 nish, himself, the necessary plant for other dredging. 
 
 These two contracts have only been in force for one year; it is therefore difficult to estimate 
 yet their ultimate effect. 
 
 In 1881 and 1882, the epoch in which dredging was performed as a tax by the ministry of 
 public works, the mean cost of these works at the amounts below, which comprise the expense of 
 manual labor, expenditure of material, maintenance, digging ditches for dredges of long delivery 
 and personnel, but do not include the detoriation of plant, are as follows: 
 
 For the Mahmondieh Canal.. 1.15 francs per cubic meter. 
 For the Ibrahimieh Canal ... 1.25 francs per cubic meter. 
 For the Ismailieh Canal 1.20 francs per cubic meter. 
 
 At present the Government pays the contractor for dredging the Ibrahimieh 1.17 francs per 
 cubic meter, and lends him gratuitously its plant, charging him with its maintenance. For dredg- 
 
lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 73 
 
 ing in the province of Behera, with plant loaned under the same conditions, the price was fixed 
 at 97 centimes per cabic meter. 
 
 For the provinces of the east the price agreed to by the contractor is 95 centimes for the first 
 three years, and 90 for the following five years. These prices are very high. 
 
 V. Works of Skill, 
 
 There is little to be said on the subject of the construction and maintenance of the works of skill. 
 
 These works consist almost entirely of inlet works, regulating works, locks, and waste weirs. 
 
 Most frequently the foundations are formed by an apron of a thickness varying according to 
 the upward pressure it should sustain; the lowest portions are rarely more than 3 meters below 
 the bed of the canal, and at this depth in most cases all the work of excavation and masonry can 
 be done dry by means of drainage machines. 
 
 The foundations of almost all the Works rest solely on a clay more or less sandy, for it would 
 be necessary to go to great depths to meet a more solid soil, and this clay is generally sufQciently 
 compact and homogeneous not to need consolidation by means of stoue or otherwise. 
 
 The aprons are of beton covered with two courses of brick, with binding courses of cut stone. 
 
 The body of high masonry is often of brick, sometimes of rubble with binding courses of cut 
 stone. 
 
 The mortar employed is generally formed of one part of fat lime and two of artificial puzzolana 
 made from the debris of broken brick. 
 
 In some cases the puzzolana is replaced by the simple mud of the MIe, and they thus obtain a 
 mortar which hardens under water at the end of quite a long time; this mortar is met with in 
 ancient works, but it is no longer employed in public works. 
 
 Almost all the fermetures of the regulating works are formed of horizontal stop-planks or ver- 
 tical needles. 
 
 The chief cause of destruction of the Bgpytian works lies in the foundation. In the first 
 place, it often happens that unequal settling takes place in the soil, causing cracks which it is 
 necessary to repair carefully when the settling is complete. In the second place, the embankments 
 and the muddy soil being very easily washed away, it may happen that the work is overturned by 
 the current or that the apron may be undermined by the movement of the water ; to avoid the 
 first inconveniences they give to the abutments of the works a very considerable length and thick- 
 ness ; to avoid the second they prolong the aprons and consolidate the earth by means of masses 
 of riprap which should often be renewed. 
 
 A few years ago it was difiBlcult to find, in the provinces somewhat distant from Cairo, con- 
 tractors to undertake works of skill, therefore it was necessary to construct them as a tax ; this 
 was slow and costly. To-day all the works are done when possible by contract. 
 
 The repair of the riprap and the spurs, which are designed to render the bed of the Nile 
 stable and protect the dikes, requires every year great quantities of stone, wbich amount to as 
 much as from 50,000 to 60,000 cubic meters ; in Lower Egypt the stone used for this kind of work 
 is taken from the quarries near Cairo by convicts and transported as far as the Nile by a short 
 railroad a few kilometers long. Here the owners of barges load it and carry it to the place re- 
 quired the foreman, with the men of the corvee, unload it, placing it in position. A few years ago 
 contractors quarried the stone, carried it to the Nile, and loaded it on barges ; they were paid 2.20 
 francs per cubic meter. 
 
 In Upper Egypt the same contractor who furnished the stone transported it and placed it in 
 position. 
 
 VI. Expense of Eepaies. 
 
 The Egyptian Government carries yearly in its budget, exclusive of the pay of engineers and the 
 personnel of the bureau, a sum of about 3,000,000 francs for the repair of the works of skill, of the 
 works of protection against inundation, arid for dredging. If we add to this the 12,000,000 francs 
 which is the cost of executing by contract all the work which falls to the corvSe, it is seen that the 
 cost of repairing the dikes and of the canals of general and communal interest, for the whole of 
 Egypt, amounts annually to 15,000,000 francs. The total cultivable area of Egypt amounts to 
 
74 lEEIGATION m EGYPT. 
 
 2,100,000 hectares ; this sum represents 7.14 francs per hectare. But since the eorvSe executes a 
 portion of these works of repair, it is very difQcult to determine the exact amount of this expense, 
 and the sum of 7.14 francs, given above, should be considered only as an approximation. 
 
 VII. Works Bxectjtbd by Individuals. 
 
 On account of the social condition of the country the Egyptian Government has been obliged 
 to take under its own charge, or impose on the whole population, all the works of construction and 
 repair which pertain to works of general and communal i jterest. There only remains as a charge 
 to Individuals the execution and maintenance of their inlets and watering canals for their own 
 property ; these works being generally of little importance, syndicates are not appointed in the 
 country, with organizations more or less complicated, to insure irrigation for particular territories. 
 
 In some cases small numbers interested unite to construct an inlet on a grand canal ; then the 
 Government assumes charge of the work for the farmers ; the latter raise in advance the approxi- 
 mate amount of cost, which is divided in proportion to the extent of land cultivated by each indi- 
 vidual. As to the repair of the canals and works of special benefit, those interested, who are 
 never very numerous, arrange to have it done among themselves, or, when it concerns the whole 
 or part of a village, the inhabitants form a special corvee under the direction of the sheiks or local 
 authorities. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 METHOD OF ELEVATING AND USING IRRIGATION WATER. 
 ELETATINOMAOHINES—AVTHOItlTY FOR ESTABLISEINO ELEVATINQ-MAaSINES— ISLETS— WATERING CANALS. 
 
 I. Elevating-machines. 
 
 When the water flows in the feeder canal, at the level of the cultivated land or above this 
 level, the proprietor in order to water his land has only to open or shut his inlet. This is what is 
 generally done during flood in almost the whole of Egypt; it is also the same during low water in 
 the regions which are situated a short distance from the inlets of the irrigation canals. These 
 canals have a slope less than that of the valley, and it is possible to take water from them by 
 means of regulating works. But these conveniences do not exist : even during flood, for the high 'O 
 lands which border the river, and during low water all along the Nile and along the higher levels \ 
 of the canals, it is necessary to raise water by means of machines to the level of the soil if it is I 
 desired to make summer crops. j 
 
 Thus there are in Egypt many regions in which the farmer is obliged with much difficulty and 
 much expense to raise, at least during some months of the :^^r, the water of irrigation, and the 
 lands where this obtains are generally considered the most fertile,, because they are slightly ele- 
 vated and consequently free from the inconvenience which results from^nflltration and want of 
 drainage. 
 
 Of the elevating- machines used in this country, the most part are remarkable for their awk- 
 wardness of construction and the simplicity of working them. They are part of the patrimony 
 of primitive tools which have been bequeathed to the present generation by the inventive genius 
 of the first race of farmers, and which have been transmitted through centuries with that kind of 
 tradition and sameness which prevails in the nature and affairs of the Orient. For these awkward 
 machines, whose arrangements are based on the use of man and animal power have been partly 
 substituted, during the present century, the steam engine and the pump, usually the centrifugal 
 pump. 
 
 The wind is not employed in Egypt for working irrigation machines. 
 
 Nattal.* — When the height to which the water is to be raised is from 50 or 60 centimeters, 
 and does not exceed one meter, they cut into the banks of the canal so as to make a small plat- 
 form as high as the level of the water, or a little above this level, and they carry the supply ditch 
 as far as the side of this small platform, being careful to terminate it by an earthen dam covered 
 with a straw mat to strengthen it. Two men place themselves on this platform opposite each 
 other, on each side of the ditch, so that its extremity comes exactly to the middle of the space 
 which separates them, and which is about 1.50 meters ; they are nearly or half seated upon two 
 small mounds of dry mud or simply leaning against the vertical sides whiclrhave been dug in the 
 bank to form the platform. The machine worked by these two men is composed simply of a kind 
 of basket, with stiff sides of woven palm leaves, 40 centimeters in diameter and 25 centimeters 
 
 » See Plate XVIII. 
 
 75 
 
76 IRRIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 high J its bottom is sometimes covered with leather, and it is furnished with four cords. The two 
 men, holding one of the cords in each hand , taking a balancing movement, throw the basket into 
 the canal ; then they raise it up, throwing it back at the height of the body, bringing it to the end 
 of the ditch, and each of them make with their arms a movement like that of the laborer who 
 empties his wheelbarrow by the side ; the contents of the basket is thus emptied into the ditch. 
 
 Two men can raise by this method from 4 to 5 cubic meters per hour. 
 
 This simple plant is called the nattal; it is cheap and easy to establish anywhere. 
 
 The small amount of earthwork necessary is made very cheaply in consequence of the plas- 
 ticity of the Egyptian soil, which maintains itself almost vertical, and which, when it is used wet, 
 takes and i)reserves, after having been dried, any form which may be given it. 
 
 Ghadouf.* — When the height exceeds 1 meter, the effort which the men are obliged to make to 
 raise the basket of the nattal becomes too fatiguing. They then place the basket on a lever, which 
 allows the amplitude of its movement to be increased, and they thus obtain a new machine, which 
 is called chadouf, and which suffices to elevate water as high as 3 meters. 
 
 The chadouf is composed essentially of two vertical supports of about 1.20 meters in height, 
 and 1 meter apart, supporting at their upper extremity a wooden beam from which is suspended 
 a large lever about 3 meters long; palm cords and a small wooden axis aftbrd the means of sus- 
 pending the lever to its beam. The two vertical supports are generally formed either of forked 
 branches or fascines of rushes placed in the ground and bound together by means of dry mud. 
 At one of the extremities of the lever hangs a basket similar to that of the nattal, fastened by 
 means of movable arms of about 2J meters long and palm cords. The other extremity is coun- 
 terpoised by dry mud sufficient to draw up a basket filled with water. 
 
 This machine is placed in position so that the lever works parallel to the ditch to be supplied 
 and perpendicular to the canal. A small trench conducts the water of the canal to the chadouf, 
 and the man charged with maneuvering the machine stands on a small platform established about 
 I meter below the ditch to be supplied and formed either of a small mound of earth or some brush ; 
 he stands erect, his back supported against the sides of the trench by which the water of the canal 
 comes to the chadouf. In this position he bears his weight on the suspension arm of the basket 
 until it reaches the water and is filled ; the counterpoise then acts to raise the basket to the level 
 of the ditch into which the man empties it by a movement of the handle. 
 
 Sometimes, in certain localities far from the Nile and canals, they use the chadouf to raise the 
 irrigation water from wells dug to the depth of 4 or 5 meters below the soil, but these heights are 
 very exceptional. 
 
 Generally when they wish to raise water more than 3 meters they place chadonfs over each 
 other, each machine taking water from the basin into which the lower chadouf has already raised 
 it. Frequently on the banks of the Nile in Upper Egypt the traveler encounters numerous cha- 
 doufs working thus, in ranks of three or four front, and with three or even four different levels 
 The sight is very picturesque; these levers rising and descending slowly in cadence under the 
 regular impulsion given them by negroes or fellahs, bronzed by the sun, almost naked, dripping 
 with water, and keeping time to a nasal chant which one of the workmen raises from time to 
 time, and which mingles with the rippling of the falling water. 
 
 Like the nattal, the chadouf is a simple plant, which can be established wherever desired and 
 removed with the greatest facility and, it might be said, without expense. Two bundles of corn- 
 stalks or reeds, two sticks, a little cord, a basket, and a piece of leather are the materials which 
 compose it; every fellah possesses these, and the mud of the Nile is sufficient to place them in 
 working order. 
 
 The movement of the chadouf is slow; a man can hardly raise, in the usual conditions, 
 more than ten baskets per minute ; at 10 liters per basket, this makes 100 liters per minute and 6 
 cubic meters per hour. One man works at the chadouf about two hours at a time. It is generally 
 admitted that one machine with two men is necessary to water one- half hectare. 
 
 From numerous observations made on this subject by the engineers of the French expedition 
 in Egypt, it is concluded that the work produced by the fellah with the chadouf is 330 kilogram- 
 meters on the average per minute, while the dynamic action of a man of mean strength, raising 
 
 * See Plate XIX. 
 
IRRIGATION IN EGYPT. 77 
 
 weights with a cord and pulley and lowering the cord witboat weight, is ordinarily considered as 
 only 216 kilogram meters for the same time. The chadoufs, therefore, utilize in an advantageous 
 v' manner the muscular force of the workman, since he acts by his own weight to raise the counter- 
 poise and to lower the empty basket, and the water then is naturally raised by the effect of the 
 counterpoise and without effort on the part of the man. 
 
 Sakie.* — For heights above 3 meters the chadouf is an onerous machine, consequently they 
 employ most frequently in this case a kind of noria which is called saTcie. 
 
 The sakie is very common in Egypt. It is arranged in the following manner: A wooden wheel 
 about 1.50 meters in diameter is furnished with cogs 20 centimeters longj the axis of this wheel 
 is vertical ; it rests at its lower part below the level of the soil on a large step formed of pieces 
 of wood laid together, and is bound by cords in a fixed manner to a horizontal lever 3 meters long, 
 which, moved by an ox or other animal, carries with its revolution the horizontal wheel. The 
 upper extremity of the vertical axis passes into a bearing roughly made of iron or wood and which 
 is fixed to the horizontal beam 6 or 7 meters long, whose ends rest on two supports of dry mud, 
 sun dried bricks, or masonry built on the ground upon which the animal motor passes. Frequently 
 the shaft of the wheel is formed by a rough branch which separates above in the form of a large 
 crotch whose two arms facilitate the connection with the horizontal lever of the machine. Some- 
 times for small sakies the upper beam is discarded ; the sakie is then kept vertical by means of 
 wooden beams placed horizontally at the level of the soil. 
 
 The horizontal wheel engages a vertical wooden cog wheel about 1 meter in diameter, carry- 
 ing cogs similar to those of the horizontal wheel, with its axis passing below the level of the soil 
 under the track, and carrying on its other extremity a wheel from 1.50 to 2 meters in diameter, 
 which supports the chain of the noria. This chain is simply formed of a rope ladder carrying 
 earthenware pots spaced about 50 centimeters apart, which are raised full of water to the top of 
 the wheel and empty into a trough placed laterally. 
 
 To resume, the sakie is composed of an arrangement giving movement to a crown wheel which 
 engages the vertical wheel carrying the chain of the noria. Each machine is roughly made from 
 the wood of the acacia, which is found in the country and which is hardly ever used squared. Con- 
 sequently the vicinity of a sakie is announced from afar by the continual groaning and the inces- 
 sant plaint of the machine, raising itself in the stillness of the plain or disturbing the silence of 
 the night, a witness of the effort at whose cost man brings fertility to the parched earth. Fre- 
 quently the sakies are arranged along the banks of the Nile or the great canals, as might be said, 
 temporarily ; the earthen bank serves as their foundation. The pit into which the noria descends 
 has vertical sides dug in the mud ; it is partially covered by a few branches covered with .^arth, 
 over which the animal which turns the machine passes. The supports of the upper beam ate in 
 this case simply masses of earth. 
 
 But some sakies are also established permanently either at the wells in the midst of the fields 
 or on the banks of the canals; they are then surrounded by trees, which protect the men and animals 
 from the sun. They are established on masses of masonry. The wells of the noria are also of 
 masonry; sometimes they also place two, three, or four sakies at the angles of the same well. 
 These wells, as all those which are seen in Egypt, are constructed on wooden curbing, below which 
 the earth is removed, causing them to descend as the masonry advances, they are generally of 
 brick, and are partially covered by small arches designed to support the axis of the norias and 
 the discharge troughs. 
 
 The large sakies are worked by two oxen, but often a single one is employed or a buffalo ; some- 
 times an ass, sometimes a horse, and even a camel. The oxen or buffalo which work the sakies are 
 relieved every three hours. 
 
 It is estimated that the sakie does the work of 4 chadoufs, and that it suffices for the irriga- 
 tion of 2 to 2J hectares. Under the general condition under which agriculture is carried on they 
 require the employment of three buffaloes and two men. 
 
 From a series of experiments made by the French expedition in Egypt it was shown that the 
 contents of the jars of a sakie being 1.60 liters and the weight of a jar nearly 1 kilogram, the 
 
 * See Plate XX. 
 
78 lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 discharge of such a satie varies from 4,200 to 4,800 liters per hour, according to the height that 
 the water is raised, and this height often reaches 10 and 11 meters. 
 
 The delivery of these machines is very variable, because the capacity of the jars not being 
 generally in proportion to the height raised, it happens for small elevations of level that the 
 animal power is not obliged to develop all its capacity. 
 
 Moreover, often for heights of 10 and 11 meters the delivery is still small, on account of the 
 rudeness of construction of the cog-wheels and the very imperfect adjustment of the different parts 
 of the machine. Thus, in the experiments cited above, it was found that a horse moving the sakie 
 and raising water to a height of 10 meters only effected 718 kilogrammeters a minute. Now, 
 the power of a horse attached to a lever and turning at the average speed is estimated in Europe 
 at 2,430 kilogrammeters per minute; allowing the difference in strength between the Egyptian 
 horse and the European horse, it is found then that the work of the sakie is not economical. 
 "While the ox can produce normally the work of 2,160 kilogrammeters per minute, in raising water 
 with a sakie to the height of 10 meters it only utilizes the work of about 700 kilogrammeters. 
 
 Therefore, although the sakie is a cheap machine in construction and installation, it is of small 
 economy in the work accomplished. Nevertheless this machine is the one most used in Egypt for 
 raising water. There are laearly 12,000 in the part of the Delta comprised between the branches 
 of the Damietta and Rosetta, which includes a total cultivable area of 500,000 hectares, and taking 
 this as a basis it is seen that in the whole of Lower Egypt, which has an area of 1,150,000 hectares, 1 
 there are 28,000 sakies. ' 
 
 In some places in Lower Egypt and at Fayoum the sakie has undergone certain improvements 
 which make them more economical machines. The extremity of the axes and the pivots have 
 been bound with iron, which diminishes the friction, and the chain of jars have been replaced by 
 a noria, whose buckets are constructed of zinc or of wood which are 60 centimeters long, 30 centi- 
 meters wide, and 30 centimeters deep. These sakies with a single animal motor suffice almost for 
 the watering of half a hectare in twelve hours, while the ordinary sakie hardly waters more than 
 a quarter of a hectare in the same time.* 
 
 TaboutA — In the north of Lower Egypt whenever the water is to be raised at least 3 meters 
 they do not use the noria, but a wheel around whose circumference are arranged dippers in which 
 the water is raised, from which it is delivered into a lateral trough, and from thence to the irriga- 
 tion ditch. This wheel is moved in the same manner as the wheel which carries the noria. The 
 animal motor is generally a buffalo or an ox. 
 
 The water is brought by a ditch to the pits dug under the elevating wheel. The wheel is 
 arranged so that the bottom of the trough into which the water is emptied will be at about one- 
 third the height of the wheel from the top in reference to the level of the soil. Contrary to other 
 irrigation machines employed in Egypt, this wheel is made with care and well adjusted. The • 
 carpenter work is composed of four arms made of four uprights fixed around a hub. The circum- 
 ference is formed like that of an ordinary wheel with buckets — the buckets being replaced by 
 simple paddle-boards, whose troughs are completely closed by a circular border, presenting only 
 one line of openings arranged along the base of each paddle, one of the lateral crowns only being 
 pierced by an opening at the base of each bucket near the interior edge of the crown. 
 
 The water enters the buckets by an exterior opening, is raised by the movement of the wheel, 
 and emptied by a lateral opening into the wooden tank when the bucket arrives near the top of 
 its path. 
 
 HYDKAXJLIC WHEELS WITH PADDLES, f 
 
 All the preceding machines are moved by mau aud imiinals. 
 
 In Fayoum, where the canals have a very considerable slope, more than in the rest of Egypt, 
 they use water power to move the paddle-wheels, which carry on their circumference earthen jars, 
 by means of which the water is raised to the level of the land. These wheels are similar to those 
 in the vicinity of Palma, and which are described in the work of M. M. Aymard on irrigation in 
 the south of Spain. 
 
 • See Plate XXI, Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. t See Plate XV, Figs. 1, 2, 3. t See Plate XXI, Figs. 6 and 7. 
 
lERIGATION m EGYPT. 79 
 
 Some of these wheels are placed ia the bed itself of the Bahr Yoassef, at a point where the 
 slope of the watercourse is almost 50 centimeters per kilometer; they are moved by the force ot 
 the current. But most frequently they are established at the head of the canals or on their course. 
 The canal is then inclosed between two masonry walls which hold the wheel and support its axis. 
 They use at these points as a motive force falls of water of from 30 to 60 centimeters in height. 
 Many wheels are established in this manner in batteries side by side or one behind the other. 
 
 The dimensions of these wheels are very variable; generally they are 4.50 meters in diameter, 
 are furnished with twelve paddles 90 centimeters long by 60 centimeters wide, and carry a chain 
 of twenty-four earthern jars of 7 liters capacity. These make nearly, under these conditions, four 
 revolutions per minute, and raise therefore 40 cubic meters of water per hour to an average height 
 of about 3 meters. They can furnish, therefore, in eighteen hours a good watering to one hectare. 
 It is estimated that one of these wheels is suflScient to irrigdlte for the summer crops an area of 13 
 cultivated hectares. *- \ 
 
 Some wheels carry two chains of earthenware buckpts on each side of the paddles. There are 
 besides these wheels of larger diameter which carry as many asninetysix jars in two chains. 
 
 STEAM-PUMPS. '1 
 
 For some years the employment of steam as a motive po^er for works of irrigation has been 
 much developed in Egypt, thanks to the increasing cheapness of engines and boilers. With a 
 steam-engine the elevating machine is generally a centrifugal pump, more rarely an ordinary pump, 
 and exceptionally a drum or hydraulic wheels of some kind. The centrifugal pump is so easy to 
 move and put up that it is most l^vored. >, . 
 
 The plant most used in Egypt consists of a locomotive engine covered by a small shed or an 
 earthen hut covered with an earthen roof; a few paces distant on the bank of the canal the cen- 
 trifugal pump is connected to the motor by a pulley. There are also, nearly everywhere, perma- 
 nent machines also working ceptrifugal pumps ; the ordinary pumps are hardly met with in the 
 most important and .oldest establishments. All these machines and their installation differ 
 nothing from those which are found all ovej? the world; it is then useless to describe them. 
 
 According to the statistics collected by the ministry of public works there were in 1882, in 
 the whole of Lower Egypt, 2,500 machines representing*a total of 25,000 horse-power, among which 
 three hundred and sixty permanent machines have a total of 6,000 horse-power. 
 
 In Upper Egypt there are in all one hundred and fifty machines representing 4,700 horse- 
 power, among which there are fifty-six permanent machines^ with a total of 3,600 horse-power. 
 
 A little less than one-fifth of these machines are established on the banks of the Nile and Dami- 
 etta and Eosetta branches; the others are pa the banks of the canals. 
 
 The installation of permanent machines on the banks of the Nile presents great diflculties on 
 account of the incessant change of th^ lesser and even the greater bed of the river. Frequently 
 considerable plants/have been abandoned on account of the banks of sand accumulated in front of 
 the suction of the pumps, it ^was necessary each year to dig through these deposits along the 
 feeding canal. 
 
 To Insure in spite of the vagaries of the river the watering of the sugar-cane plantations in 
 the region of the sout& of TJppea" Egypt, where summer cultivation can only be carried on by 
 raising water from the Nile by machines, M. Gay-Lussac, administrator of the Daira Sanieh, intro- 
 duce4 the scheme of placing on a barge a rotary pump of the Griendl system, moved by an oscil- 
 lating engine. The delivery tube is raised vertically, supported by a kind of shears, to the varia- 
 ble height of the banks of the river above the level of the water. This tube is prolonged then 
 for a greater or less length in proportion to the distance of the barge from the bank. They can 
 also, with a long swing, avoid very frequently giving great lengths to these tubes; it sufaces, in 
 fact, to move the boat and place it each year at a place where the river flows near the bank ; a few 
 works of connection with the~ watering canals complete, without expense, this essentially mova- 
 ble installation, which up to the present has given good results. 
 
 Steam-engines used for irrigation are fired generally with coal, but whenever possible the 
 farmer uses as fuel, the stalks or the straw provided by the crops, or the stalks of the cotton plant. 
 
V. 
 
 80 lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 It is calculated that in Egypt, in ground of mean altitude, it requires 110 kilograms of coal, 
 or 290 kilograms of cotton stalks, to water one hectare. This represents nearly the sum of 5 francs. 
 But this amount is very often less than the actual cost, because the engines are badly tended and 
 use more coal than is necessary. In 1883 the administration of the domains of the Egyptian 
 state calculated that it had, during the year, irrigated by steam a surface which, multiplied by the 
 number of waterings, represented an area of 102,817 hectares, irrigated once only. For such a 
 number of waterings the average expense for coal, oil, etc., was 3 francs 56 centimes for one water- 
 ing per hectare, or for the elevation of 700 or 800 cubic meters, which represents a quantity of 
 water necessary for the watering of one hectare. 
 
 Expense to the farmer for raising water. — The necessity of raising water is one of the heaviest 
 charges which is imposed on every farmer in Egypt, and every project for the amelioration of irri- 
 gation in this country should have as its principal end the abolition, as much as possible, of the 
 elevating-machines. The necessity of working the sakies, in fact, forces the peasant to feed a 
 number of animals, which are costly to maintain on a soil where natural pasturage does not exist, 
 and which badly fed are of no use, and besides are of almost no other utility than for the work of 
 watering, and which, weakened by fatigue, are without strength to resist epizooty, so frequent in 
 this country. On the other hand, if the fellah, for want of animals, desires to use steam for rais- 
 ing water, he needs a large amount of funds to buy and install the pump and engine, and if he is "> 
 not able to bear this expense he finds himself given over without mercy to his richer neighbors, / 
 who use him and oppress him at the time of the drought, and extort from him a part of his crops, ( 
 allowing him to save the other part by a scanty watering. Some owners of machines go so far as \ 
 to force the small farmer to pay more than 50 francs to one hectare ; they always demand for their I 
 pay one-third of the crop. In many regions the price paid for watering by steam is 25 francs per / 
 hectare by the unfortunate small proprietor; this is the usual price, although it is at least five / 
 times greater than the actual cost of raising water. / 
 
 II. Authority fok Establishing Elevating-machines. / 
 
 In Egypt every one places, without authority, at his watering ditch or his field on the borders 
 of the Mle or canals the chadoufs and sakies which he thinks necessary for his crops, and moves 
 them as may be required. It is not, however, the same with the more important elevating-machines. 
 The establishment of these machines is regulated by the decree of the 8th of March, 1881, whose 
 principal articles are shown below: 
 
 DECEBB AND REGULATIONS CONCERNING ELEVATING-MACHINES. 
 
 Article 1. The establishment of machines for elevating water for irrigation is forbidden, whether these machines 
 are fixed or movable, whether they are moved by steam or by water power, or by the wind,-wlthout previously obtaini 
 ing the authority of the ministry of public worlis. 
 
 This authority does not give to the beniflciary proprietor the right, to any extent whatever, over the land of the 
 state, either public or private, or land crossed by syphons, culverts, or aqueducts for obtaining water or to supply 
 pumps. 
 
 The Government is to remain exempt in all controversies between third parties and the benificiaries, and the 
 latter are to be responsible for all acts, damaging or otherwise, by the installation, or in any manner. 
 
 Article 2. The establishment of fixed machines will only be allowed on the bank of the Nile. However, the min- 
 istry of pnblic works will allow their exceptional establishment on certain canals. The ministry remains sole judge 
 of the necessity of this authority, and it reserves entire liberty to impose, according to the case, the charges and con- 
 ditions to which it will be subjected. 
 
 Article 3. Every elevating-machine, fixed or movable, is subject to the general obligation of leaving entirely 
 ftee all communication along the dikes and canals, of respecting all works, and not interfering in any way with the 
 repair of these dikes and canals, and the protection of the country against inundation. 
 
 Article 4. The neglect of any condition or obligation imposed by the authority for establishing an elevating- 
 machine forfeits entirely this authority, without prejudice or recourse, while the Government reserves to itself the 
 right of repairing the damages and reimbursing the state for the expense. 
 
 Article 5. Installations authorized at a particular place can only be moved by a new authority, without pay- 
 ment for the new right. 
 
 Article 6. The Government reserves the right, on account of public utility (execution of public works, danger 
 to dikes, works of skill, etc.), to remove every authorized installation. 
 
 Article 7. The authority given to install a fixed or movable elevating-machine gives the right only to the grantees 
 making an installation to take water from the canal or from the Nile. It does not bring any obligation to the Gov- 
 
lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 81 
 
 ernment of insuring the constant supply of the machine. For conducting the water furnished by the machine the 
 grantees must have an understanding with the society of owners whose lands they will have to cross, without the 
 intervention of the Government. 
 
 To pass the water across the unoccupied lands or over the lands of the Government the grantees will he furnished 
 with a special authority. 
 
 Ditches for bringing water are forbidden along the dikes of the canals and the Nile, as well as along the banks 
 and slopes of these dikes. 
 
 Article 8. The ditches or conduits for bringing the water of the machine to the land will be established so as 
 to hinder in no way public travel, and the passage of water of drainage and irrigation shall be subject to the reserved 
 rights of proprietors, to whom the grantees alone remain responsible. The Government requires for passage under 
 the dikes and roads above and below the canals all the works which it may judge proper. 
 
 AkTiOLB 9. For the general benefit in the case of exceptional low water, or when the discharge of the canal be- 
 comes notably less than the needs of the crops which it serves, the service of the public works may, either for the 
 whole canal or for a single level of the canal, determine the reduced discharge, or, if it is necessary, temporarily stop 
 the machines, according to the relative importance of the works and the land which they water, without, in this case, 
 the Government taking any responsibility for damage caused to the crops. 
 
 Article 10. By authority of arjiiele 7, the ministry of public works may, in exceptional oases, authorize the 
 use of a Nili canal (canal of inundation) for conducting the water from the elevating-machines to the land to be 
 watered; that is, under the following restrictions: 
 
 (1) This permission will only be good in seasons of low water, and will terminate then when the water of the Nile 
 can freely enter the canal. 
 
 (•2) It will only be accorded when the proprietors of the land which have the use of this Nili canal have given 
 their general assent to this permission. 
 
 (3) If dikes for holding up the water at the mouth of the canal or on the course of the Nili canal are built they 
 will be of earth, and must be raised at the expense of the proprietor of the machine, if necessary under the supervision 
 of the authorities, but at the cost, risk, and peril of the proprietor, before the water of the Nile can freely enter into 
 the canal. 
 
 (4) Finally, the proprietor of the machine is alone responsible to the farmers for every damage occasioned by the 
 rupture of dikes, infiltration, and delay in raising the dikes at the time of supply. ♦ * * 
 
 Article 13. The proprietors of the elevating machines are responsible for accidents or damages which may be 
 occasioned by these machines. 
 
 The Government reserves, however, the right to exercise, in the public interest, the supervision of the working 
 of the machines, without freeing the proprietors from the responsibility incumbent upon them. The cost for obtaining 
 authority for establishing machines are,* first, the fixed sum of 26 francs per machine for expense of examination; 
 second, the charge of 13 francs per horse-power, the sum never being less than 130 francs. 
 
 III. Inlets. 
 
 The decree given above is, so to say, the only law for regulating the distribution of the waters 
 of irrigation in Egypt. 
 
 Thus, on the one hand, the Government delivers the water in the canals at the level and the 
 discharge which it juc^ges proper, and it maaeuvers at its pleasure the regulating works; on the 
 other hand, the cultivators place on these canals, as many as they desire and at the places which / ^ 
 suits them, their sakies and chadoufs. / v. 
 
 When it is a question of raising water from canals with steam-pumps, the Government always 
 determines whether it should interfere to regulate the position, power, and discharge of these 
 machines, lest these powerful machines may dry up the canal and bring trouble to the general 
 distribution, and it interferes also when the proprietor wishes to establish a fixed inlet. 
 
 The private inlets are generally of the greatest simplicity. The most rudimentary and most 
 numerous consist of a drain cut in the banks of the canal, sometimes 5 or 6 meters in depth below 
 the crest of the dike, a drain whose sides are maintained vertically on account of the stiffness of 
 the mud. These trenches are barely covered by light branches, which serve for bridging them, 
 and they create along the dikes great obstacles to travel, because in Egypt the banks of the 
 canals are almost the only existing public roads. The administration has not yet imposed on the 
 cultivator the obligation of substituting for these too primitive inlets the employment of iron 
 or clay pipes. This kind of inlet serves everywhere for the sakies and chadoufs and centrifugal 
 pumps moved by locomotive engines. 
 
 "These charges are fixed in Egyptian piasters and pounds. The piaster is worth nearly 26 centimes, and the 
 pound 26 francs. These are the" values adopted in this work for changing Egyptian money to French. 
 H. Mis. 134 6 
 
82 lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 For the fixed machines and for the important inlets drawing from the water level, masonry 
 conduits are built, with fermetures made of turning-gates or needles. These works are constructed 
 by authority under the supervision and control of Government agents. 
 
 Otherwise there is nothing special to mention on the subject of inlets, the regulation of their 
 discharge being a thing unknown in Egypt. 
 
 IV. Wateking Canals. 
 
 As soon as the water has arrived in the trench the cultivator conducts it to the entrance of 
 his fields, which he has carefully prepared so as to be able to spread the water over their whole 
 surface. 
 
 Generally the soil is so level that there is no need of great labor to level it and render it fit for 
 irrigation. When it is necessary they employ an instrument like a wheelbarrow, without wheels 
 and without legs, furnished behind with two handles. An ox or a buffalo is fastened in front, a 
 man holds the handles behind and bears on the box so as to scrape off the earth with the front 
 border, which is much inclined and covered with a strip of iron. The box is filled with the prod- 
 ucts which are scraped up, and by a single movement of the lever fastened to the handles the man 
 empties it into the low places. This is used in almost all irrigated countries. 
 
 When the ground is thus planed down the watering is accomplished by different methods. 
 
 Generally the soil is divided by small ditches into squares of 30 or 40 meters in area ; then 
 they are submerged successively for a few centimeters in depth. This method is employed for the 
 watering which is given before the crops are up or even sown. 
 
 Later, when the crops are up out of the ground, the watering is done according to the nature 
 of the crop, either in the furrows serving as ditches or by submerging the squares, as above men- 
 tioned. 
 
 For rice fields the water circulates continually in a series of successive basins separated by 
 small earthen dikes. 
 
 In other respects the method used in Egypt for the employment of water for irrigation pre- 
 sents no special peculiarities worthy of mention and does not differ from those which are employed 
 in all flat countries. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CROPS CULTIVATED IN EGYPT. 
 
 CROTS—MANAGEMBNT CF TBE LAND-FERTILIZERS— METBOD OF FARMING THE LAND. 
 
 In order to appreciate the r61e that irrigation plays in the country, and what advantages it 
 secures for it, it is indispensable to know the kind of crops which are cultivated and the method of 
 management of the land. This chapter has for its object a few summary indications concerning the 
 different kinds of plants which are cultivated in Egypt, and especially to point out the peculiarities 
 which pertain to the time of sowing and watering, and of the harvest, and to the profits from the 
 land, and to the distribution of the crops. 
 
 There are no agricultural statistics in Egypt which allow an estimate of the fertility of each 
 province, and we know how difftcult it is to obtain, in every country, from farmers exact data on 
 this subject. In what follows, the deductions which pertain to the returns from the lands have 
 been furnished by the annual report of the administration of the domains of the state and Diara 
 Sanieh, whose properties are scattered throughout the different regions of Egypt ; * they may be 
 considered as representing an average for the whole country, although they have been notably 
 lower than the data generally accepted. 
 
 I. Crops. 
 
 TrAea<.4- Wheat is a winter crop ; it is sown after the flood or about the end of October , or in 
 the^THoetlfof November, according to the locality, and the harvest is made toward the end of 
 March or in the month of April . 
 
 In the inundation basins they sow on the ground while it is yet muddy, then they roll the soil 
 with the trunk of a palm tree, merely to cover the grain. Sometimes, when the sowing is done in a 
 soil of more consistency, it is worked after the sowing. They do not water the lands before the 
 harvest. 
 
 In the irrigated lands the first working is done before the sowing and the second one after- 
 ward. The land has been watered and washed with the flood waters before the first working; 
 they give afterward but two waterings, the first sixty days and the second ninety days after the 
 sowing. 
 
 In high lands which only receive the water of the flood they sometimes give four, five, and 
 even six waterings. The wheat cultivated in Egypt is a kind of hard wheat containing much 
 starch. 
 
 The quantity of seed employed on an average is 1,70 hectoliters per hectare in the basins, and 
 from 2.10 hectoliters to 2.30 hectoliters in Lower Egypt. 
 
 The produce of the harvest may go as high, in the better lands, as 24 to 25 hectoliters per hec- 
 tare: but the average is much less than this amount, and, according to the reports of the admin- 
 istration of the domains of the state, which refer to 145,000 hectares of crop, scattered throughout 
 
 * The unit of arable surface adopted in Egypt is the Feddan, which is about 4,300 square meters. 
 
 83 
 
84 lEEIGATION m EGYPT. 
 
 the whole of Lower Egypt, the amount produced per hectare of wheat in the last Ave years has 
 only been on the average 14 hectoliters and 40 liters. 
 
 The mean price of a hectare of wheat being 12.20 irancs, the gross product of a hectare is 176 
 francs, to which should be added the price of the wheat straw, which is carefully gathered for feed- 
 ing the cattle, and even for fuel for the steam irrigation machines. The quantity of straw is nearly 
 90 kilograms per hectoliter of wheat, which represents about 1,300 kilograms per hectare, at 1.50 
 francs per hundred kilograms, or 20 francs per hectare. The total gross product of a hectare of 
 wheat is then, on an average, 196 francs. 
 
 Thp t,lira, shing of the wheat and the chopp in g of the str aw is done with a very peculi ar 
 machine cailedjioreg, in the following manner. The wheat is spread^n a circular zone upon a plat- 
 form of hard earth ; a pair of oxen or buffaloes pass over the circular space thus laid out, dragging 
 a kind of wooden chariot composed of a seat upon which the driver sits, mounted on two wooden 
 wheels furnished at intervals with projecting disks of sheet-iron ; the passage of these disks, upon 
 which the noreg rolls, and the treading of the animals separates the grain from the husks, and at 
 the same time breaks the straw. 
 
 Barley. — Barley, like wheat, is a winter crop which is very extensive in Egypt. 
 
 In the most southern part of Upper Egypt, to the south of the region of the basins, they sow 
 it at the end of November, after having given the land a first watering and divided it into sguares 
 by small dikes, and submerging it by means of chadoufs and sakies. They are obliged to water it 
 artificially the entire time that the crop remains in the ground, or until the end of March. 
 
 In the basins barley is cultivated like wheat in the inundated lands, after the land has become 
 somewhat dry, with one working or without any working, according to circumstances ; but when 
 no working is made they are obliged to increase the quantity of seed. 
 
 In the Delta the cultivation of barley goes on like that of wheat, and at the same time as the 
 latter, after the flood and with two or three artificial waterings. 
 
 The quantity of seed employed varies from 1,10 ta»2.20 hectoliters per hectare, according to 
 the nature of the ground. 
 
 The product of the harvest is very variable; it may go as high, in certain places, as 30 hec- 
 toliters per hectare ; but most frequently it does not exceed the half of this ; for the large farms, 
 comprising lands of every kind, they can not count on an average of more than 10 hectoliters per 
 hectare. 
 
 The average price of a hectoliter of barley, during late years, has been 7.50 francs. 
 
 A hectoliter of barley corresponds to nearly 75 kilograms of straw, which is worth on an 
 average 1.30 francs a hundred kilograms. 
 
 The gross product of a hectare sown in barley is then, on an average, 88 francs. 
 
 The barley is mostly used for feeding cattle. 
 
 Indian corn and dourah.— Corn and dourah, a kind of sorghum, are two plants which play a 
 special rdle in the agriculture of Egypt, in the sense that they are those which furnish for the 
 peasant the greater part of his food. Also, they are cultivated throughout the whole expanse of 
 country, and as they are crops which mature quickly, they are used in this country for-intermediate 
 crops, between the summer and winter crops. 
 
 Corn only remains, on an average, three months in the ground. 
 
 In the region of the basins they cultivate corn either in the high grounds, on the banks of 
 the Nile, or in certain low parts of the basins, where they are able by digging slightly to meet the 
 infiltration water, which they raise by means of chadoufs to the surface of the soil. In this latter 
 case the sowing is done in the month of May in order that the harvest may be gathered about the 
 end of August, when the basins are refilled. In the first case the sowing is done most frequently 
 at the end of August, at the time when the water of the river is already sufficiently high to facil- 
 itate watering. The flood always reaches a level sufiaciently high so that the roots of the crops are 
 entirely submerged in the water for some days; this diminishes the expense of irrigation. 
 
 For this crop they divide the land, by small dikes, into squares of 25 or 30 meters in area, and 
 they sow the gram in ditches 10 centimeters in depth; they then cover the grain and begin water- 
 ing. They give water at first for a few days in order to moisten the land and to hasten germina- 
 
lELilGATION m EGYPT. 85 
 
 tion, then they water regularly every eight or ten days. These crops are troublesome, because, 
 being made at the time of greatest heat, they require much water. 
 
 In Lower Egypt, and in all the irrigated lands, corn is always cultivated, either as a spring 
 crop, sown in May, or as an autumn crop, sown in August. 
 
 They also arrange so that the sowing generally takes place at the time when the watering 
 may be made by chadoufs or without watering machines, and as much as possible without sakies 
 and without steam pumps, because these are crops which should be worked with economy. 
 
 In the regions of irrigation, as the method of agriculture here is more exacting than in the 
 basins of inundation, it is necessary to hasten the development of corn with fertilizers, in order 
 that the plants may remain as little as possible in the earth and give place to other crops. They 
 employ for this purpose the ashes and earth taken from the ruins of old cities and they spread 
 about 7 or 8 tons per hectare. They then work the land and they sow in hills or in furrows, then 
 divide the fields into squares, as has been mentioned above, and give one watering every fifteen 
 days for from two and one-half months to three months, or about six waterings. 
 
 The quantity of seed employed is a little less than one hectoliter per hectare. The product of 
 the harvest is very variable; they may obtain as high as 25 hectoliters per hectare in the good 
 lands, and as a mean for Egypt about half, or 12.50 hectoliters per hectare. 
 
 The average price is 8 francs per hectoliter. 
 
 The corn stalks, used principally to burn under the boilers of the steam-engines, sell at 0.45 
 francs a hundred kilograms, and represent for the product of 12.50 hectoliters per hectare a weight 
 of about 900 kilograms. 
 
 The gross mean product of a hectare is then, including stalks, 104 francs. 
 
 All that has been said of corn applies almost exactly to dourah ; it is not then necessary to 
 mention especially this plant, which is entirely similar to corn in its method of culture and as to 
 its product. 
 
 Eice. — The culture of rice is carried on only in the north of Lower Egypt. In this region the 
 lands are low they can therefore be easily watered. To raise the water, in case it is necessary, 
 they employ tabouts, and according to the height to be raised they place from 1 to 3 of these 
 wheels to 4 hectares. 
 
 The rice is cultivated in summer; it is sown at the commencement of April; the quantity of 
 seed employed is 1.70 hectoliters per hectare. 
 
 The ground before being sown is covered with water for some days ; they then work it in two 
 directions, at right angles. They submerge the soil, roll it, wet it, divide it into basins by small 
 dikes, and finally throw the seed into the mire which is formed by these operations. Two days 
 after the sowing they recover the laud with 5 centimeters of water for two or three days, they then 
 allow the water to drain off; they renew it, and repeat this until the harvest. Frequently they 
 give water in too great quantities. They weed the rice fields from time to time. 
 
 The harvest takes place about the middle of I^ovember, and since at this time of the year there 
 is much water over the low lands it is always made under 25 to 30 centimeters of water. 
 
 As soon as the rice is harvested it is thrashed and hulled in special mills. It is estimated that 
 5 hectolitres of hull rice give 4 hectoliters of clean. 
 
 The mean product is 1,800 kilograms of hull rice per hecJare ; it is, however, very variable and 
 may reach double this quantity. The average value of rice in Egypt is 18.25 francs a hundred 
 kilograms. A hectare of rice produces besides 1,000 kilograms of straw at 50 centimes a hundred 
 kilograms. 
 
 The gross product of a hectare of rice is then, on an average, about 333 francs. 
 
 Sugar-cane. — Sugar-cane is the most important summer crop of Upper Egypt. It only grows in 
 irrigated lands, and only prospers in a soil of good quality. Thus in certain parts of the Ibrahi- 
 mieh region and of Fayoum, where it grew formerly, they have been forced to give up its cultiva- 
 tion, because the soil not having sufficient drainage has been affected by the salts, and the product 
 has become too small in consequence of this circumstance. At present there is no cultivation of 
 sugar-cane except in the northern province of Beni-Souef, and it is one of the departments of the 
 Government, called Daira Sanieh, which produces it in great quantities, and which has the most 
 important and numerous plants for extracting the sugar. 
 
86 IRRIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 This administration organizes its crops as follows : 
 
 The land is broken up as much as possible by a steam-plow, after which it receives three cross- 
 workings, sometimes only two. These operations are carried on from the month of March to the 
 month of November of the following year. 
 
 In November they make furrows for planting with a hoe or with a plow ; these furrows are 
 about 15 centimeters deep. The planting is generally in lines, by laying in the furrows cuttings 
 from 40 to 50 centimeters in length, in two rows in quincunx order. These cuttings are then cov- 
 ered up with a hoe. They plant in this way the cane at the rate of 500 kilograms of stalks per 
 hectare. This planting is performed in March or April. 
 
 After placing the cuttings in the furrows they immediately give one watering ; then the 
 waterings succeed each other every ten days until the end of August; from this epoch till the 
 end of October they only water every fifteen or twenty days, according to the appearance of the 
 crop. After October they do not water the crop before the harvest, which takes place from the 
 end of October to the 15th of March. 
 
 The cane after one cutting is still able to produce good stalks the following year ; thus they , 
 avoid the expense of working and planting. The only treatment to be given to the land in this 
 case consists in throwing the earth up against the plant with a plow when the shoot is about the 
 height of 15 or 20 centimeters. As soon as the cane matures it is cut and carried on the backs of 
 camels to the agricultural railroad, which crosses the properties of the Diara, then placed in cars 
 and transported to the sugar-mills, where it undergoes the usual operations. The produce of a 
 hectare is very variable, according to the quality of the ground and the abundauce of waterings. 
 Some lands give as high as 62 tons of cane per hectare, but the average is only 23 tons. 
 
 The average returns of sugar from the cane of the Daira Sanieh is about — 
 
 Sugar: 
 
 First throw 5.8 per cent, of the weight of the cane. 
 
 Second throw ^ 1.73 per cent, of the weight of the cane. 
 
 Third throw 0.52 per cent, of the weight of the cane. 
 
 Total 8.05 per cent, of the weight of the cane. 
 
 Molasses 1.98 per cent, of the weight of the cane. 
 
 Total 10.03 
 
 The selling price has always been falling during the last years ; the average has been : 
 For 100 kilograms of sugar : Francs. 
 
 First throw 50.29 
 
 Second throw 38. 47 
 
 Third throw 31.81 
 
 For 1 tilogram of alcohol 0.75 
 
 For 100 kilograms of molasses 5. 00 
 
 The average product of a hectare planted in sugar-cane then is, after manufacturing and 
 delivering the sugar at the place of sale, that is at Alexandria, about 1,020 francs. 
 
 Glover, Greek fennel, vetch, field jpeas.— Glover is a fodder of very common use throughout the 
 whole of Egypt. It is cultivated during the winter and also during the autumn. 
 
 In the latter case, they sow it in the corn during the month of November, about one month 
 before the maturity of this latter crop. They thus utilize the watering of the corn, and as soon as 
 this crop is gathered it sufSces to give one watering to the former before cutting, which is done 
 fifty or sixty days after sowing. They use about 90 liters of seed per hectare. As to the winter 
 clover, in the basins they sow it without working, in the inundation lands, in the month of Novem- 
 ber, at the rate of 100 and UO liters of grain per hectare. They roll the soil with a trunk of a 
 palm tree, and make the first cutting at the end of fortyjor forty-five days ; the second thirty days 
 after that. In the portions where they wish to harvest the seed they only make one cutting. 
 
 In Lower Egypt the winter clover is sown about the same time, or in November, after one 
 working and one rolling, and one division of the land into squares by small dikes. They use 110 
 liters of seed per hectare. They generally make three cuttings ; the first sixty days after sowing, 
 the second thirty days after that. The harvest remains then in the ground about four and one- 
 
lEEIGATIOI^ IN EGYPT. 87 
 
 half months. Sometimes they only make two cuttings. Finally, very frequently the different 
 cuttings are eaten, while still growing in the fields, by the cattle. 
 
 It is seldom in Egypt that they give green forage to animals more than two to two and one- 
 half months in winter, and it is estimated that ten oxen consume nearly a hectare of green clover. 
 The cattle contribute at the same time to enrich the land on which they pasture ; but the greater 
 part of the manure is collected to be dried and made into fuel. 
 
 A crop of clover requires on an average eight waterings, or almost one every fifteen days. 
 
 In the region of the rice fields clover is sown immediately after the harvesting of the rice, or 
 about the end of November, without any other preparation of the soil than covering it with a few 
 centimeters of water for two or three days. 
 
 Vetches and peas are cultivated everywhere in Upper Egypt. They reap this fodder at the 
 end of sixty days, to be feed green. 
 
 The Greek fennel, or helve, is a foreign plant, whose grain is edible. It is a species kindred 
 to the melilots. It is cultivated like clover. They pull it sixty or seventy days after sowing. 
 
 Beans. — The bean is one of the plants which prosper best in Egypt; it is also very extensive 
 here. It is a winter crop. 
 
 In the basins they sow it on the inundated lands at the beginning of November without work- 
 ing. The harvest is made in February, or at the end of three months and a half. The quantity 
 of seed used is from 3 to 4 hectoliters per hectare. 
 
 In Lower Egypt beans are also sown in November, after the flood, at the rate of 3 hectoliters 
 to the hectare. They give one working to the land before sowing. The seed is most generally 
 placed in furrows ; they then level the ground and divide it into squares by small dikes. Two or 
 three waterings in all sufdce for a crop of beans. 
 
 The bean is cultivated as food for man and animals. 
 
 The product of a hectare of beans is very variable ; it may go as high as 20 or even 25 hec- 
 toliters of beans in good lands, but on an average it will not amount to more than 11 hectoliters. 
 
 The average price is 11.50 francs a hectoliter. A hectare of beans affords besides about 80 
 kilograms of straw per hectare, at 75 centimes a hundred kilograms. 
 
 The gross product of a hectare of beans is then 123 francs. 
 
 Lentils, cMclcpeas, loupins. — Lentils, chick peas, and loupins are cultivated during the winter, 
 lentils in much greater abundance than the other two plants. 
 
 The time and method differ little from those which have just been mentioned for the cijlture 
 of beans. ^ * 
 
 Lentils remain in the ground about four months, loupins five, and chickpeas seven months. 
 
 They use from 100 to 200 liters of seed per hectare, according to the nature of the soil. 
 
 The product of a hectare may be as high as 25 or 26 hectoliters in good land, but the average 
 for Egypt is much lower for lentils. In Upper Egypt it is seldom more than 12 to 13 hectoliters 
 per hectare. 
 
 The price of a hectoliter of lentils is on an average 10.80 francs. 
 
 Cotton. — Cotton has become since the war of secession in the United States one of the prin- 
 cipal crops of Egypt, but the time has passed when the high price of this product enriched the 
 country. It is the most important of the summer crops. It is hardly made except in Lower 
 Egypt ; however, it is beginning to be developed in the province of Beni-Souef, to the north of 
 the region irrigated by the Ibrahimieh canal. It is a costly crop, because the time at which it 
 demands the most water is exactly that when the water is lowest in the canals and when the 
 drought is the greatest. 
 
 Cotton is sown about the month of April and it is picked about the month of November. The 
 kinds cultivated in Egypt are generally of miort and fine fiber. 
 
 The land is prepared by three or four workings; then the clods are broken up; they then 
 make furrows in which are placed the seed, at the rate of 75 litres per hectare ; then they divide 
 the ground into squares by small dikes and lay out the ditches for water. 
 
 Cotton requires eight or ten waterings, or one every fifteen days. 
 
 Some days after the new plants have sprouted they clear it out by a second tilling, then four 
 times at least they cut out the bad plants. 
 
88 lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 The picking is done as the bolls mature. The cotton which is thus obtained is placed in sacks 
 and carried to the gin. Here the fibers are separated from the hulls. For this it is only necessary 
 to place the cotton before two parallel cylinders moving in opposite directions and near enough to 
 draw the fiber without allowing the seed to pass. 
 
 The cotton thus obtained is then made into bales and sent to the sea-port, where it is com- 
 preaseli in the hydraulic press before loading on the vessel. 
 
 As for the cotton seed, that serves for sowing the second year or is sold to be made into oil. 
 
 Finally, the stalks of the cotton plant are used for fuel for steam-engines. 
 
 In the first years of the culture of cotton in Egypt they calculated upon a return of 600 to 700 
 kilograms per hectare, and they still obtain this in the best lands, or in thosi lands which have 
 not been weakened by summer crops. But, either because the seed is no longer of good quality or 
 the manure given to the ground is not sufficient, the return from cotton is much less to day than 
 the above indicated amount. This plant besides has to struggle against two enemies which create 
 great ravages. In the first place, the fogs which often rise in the morning, during the months of 
 September and October, prevent the cotton from maturing ; and in the second place, a peculiar 
 caterpillar, which destroys the entire crop and against-which they have strived almost in vain to 
 protect themselves up to the present. 
 
 They can calculate on a mean product of not more than 30a kilograms of ginned cotton per 
 hectare. The crop of 1886 gave 370 kilograms per hectare. 
 
 The mean selling price for late years has been 154 francs per hundred kilograms, but this price 
 tends to fall more and more. 
 
 A hectare produces on an average 10 hectoliters of cotton seed, which is sold at the rate of 9 
 francs a hectolitre. Finally, it produces 300 kilograms of stalks per 100 kilograms of cotton. These 
 stalks are worth 54 centimes per 100 kilograms. 
 
 Thus the gross product of one hectare sown in cotton is: 
 
 Francs. 
 
 300 kilograms of cotton, at 154 francs a hundred kilograms 462. 00 
 
 10 hectoliters of seed, at 9 francs a hectoliter 90.00 
 
 900 kilograms of stalks, at 54 centimes a hundred kilograms 4. 86 
 
 Total 556.86 
 
 Various crops. — The plants of which we have just spoken are those whose culture is the most ex. 
 tended throughout Egypt, but there are besides others whose production has not been of much 
 importance up to the present. They are principally : * 
 
 For textiles, flax, which is sown in December and harvested in April ; and hemp, which is a 
 summer crop. 
 
 For oleaginous plants, lettuce and sesame. 
 
 As dye plants, indigo and carthamus, whose flower is used for the dye and the seed for the 
 manufacture of oil. 
 
 Finally, tobacco, which is cultivated generally in the autumn after the fall of the water. 
 
 II. Management of the Lanb. 
 
 The rotation in the inundation basins is very simple, the land here only bearing one crop a 
 year. They alternate most frequently a crop of wheat with a crop of beans or lentils, or with clover. 
 They sometimes make two crops of wheat in succession, and sow only in the third year barley and 
 the forage plants, such as lentils, beans, vetches, clover, etc. Finally in other regions they alter- 
 nate wheat and barley with forage plants. In the interior basins, in the low lands easily watered, 
 or on the banks of inundation basins, they alteruatetftrops of sugar-cane and Indian corn in the 
 spring-time, but ordinarily they do not cultivate these crops two years in succession on thesame 
 grounds. These crops disappear before the flood, and the winter crop succeeds them. 
 
 In the elevated portion of the region of the basins, which are not inundated, as along the Nile 
 banks, they apply, in the large properties, rotations which are used for the lands where irrigation 
 is regularly practiced, and they water them by steam. But for small farmers the culture of cotton 
 and the sugar-cane is too costly and too difficult in this part of Egypt, on account of the great 
 
lEEIGATION IN EGYPT. 89 
 
 height to which the water is to be elevated; therefore, they are content to water only the land which 
 borders the river, and they here alternate dourah in the spring and in the autumn with winter 
 crops. 
 
 In the region of irrigation for example, in Lower Egypt and especially where the land receives 
 water during the whole year, the alternation of crops almost entirely adopted is a triennial alter- 
 nation, comprising for the first year the summer crop, the second year a winter crop, and the third 
 year a winter crop, to which succeeds an autumn crop. Thus for the good lands of Lower Egypt 
 they apply the rotation of crops as follows : 
 
 The first year, cotton. 
 
 The second year, half beans, a quarter clover, and the remaining quarter in the different winter 
 crops. • 
 
 Third year, wheat during winter, then, at the moment of the flood, corn and dourah, with one 
 cutting of clover after the dourah. 
 
 In 1883, for an area of 46,000 hectares, situated for the greater part in Lower Egypt, the 
 administration of the domain of the Egyptian state made a double crop on 7,000 hectares ; they 
 then in reality cultivated this year 53,000 hectares. Upon this whole area a proportion of 67 per 
 cent, was cultivated in winter crops and 31.70 per cent, in summer crops. 
 
 Thus the product of the summer crops require about one- third of the cultivated surface. 
 
 In 1886, according to official statistics, 346,967 hectares were planted in cotton in the whole of 
 Lower Egypt; this corresponds to 30.15 per cent, of the total cultivated surface of this region. 
 The lowest proportion was in the province of Galoubieh, where it only reached 19.79 per cent. 
 This inferiority to the other provinces obtained for Galoubieh because the land here is too high, 
 and because the elevation of water during low water is too costly, and for the province of Behera 
 on account of the water supply in this province. 
 
 As to the winter crops, we may have an idea of their distribution in Lower Egypt from the 
 figures given below for the harvest made during the winter of 1884-'85 in the provinces of the 
 Delta proper, Menoufieh and Garbieh, and taken from statistics collected by the inspector of the 
 irrigation of this region : 
 
 Hectares. , 
 
 Flax 638 
 
 Vegetables 2,708 
 
 Wheat 136,105 
 
 Barley 72,658 
 
 Beans 47,838 
 
 Clover 79,811 
 
 Total area in winter crops 339,758 
 
 The total cultivable area being 500,000 hectares, it is seen that the whole of the winter crops 
 occupy 68 per cent, of this area. 
 
 In the region of the Ibrahimieh or Eamadi canal, that is to say, the irrigable parts of Upper 
 Egypt, where the cultivation of sugar-cane is very extensive, the ordinary rotation of crops on the 
 five years rotation is thus arranged : First year, the preparation of the soil ; second year, sugar- 
 cane; third year, second crop of sugarcane; fourth and fifth years, winter crops, either wheat, 
 beans, or clover, for the greater part. 
 
 In the same places, in irrigated ground where sugar-cane can not be cultivated, the regimen is 
 biennial, wheat and beans alternating for the most part ; in certain portions of Upper Egypt len- 
 tils and chick-peas partly replace beans. In every case they reserve each year the area necessary 
 for the cultivation of clover intended for forage for the animals. 
 
 The Daira Sanieh, which owns 94,000 hectares in the provinces of Upper Egypt, where sugar- 
 cane can be cultivated, raises it annually on 13,000 hectares, about an area equal to 14 per cent, of 
 the total area. 
 
 In the northern portion of thei Delta, where rice is cultivated, the rotation varies according to 
 the quality of the soil. 
 
 Upon bad lands and those inpregnated with salt they cultivate rice every year, this crop being 
 considered as a betterment, and the abundance of water it requires produces from time to time a 
 very effective washing of the soil. 
 
90 lEKIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 When the lands are poor they cultivate rice one year, and the next year, in winter, they plaat 
 wheat, barley, or clover. 
 
 Finally, when the lands are of good quality, they raise rice the first year, the two following 
 years a summer crop, that is to say, cotton and one winter crop, with an intermediate crop of 
 dourah in autumn, with a rotation every three years similar to that which is mentioned as generally 
 employed in Lower Egypt; the fourth year they return to the rice crop. The summer crops are 
 made either the second or third year. 
 
 III. Pbrtilizebs. 
 
 The water and mud of the Nile are almost the only fertilizers which the soil of Egypt receives. 
 The farmer adds, in fact, few fertilizers, and it may be stated that if he employed them in greater 
 quantities he would increase notably the product of the soil and the quality of the product. 
 
 Thus in the parts of the basins where they make only winter crops after the inundation it may 
 be said that the use of fertilizers is. unknown. The only manure which is given to the ground con- 
 sists of the droppings of the animals which graze in the clover fields. 
 
 However, on all the lands where they cultivate dourah, and especially on those where the sum- 
 mer crops are made, they spread a little fertilizer, but the quantity is generally too small, and the 
 practice of manuring the land is not sufficiently developed in this country to well indicate the pro- 
 portion of different materials which produce the best results for the crops. 
 
 The fertilizers which are most used in Egypt are the manure of the farms, pigeon manure, and 
 the dust procured from the ruins of old cities. 
 
 The farm manures are not abundant, on account of lack of pasturage during the greater part of 
 the year and on account of the necessity which this lack imposes on the farmer of restricting as 
 much as possible the number of animals which he raises. 
 
 The pigeon manure is provided by the great number of pigeons which are in the country. The 
 active principals which it contains are nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and phosphate of lime. Accord- 
 ing to analyses which have been made at Paris by M. Gastinei Bey, under the direction of Pay en, 100 
 grams of this pigeon manure contain : 
 
 Grams. 
 
 Nitrogen 3.93 
 
 Pbosphoiic acid ■ 1.67 
 
 Phosphate of lime 3.63 
 
 The numerous mounds which the traveler sees in passing through Egypt, and which mark the 
 places of ancient cities and villages, furnish two kinds of fertilizers : in the first place, the salt- 
 peter materials, which hold as high as 6.50 grams of nitrogen and potash, and in the second place 
 a kind of earthy fertilizer which contains in 100 grams of material, according to the analyses of 
 M. Gastinei Bey, about — 
 
 Grams. 
 
 Nitrogen 0.88 
 
 Phosphoric acid 1.27 
 
 Phosphate of lime , 2.25 
 
 Potash and soda 2.25 
 
 These products, provided by the detritus accumulated by time and atmospheric influences in 
 the ruins of old cities, are carried to the fields in a pulverulent condition, which facilitates the 
 assimilation of their active properties. In the mounds from which they are extracted they are 
 mixed with the debris of stone and bricks. The peasants before taking them away are careful 
 to screen them. They then leave the large materials, only taking the fine dust, which they load 
 into large boxes, upon the backs of donkeys or camels, and then spread over the lands. 
 
 Besides the fertilizers which have just been mentioned, farmers employ the ashes of certain 
 plants. They use also, in addition, the mud which is taken from the bed of the canals during 
 dredging. 
 
 IV. Method op Farming the Land. 
 
 The method of farming the land varies entirely according to the importance of the property. 
 As in all agricultural countries, the small proprietor cultivates his fields himself. For estates 
 a little more extensive an association is formed between the proprietor and the peasant, the latter 
 
IBEIGATION IN EGYPT. 91 
 
 reserving to himself a part of the product. Finally the large proprietor pays the farm laborers 
 their wages in money and sometimes in kind, or he simply confines himself to leasing his lands. 
 
 In Egypt the large proprietor generally farms at his own expense. Nevertheless the great 
 administrations of the state, which own a considerable portion of the Egyptian territory, such as 
 the domains of the state and of the Daira Sanieh, have a tendency, more or less, to lease their 
 lands. 
 
 The proprietor who farms his lands himself generally has his farm managed by an intendant, 
 having under his orders many agents to conduct the labor in the fields. 
 
 With this arrangement the fellahs or peasants who work the land receive wages in money and 
 wages in kind. The price of a day's work is generally 52 centimes for a man, 39 centimes for chil- 
 dren. The remuneration in kind consists in one-fourth of the autumn crop — that is to say, of corn 
 or of dourah, the fellah making this crop without money wages. Besides, one-half a hectare of laud 
 is allowed to each father of a family to cultivate clover to feed his animals. But they hold back 
 from his wages in money a sum equal in value to the tax on this half hectare. The proprietor irri- 
 gates his lands with elevating-jnachines and compensates himself for this expense by utilizing the 
 manure of the animals to fertilize in part his crop of dourah. 
 
 The proprietor whose domain is less considerable, and who does not possess sufficient resources 
 to work it himself, joins with the fellah. In this case the proprietor assumes as his share of expense 
 the cost of irrigation, the seed, animals, and farming utensils. The fellah only furnishes the man- 
 ual labor up to the complete maturity of the crops. For his labor the tellah receives a fifth of the 
 summer crop, cotton and vegetables, and a fourth of the crop of corn. He has no share in the win- 
 ter crops. A half hectare of land is also allowed to each father of a family for the cultivation of 
 clover. The picking of the cotton, reaping and winnowing of the winter crops, and the storing of 
 these crops are at the expense of the proprietor. The cutting of the cotton stalks is not paid for. 
 
 Sometimes the fellah is only entitled to one-sixth of the winter crop and summer crop, not in- 
 cluding clover, and one-fourth of the corn crop. When he furnishes the manure for this latter crop, 
 and the seed, and when he works it with his own animals, he is ei^titled to one-half the crop. 
 Finally, when he stands all the expense of cultivation and pays one-half the tax, he is entitled to 
 one-half of all the crops. 
 
 But the arrangement which is most common is that in which the fellah takes one-fifth of the 
 summer crops and one-fourth the autumn crops. 
 
 The most numerous class of farmers always is that of the small proprietors, who cultivate their 
 fields with their wives and children. 
 
 In the contracts which are made by the administration of the domains of the state the length 
 of the lease is fixed generally at three years, with the condition of only making on the same land 
 a single summer crop during this period. Sometimes special leases are made for a single autumn 
 crop. In the latter case the fertilizing is at the expense of the renter. 
 
 In Upper Egypt the Daira Sanieh also makes many leases for the cultivation of cereals only. 
 The length of the lease is one year. For sugar-cane alone it is three years; for sugar cane and 
 cereals together it is six years. 
 
 The renters sell to the sugar-houses of the Daira Sanieh their sugar-cane at an agreed price. 
 
 The Daira most frequently assumes the expense of the labor as far as it concerns the planting 
 of the sugar-cane, rarely for cereals. 
 
 In a contract for the cultivation of cereals they exclude every summer and autumn crop. In 
 a contract for leasing, which comprises planting of sugar-cane, they forbid every other summer 
 
 crop. 
 
 The mean price for the annual lease of land rented by the domains of the state in Lower Egypt 
 is about 100 francs a hectare. But these rates are very variable ; it is often made higher. In the 
 low regions of the north of the Delta it seldom exceeds 20 francs a hectare. 
 
 In Upper Egypt the irrigated lands are always rented at variable prices, which may vary on 
 an average from 200 francs a hectare for the cultivation of sugar-cane to 125 francs for the cereals. 
 
 In the basins the price for renting land seldom exceeds 90 francs. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 BENEFITS RESULTING FROM IRRIGATION 
 
 In a country like Egypt, ■which produces nothing without watering, it is not possible to esti- 
 mate the benefit derived from irrigation as could be done in a region enjoying a temperate climate, 
 where the rains are sufficient to afford the earth a certain fertility and where the establishment of 
 canals is solely for the purpose of increasing the production and counteracting by constant distri- 
 bution of water the hurtful effects produced on the crops by irregular atmospheric phenomena. 
 
 In Egypt, wherever the water of the Nile does not penetrate naturally or artificially, no culti- 
 vation is possible. The water of irrigation gives to the soil here almost its entire value, and it 
 may be said, in a general way, that the value of the fields here depends upon the facility with 
 which they may receive irrigation water. 
 
 Thus in the basins the lands which only receive the water of inundation can only raise winter ' 
 crops; they are therefore of a quality inferior to the lands of the basins themselves, which by their 
 positions in low points or along the canals can produce besides a crop of corn. The lands situ- 
 ated on the banks of the Nile or upon the borders of the canals, which have water the whole year, 
 have also a value greater than these last. And, finally, the best properties are those which always 
 have water at the level of the soil, that is, when they can easily shed the drainage water. 
 
 It is quite probable that the ancient Egyptians were not satisfied with making crops by sub- 
 mersion, and that they also practiced irrigation over a notable portion of their property. In every 
 case, whatever may have been the vicissitudes through which the art of watering has passed in 
 this country, from the most remote up to our own times, the first step in the march of progress has 
 been to regulate the waters of the flood under conditions permitting their equitable distribution 
 over the whole country, and allowing them to remain in the basins as long as the requirements of 
 agriculture call for. The second step was accomplished, where inundation did not reach, by canals 
 distributing the whole year, the water of irrigation. The third amelioration was obtained at all 
 points where by raising the level of the water it is possible to reduce or abolish the use of elevatting- 
 machines without compromising the fertility of the soil by infiltration. 
 
 It being a fact that the corvie has contributed in great part to the execution of all the impor- 
 tant works of irrigation, it is impossible to estimate the cost of these works and to compare the 
 advantages which the country derives from them with the amounts expended. It is nevertheless 
 interesting, in spite of this, to endeavor to enumerate the benefits which have resulted to such and 
 such a region from the construction of certain works, without occupying ourselves with the pecu- 
 niary sacrifices that have been made for the establishment of these works. 
 
 Unfortunately, the lack of statistical. and official documents in Egypt renders this quite diffi- 
 cult, and it does not allow the results obtained to be presented in a very precise manner. 
 
 One of the greatest transformations which this country has undergone during the last fifty 
 years has been the substitution of irrigation in the whole of Lower Egypt and in a considerable 
 part of Upper Egypt for the system of watering by inundation. This is the principal modification 
 in agricultural methods which has afforded Egypt that very remarkable prosperity which has 
 existed for the last few years, and which would exist doubtless still if it had not been the signal 
 for the ruinaitiou and waste of the finances of the state. Irrigation has in fact alone rendered pos- 
 
 I 93 
 
94 IRRIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 sible the extensive cultivation of the sugar-cane of UTpper Egypt and cotton in Lower Egypt, and 
 this latter industry, during the war of secession of the United States of America, at the time when 
 the value of cotton was very high, was found so much developed iu the Delta that the country 
 was able to profit largely from the increase in price and to increase notably its wealth. 
 
 The extension of summer cultivation in Upper Egypt is due to two causes : — on the one hand, 
 to the advantages which the introduction of steam pumps for irrigation has given to large farms, 
 and, on the other hand, to the creation of canals with permanent discharges. 
 
 It is also due to the installation of powerful steam elevating-machines that we have been able 
 to undertake the regular cultivation of sugar-cane in a part of the province of Esneh, where now 
 there are magnificent sugar factories belonging to the Daira Sanieh, and in certain parts of the 
 province of Guirgueh, especially at Farchout, where the large proprietors also raise this product 
 and have built an important- factory. In this last place, according to the memoir of Girard, pub- 
 lished in the work of the French expedition in Egypt, the cultivation of cane already existed at 
 the beginuing of this century, but not more than 3 hectares out of 50 were devoted to it. 
 
 In the provinces of Siout, Minieh, and BeniSouef it is also the employment of steam-engines 
 which has contributed to develop the cultivation of sugar-cane; but it is especially the creation 
 of the grand Ibrahimieh canal which has given it all its scope. 
 
 We have seen that the normal discharge of the Ibrahimieh at low water is 33 cubic ra,eters, and 
 that this quantity of water suffices to make summer crops on 42,000 hectares. If all this area 
 were cultivated in sugar-cane, with the five-year rotation adopted by the Daira Sanieb, these 
 42,000 hectares would correspond to a total cultivated surface of 105,000 hectares, affording an- 
 nually 42,000 hectares of sugar-cane, 42,000 hectares of winter products (wheat, beans, clover, etc.), 
 the other 21,000 hectares being left at rest. They could make thus 84,000 hectares of crop with- 
 out counting the crops of autumn corn, which are much more developed to-day than was possible 
 before the construction of the canal, and which may be estimated at one-fifth the total surface. Now, 
 with the cultivation by basins, these 105,000 hectares were annually planted in winter crops, and 
 did not produce summer crops except at certain points exceptionally situated. Winter cultivation 
 is a little more costly by irrigation than by inundation on account of the expense of watering, which 
 is done away with in the latter case, and the expense of labor which is diminished ; but the dif- 
 ference is not so very considerable and it does not exceed 4 or 5 per cent, in the real expense of 
 cultivation. 
 
 The cost of leasing lands, which in the basins hardly exceeds 90 francs per hectare, may in 
 the irrigated lands be considered as 200 francs per hectare for the cultivation of cane, 125 francs 
 for the cereals, and 130 francs for corn. The total increaseof revenue which the Ibrahimieh can pro- 
 duce, supposing the cultivation of cane to be as extensive as possible, can then be calculated as 
 follows : 
 
 The present price of leasing would be — 
 
 Francs. 
 
 42,000 hectares of cane at 300 francs 8,400,000 
 
 42,000 hectares of cereals at 125 francs 5,250,000 
 
 21,000 hectares of corn at 130 francs 2,730,000 
 
 Total 16,380,000 
 
 While formerly it would have been 105,000 by 90, or 9,450,000 
 
 Or a difference of 6,930,000 
 
 which divided among the 105,000 hectares gives an additional value of 66 francs per hectare. Now, 
 as the net revenue of the basin lands does not exceeds 100 francs, counting the expense of culti- 
 vation and the general expenses of a large farm, and not including the taxes, it is seen that the 
 Ibrahimieh canal has been able to increase by 66 per cent, the net revenue of the lands which it 
 waters. 
 
 But it is not always so; the summer crops, for different reasons, are not so extensive as is 
 assumed in the above calculations ; thus on the 77,000 hectares, which the Daira Sanieh possesses 
 in the region of the Ibrahimieh, there are now cultivated annually, in sugar-cane, hardly more than 
 10,000 or 12,000 hectares, or about 16 per cent, instead of 40 per cent. This condition of affairs is 
 
lEEIGATION m EGYPT. 95 
 
 either because certain irrigated lands are not always sufficiently near the factories; or because of the 
 difficulties of the system of distribution, or because some regions, not having water-shed for 
 the drainage, are rendered salt and have become unfit for cultivating sugar cane. 
 
 Although the Ibrahimieh canal has thus increased the wealth of the properties which it crosses, 
 it has on the contrary caused certain damages to the inundation basins situated in the vicinity by 
 cutting off their communication with the Nile, and forcing them to receive only the settled water 
 from the upper basins. A few kilometers of canal, or syphons under the Ibrahimieh canal, will 
 again permit of the bringing of the muddy water into these basins, and it is estimated that these 
 works would increase here annually the revenues of the lands by one-fourth, or at least one-fifth. 
 
 In the whole of Lower Egypt, in consequence of the suppression of inundation basins, culti- 
 vation has undergone a modification not less complete than what has just been mentioned for cer- 
 tain parts of Upper Egypt. At the commencement of this century there were in the Delta 
 two kinds of crops — those of summer and those of winter. But those of summer could only be 
 made on the banks of the Mle or its branches, or on a few trunks of canals with permanent dis- 
 charges; and besides, for winter crops, since the height of inundation water and the duration of 
 its stand on the land is not sufficient to give a sufficient amount of humidity to the soil, they were 
 obliged to supplement it here by means of artificial waterings. These winter crops in the Delta were 
 then common and needed for maturing, inundation and irrigation. 
 
 According to Girard, of the French expedition, the management of 100 hectares of good land 
 well situated in the Delta was formerly arranged in the following manner : 
 
 Hectares. 
 
 Clover 25 
 
 Wheat 30 
 
 Barley 10 
 
 Wheat and barley mixed 35 
 
 Total...-. , 100 
 
 Of these 100 hectares, one-fourth received summer crops and autumn crops as follows : 
 
 Hectares. 
 
 Corn 13 
 
 Sesame s 6 
 
 Cotton 6 
 
 Total 25 
 
 At present, as has been said in the preceding chapter, 100 hectares of land in the Delta may 
 be arranged as follows : 
 
 Hectares. 
 
 Corn, one cutting of clover, and cotton 33 
 
 Wheat T 33 
 
 Beans 17 ) „. 
 
 34 
 
 17) 
 
 17) 
 
 Clover (half of which was leased to the peasant) 
 
 Total 100 
 
 The proportion of summer crops, therefore, is now considerably increased. 
 
 For the ordinary lands of Lower Egypt, where there is no watering by machines except for 
 two months of the year, below is given the manner in which the present net proceeds of the land 
 may be estimated, cultivated according to the rotation indicated above, and in the case of large 
 proprieties farmed directly by the proprietors : 
 
 Expense for an area of 100 hectares. 
 
 Francs. 
 
 1. Seed 2,900 
 
 2. Superintendence 2,000 
 
 S. Expense of irrigating by machine for two months 1, 100 
 
 4. Feeding of stock during summer at the rate of two head per hectare . . 1, 900 
 
 5. Pay of workmen for sowing, harvesting, thrashing, etc 5, 200 
 
 6. General and contingent expenses 2,500 
 
 Total expense (without including taxes) 15,600 
 
96 lEEIGATlON IN EGYPT. 
 
 Meceiptafrom an area of 100 heotarea. 
 
 Francs. 
 
 1. Crop of doura on 33 heotars ; gross product of 33 hectares at 104 francs 3, 432 
 
 Deduct for the expense of cultivation paid in kind and for housing the crop 
 
 (about one-fourth) 852 
 
 Remainder 2,580 
 
 2. Clover cultivated after doura, 33 hectares at 90 francs 2, 580 
 
 3. Crop of cotton, not including the cost of ginning, 33 hectares at 550 francs 18, 150 
 
 4. Crop of wheat, 33 hectares at 196 francs 6,468 
 
 5. Beans, 17 hectares at 133 francs 2,261 
 
 6. Clover^ 4 hectares fed to stock I 540 
 
 I 4 hectares for seed and straw, at 160 francs ' 
 
 Eented to the peasant 8.50 hectares at 100, equal to the tax 850 
 
 Total receipts 33,919 
 
 Then we have for the 100 hectares thus cultivated, receipts 33, 919 
 
 Expenses -- 15,600 
 
 Difference 18,319 
 
 which represents about a net product of 138 francs per hectare, not counting the payment of taxes. 
 
 To compare this revenue with what the land in the Delta could give, if the method of basins 
 yet existed there, let us suppose the property under such favorable conditions that it could be 
 arianged with one eighth of its area for summer crops ; this is evidently a better condition than 
 that averaged at the beginning of this century, but which is, nevertheless, given in the works of 
 the French expedition in Egypt as a normal arrangement. 
 
 If the crops made on this property are the same as those which have been considered in the 
 preceding examples, we would have for the 100 hectares, 13 hectares of corn, doura, and cotton, 
 53 hectares of wheat, and 33 hectares of beans and clover ; this would give then as follows, the 
 expense of 100 hectares : 
 
 Franca. 
 
 1. Seed 2,600 
 
 2. Superintendence , 2,000 
 
 3. Irrigation by machine during at least two mouths for the summer crops and for 
 doura 800 
 
 4. Feeding the stock duringthe summer 1,900 
 
 5. Pay to laborers, etc 1 3,000 
 
 6. General expenses 2, 500 
 
 Total expense 12 goo 
 
 As to the average receipts, they would be as follows : 
 
 1. Doura, 13 hectares at 78 francs 1 014 
 
 2. Clover, 13 hectares at 90 francs 1 170 
 
 3. Cotton, ] 3 hectares at 550 francs 7 150 
 
 4. Wheat, 53 hectares at 196 francs 10 3^8 
 
 5. and 6. Beans and clover on 34 hectares as in the preceding example 3 751 
 
 Total receipts (not including taxes) 33 473 
 
 Thus the total receipts would be ^ 23 473 
 
 The expenses 12 gQQ 
 
 The difference 10 §73 
 
 We would then have a net produce per hectare of about 107 francs. 
 
 By the substitution of the irrigation system for the basin system, the net revenue per hectare 
 is then raised to 183 francs ; this is an increase of 70 per cent, over the results given by the ancient 
 
IRKIGATIOlfr m EGYPT. 97 
 
 method of watering and of cultivation. On the lands upon which it was not possible formerly to 
 make summer crops, and which also could not receive inundation water every year, the benefits 
 derived from the permanent supply of the canals are much more considerable; they would be still 
 greater throughout the whole of Lower Egypt if the farmer would determine to refresh the soil 
 from time to time by the judicious employment of fertilizers. 
 
 The considerations developed in the preceding ciiapter on the subject of dredging and dis- 
 charge of the principal canals have already shown of what importance to the prosperity of the 
 country is the attention given to the repair of the canals and works of skill, and how much trouble 
 and continuous attention these repairs require in consequence of the want of consistence of 
 the soil and the quantity of mud held in suspension by the water. A few figures will show more 
 clearly the results which can be obtained without creating new works of irrigation by merely 
 maintaining in good conditon those which exist. 
 
 In 1879 the clearing of the canals had been very much neglected in the province of Keneh, 
 where the old system of basins still exists. Although the level of low water was sufficiently high, 
 this year there were 5,800 hectares cultivated in summer crops. In 1881, without any new arrange- 
 ment but the simple labor of dredging, they were able to devote to these crops in the same prov- 
 inces almost 15,000 hectares, although the level of low water was at Assouan 1.79 meters less than 
 in 1879. 
 
 Here is another example not less striking. The quantity of sugar-cane cultivated by the Daira 
 Sanieh is nearly proportional to the quantity of water which it can distribute to the plantations. 
 Now, in 1882, the year in which the late troubles occurred in Egypt, when the low water of the Nile 
 was almost as low as in 1885, the Daira cultivated 11,700 hectares of sugar cane, while this latter 
 year it cultivated 15,700 hectares, or an increase of 34 per cent. This considerable increase of cul- 
 tivation was due almost entirely to the better maintenance of the Ibrahimieh canal, and also to a 
 more judicious distribution of the water of this canal. In the same manner, by giving to the Bahr 
 Youssef, derived from the Ibrahimieh canal, the proportion of water which ought to return to it, 
 and without doing, so to speak, any other work than the maintenance of the Ibrahimieh canal at 
 a normal depth, they were able in 1886 to cultivate in Fayoum ^2.000 hectares in summer crops, 
 while in 1880 they only obtained 6,500, and in 1882 only 13,000. 
 
 These enormous variations in the extent of area given to the different crops show well the 
 changeable value of irrigated lands. The product of these lands may vary in large ratio, not only 
 when the maintenance of the works are neglected, but even from one year to another, so that the 
 engineer shojjld devote more or less attention to the maneuvering of the works and to the clearing 
 out of the canals. 
 
 Agriculture would realize great benefit if it were possible to always give water to the peasant 
 at the same level as the land, so that he would only have to open his inlet to water his fields ; but 
 this is far from being the case everywhere. At present this result is attempted in Lower Egypt, 
 on the one hand by damming the waters of the Nile by the great dam at the point of the Delta, 
 and on the other hand by adopting the proper rules for the regulating works established along 
 these canals. 
 
 The- first important result obtained by a more complete although still temporary use of the 
 dam of the Delta has been to render the cultivation in Lower Egypt, in the provinces profiting 
 by the action of this work, almost independent of the height of low water of the Nile. 
 
 Thus, while it was formerly known that the low stages led in Lower Egypt to a diminution of 
 the product of summer crops equal to 100,000,000 francs, in the year 1884, when tlie low water of 
 the Nile was very low, the crop of cotton in Lower Egypt was estimated at 20,000 tons mort^ than 
 in 1879, the year when it was greatest up to this time, and when the low water at Assouan was 
 1.39 meters higher than the low water in 1884. Nevertheless, the effect of the dam does iidt extend 
 today over more than 700,000 hectares, 500,000 hectares in the Delta proper and 200,000 hectares 
 in the provinces of the east. 
 
 This difference of 20,000 tons, representing a value of 30,000,000 francs, was due mostly to the 
 fact that the'dam of the Nile furnished water to Lower Egypt in 1884 at a level almost 1 meter 
 higher than had been previously obtained in the average year. 
 H. Mis. 134 7 
 
98 IBJRIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 lu 1885, when the level of the pool of the dam was still farther increased by nearly 1 meter, 
 the area planted in cotton in Lower Egypt was still greater, but the cotton-worm and fogs caused 
 such ravages to the crops that the production was lower than that of 1879. 
 
 The raising of the Nile by the dam has also allowed the suppression of numerous steam-pumps, 
 and thus saved to the farmer considerable expenditure. 
 
 The few facts mentioned above show how valuable are the improvements gradually being made 
 in the system of irrigation in Egypt, and how important it is for this country to pursue unremit- 
 tingly the placing of these improvements in working order, that they may be able to obtain from 
 the land with economy all the profit of which it is capable and which is expected of it. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 IRRIGATION OF EGYPT CONSIDERED IN REFERENCE TO LAWS AND REGULATIONS — 
 
 METHOD OF THE LANDED PROPRIETORS. 
 
 It might well be believed that Egypt, renowned for the wisdom of its ancient inhabitants and 
 the antiquity of its irrigation, had preserved in its traditions a complete patrimony of laws and 
 customs relating to the use of the Nile water. However, nothing of the kind exists. Thus one 
 finds in Egypt neither special regulations for the use of the water nor particular jurisdiction for 
 matters relating to irrigation, or penalties provided for offenses in the abuse of the water. The 
 fact is quite astonishing, and deserves notice. Such an omission is, in fact, strange in a country which 
 not only owes its existence to the waters of the Mle, but where Arabian rule has been established 
 for many years, which left in Spain such remarkable specimens of rules and regulations for irri- 
 gation. 
 
 The fact which, as well as the absence of all special legislation, characterizes the system of 
 Egyptian irrigation is the large part which the Government takes in the execution and maintenance 
 of the works and in the distribution of the water. The Government, in fact, has assumed the task 
 of distributing the water of the Nile, not only in the principal canals, but also, we may say, to the 
 heads of the most remote trenches, and it employs, to assure this service, the resources in money 
 or in kind which it obtains in taxes and from the corvSe. 
 
 It is doubtless very natural that it should be the state which fixes the dates of opening and 
 shutting the inundation basins, as well as the discharge of their inlets and works of drainage, 
 according to the variable circumstances of the rising and falling of the Nile ; that it should regulate, 
 according to the regimen of low water, the pool of the great dam of the Delta; that it should 
 distribute amongst the principal arteries, which have their inlets on the river itself, the waters of 
 irrigation ; that it should take the necessary measures for the superintendence and,repair of the 
 great canals and embankments. It is hard to conceive how it could be otherwise ; these are indeed 
 the public services which the government can not delegate to individuals or to associations or 
 proprietors ; the entire country requires that a single individual authority should regulate the 
 general distribution of the water of the river, the only source of wealth of the inhabitants, and 
 protect the cultivated lands from inundation. The action of the Egyptian Government does not 
 stop here ; it ramifies throughout all the secondary branches ; Valmost all the canals, whatever the 
 degree of their importance, are public property and belong to the state; those which are exclusivly 
 under the charge of individuals form a very small portion of the whole, and in practice a very well- 
 defined limit does not always separate these latter from those whose repair and construction are in 
 charge of the Government. J The only peculiarities which now distinguish the different kinds of 
 public canals according to their importance, is that they are constructed and maintained by the 
 corvee, either of many provinces or of a single province, or of a single district or one or more 
 villages, and still this distinction tends to disappear in proportion as the state uses the revenue to 
 free the corvSe and execute for cash the part of the work which falls to the population. 
 
 As to the distribution of the water amongst the different branches of the canals, as well as for 
 the secondary canals, it is entirely in the hands of the Government agents ; they distribute the water 
 as they please, taking account of the condition of the crops and the circumstances which may cause 
 a variation of the distribution ; there are no laws or regulations to give to any particular point a 
 determined portion of the discharge of a canal, or to maintain in it a fixed level for the surface of 
 
 99 
 
100 lEEIGATION IF EGYPT. 
 
 the water. On the other hand, the farmer enjoys the greatest liberty in opening the ditches or 
 making inlets in the banks of the canals, and in abusing the water which flows across his land. 
 No rules exist for regulating the discharge ; no ratio is established between the surface cultivated 
 and the dimensions of the works of inlets. Under these conditions the large proprietors have 
 evidently great facility for monopolizing the water for their own profit to the detriment of the small 
 farmer. 
 
 It can be seen under such a regimen, as arbitrary on the part of the Government, as irregular on "^ 
 the part of individuals, how difficult it is to avoid waste, and how defective is the distribution of / 
 the water. Certain canals too full inundate the low lands ; in others, on the contrary, an insufficient V 
 supply does not allow all the riparian' lands to be cultivated. The only right which proprietors / 
 have who are subject to damages of this nature is to appeal to the authorities, and if from one / 
 cause or another satisfaction is not given them, and the land is thus left arid or transformed into I 
 marshes and can not be cultivated, they are entirely or partially relieved from tax. This is the only \ 
 compensation which can be made to farmers ; the Government, recognizing that it has not furnished J 
 the means to cultivate, renounces the taking of the portion of the crop which belongs to it. * 
 
 To resume: on the one hand the Government assumes all authority over irrigation, and on 
 the other the individuals are subjected for the use of the water to uo special regulations. Two 
 principal causes have contributed to create this state of affairs and to develop this kind of com- 
 munism in the utilizing of the beneficent waters of the Nile. One relates to the system of inunda- 
 tion basins, and to the method by which these basins have been transformed into irrigable lands; 
 the other, more general, relates to the method of the landed proprietor himself. 
 
 In a system of basins of inundation individual enterprise is necessarily done away with, and 
 precise regulations for the use of the water by individuals are entirely useless. It is the unity of 
 interests which causes the necessary measures to be taken to bring water and to maintain the 
 level and to drain it afterwards. The proprietor has no special trouble to give himself to. inundate 
 his lands, no trenches to dig, no dikes to raise; he is only obliged to contribute in money, work- 
 men, or his labor to execute the works necessary for submerging the entire basin. When Mehemet 
 Ali, in the first years of this century, commenced to dig irrigation canals in the lands formerly 
 arranged in basins, he only had to aid him in his proposed agricultural revolution a population 
 little enlightened and deprived of individual enterprise, who often saw with regret the abandon- 
 ment ot the traditional method of cultivation in the country. He could not rely on them to dig 
 rapidly the secondary canals, therefore he confided to the Government engineers themselves the 
 direction of the whole of the details and labor, and in order not to compromise the work by the 
 apathy, laziness, or bad will of the peasants, he took, himself, in the name of the Egyptian Govern- 
 ment, measures to carry the irrigation to the very limit of the land of all the proprietors without 
 asking them for any more help than their presence in the corvee charged with the work. After 
 having constructed, itself, in this manner, all the canals necessary, the state was naturally charged 
 with maintaining them. It is thus that, under the name of the government of the province, of the 
 district, or of tlie community, it finds itself at the head of a whole net- work of canals, including 
 also numerous branches of little importance. On the other hand, the systematic substitution of 
 irrigation for the old basins does not date far back, and it is very astonishing that since the 
 beginning of the century laws for the use of water have not been codified. 
 
 But although these considerations explain partly the condition of irrigation in a legal point 
 of view, they should not, however, be regarded as absolutely general causes. There has been, in 
 fact, from all antiquity in this country, and especially in the Delta, portions of the territory which 
 have been irrigated, although we find no traces of a perfected regulation of the watering. It is in 
 the method of the landed proprietor himself that it is necessary to look for the origin of this state 
 of affairs, and on this account it is interesting to enter into a few details of the history and trans- 
 formation of landed property in Egypt. We find very complete information on this subject in an 
 excellent book upon "Landed Property in Egypt," published recently by his excellency Yacoub 
 Artin Pasha, under secretary of state to the Egyptian ministry of public instruction, and it is 
 from this work that the summary remarks which follow are principally taken. 
 
 It seems that from the most remote times landed property had not existed in Egypt in the 
 sense in which we understand the word. Without going beyond the Arabian conquest the Mnssul- 
 
 J 
 
lERIGATION IN EGYPT. 101 
 
 manish historians write that in this epoch " the farmer did not possess property in the soil which 
 belonged to the community and by extension to the sovereign, that is to say, to the state." The 
 commune formed, so to say, the territorial unit; this latter, as a whole, had the usufruct of the 
 land. And in fact the conquerors, who continued to levy taxes " as they had been established by 
 the Greeks," fixed the tribute to be paid by the commune according to the number of inhabitants; 
 and if in the commune the tribute was not paid, they divided the sum among the lands of the com- 
 mune and divided these amongst the inhabitants of each portion in proportion to their means. 
 If at the time of this division quarrels and disputes arose which were impossible to settle, they 
 distributed the lands of the commune in equal portions among all the inhabitants. 
 
 Also at the same time the conquering Arab chiefs created a more complete method of holding 
 the land. Of the land belonging to the Greeks, the last occupants of Egypt, some were given to 
 villages; but others were distributed to a few privileged persons, under the title of proprietor, and 
 exempted from taxes. There was not up to this time anywhere a true proprietor, because although 
 the laud could be transmitted to the heirs of the holders their rights were very little respected by 
 the sovereigns of the country; each of these considered himself always free to dispose of the land 
 and to take it from the actual possessors to give it to his partisans. 
 
 Later, similar property rights were conceded to factors who were charged with collecting taxes 
 in the commune ; but in all cases, whether the lands were exempt from taxes and distributed either 
 for a reward or as an acknowledgement of service rendered, or whether they were conceded as 
 usufruct to the Egyptians and loaded with tribute, it was always the sovereign who remained the 
 true proprietor. 
 
 This system lasted, with some slight modifications, until the beginning of this century, and it 
 may be believed that during this long period of time the communal rule of property, its instability, 
 its insecurity, and especially its character of usufruct, had contributed considerably to the develop- 
 ment of a normal system of irrigation based on the rights and interests of individuals. ^ 
 
 The principal care of the sovereigns of Egypt was, in fact, much more the return of the 
 taxes thau establishing the prosperity of the country on a solid basis by improvingthe distribu- 
 tion of ^ter and by wise legislation. 
 
 It was about 1813 only that Mehemet Ali commenced to enter with vigor into the accomplish- 
 ment of agricultural reform. After having made, with the very imperfect means which he pos- 
 sessed, a general survey of the whole cultivated surface of Egypt, he distributed the lands of the 
 communes to the inhabitants themselves of the villages, so that each cultivator old enough to work 
 had nearly an equal portion. This distribution was made throughout the whole of Egypt, and 
 the portion allotted to each person was from 1.25 to 2 hectares. The chiefs of the villages re- 
 ceived, to recompense them for the service which they rendered to the state and to the commune, 
 a portion exempt from taxes. It is from this division of land that we should trace the original 
 parceling out of the agricultural properties, a parceling which the Mussulmen laws on inheritance 
 only increased. 
 
 The holders of the land distributed in 1813 only had the usufruct, and although the land was 
 inscribed in their names on the survey register it was always the commune which was responsible 
 for the tax, and also, up to a certain point, all the communes were liable in this respect, and the 
 tenant who could not pay his quota was deprived of his fields. Nevertheless the owners of the 
 lands of the villages acquired, little by little, those rights which constitute the true rights of prop- 
 erty ; thus the right of willing wps granted to them in 1846, and the right of inheritance during 
 1854. Besides, in .1858, the lands which had been allotted as exempt from taxes to the chiefs of 
 villages were taken away from them and distributed to the inhabitants, to avoid the abuse of power' 
 and persons which most frequently obliged the unhappy fellah to cultivate this property without 
 remuneration. 
 
 At the same time that by this division of lands among the peasants he was preparing the 
 basis for landed property, Mehemet Ali distributed to individuals uncultivated territory not com- 
 prised in the surveyed lands, and which were exempt from taxes to compensate for the work neces- 
 sary to place them in good condition. In 184^ he granted to the owners of these lands the right 
 of disposing of them as their own property. He contributed thus to extend the cultivated surface 
 
102 IREIGATION IN EGYPT. 
 
 of the country, and added many great domains to those which had been formed by the donations 
 made in the preceding reigns. 
 
 Landed property was not really conceded in a general and definitive manner in Egypt nntil 
 1871. At this epoch the Khedive Ismail Pasha, wishing to make up for lack of funds, granted, 
 amongst other advantages, the absolute ownership of his ground to the possessor who would pay 
 in advance six years' taxes. The law, which did not produce the financial results expected, was 
 abolished, then re-enacted and rendered obligatory, and finally definitely abrogated by the decree 
 of the 6th of January, 1880 ; but this decree, and the law of liquidation which followed, recognized 
 the right of property in the lands which had paid, entirely or in part, the advance tax. Under 
 these conditions almost all the land of Egypt has become land with the full rights of property. 
 
 Thus the right of property is very recent in Egypt. It was not really constituted when 
 Mehemet Ali undertook the execution of his irrigation works, and this is what explains how 
 this great reformer was led to consider the whole country as his vast domain, of which he was him- 
 self proprietor, and how he provided, in the name of the state, for the population of the provinces, 
 districts, and communes, for the construction of canals, great and small, which became by this 
 fact public property. 
 
 Unfortunately the farmer, to obtain the real title of property and to assure these rights, must 
 consent to heavy sacrifices. Each concession which the sovereign makes to him is in consequence 
 of an increase of tax, and the charges which weigh him down are to day so heavy that he can hardly 
 make head against them. Thus the best lands of the villages pay almost as high as 107 francs 
 tax per hectare in Lower Egypt, and 94 francs in Upper Egypt. As to the lands which were 
 originally conceded with exemption from tax, they pay, according to their quality, from 10 to 60 
 francs per hectare in Lower Egypt, and from 10 to 41 francs in Upper Egypt. Besides these taxes 
 in money, the farmer has to furnish the tax in kind for the corvee, and to pay in certain cases 
 special taxes ; thus, for example, the proprietor who uses the waters of the Ibrahimieh canal, dug 
 by the corvSe, pays a tax which amounts inr all to about 850,000 francs for an area which does not 
 exceed 26,000 hectares, deducting the lands of this region which belong to the state. 
 
 Although the Egyptian has purchased at this high price his rights of property in the%oil, and 
 although finally free from the bondage with which he wa« long oppressed, many drawbacks still 
 remain in many parts of the territory to the free exercise of individual enterprise and to proper 
 agricultural development. These obstacles have brought about the notable condition that all the 
 area of Egypt is either farmed by the state itself or transformed into holdings, generally badly 
 administrated. The existence of great quantities of mortmain land obtains in Mussulmen coun- 
 tries, and it is the consequence of religious laws. As to the farming by the state of considerable' 
 domains,-it is obligatory on account of the financial disasters which have attacked Egypt for the 
 last ten years. The Government is obliged, in fact, to appropriate and administer on its own 
 account the great properties which the Khedive Ismail Pasha and the members of his family had 
 acquired and which became pledges in the hands of the creditors of the state. 
 
 The two administrations charged with the farming of these properties are the Daira Sanieh 
 and the administration of the domains of the state. 
 
 The Daira Sanieh has especially in charge the lands of the state situated in Upper Egypt and 
 the large sugar factories which are established in this region. Thus it farms : 
 
 Hectares. 
 
 In the region of Eaneh 20,700 
 
 In the region of the Ibrahimieh canal i 84,500 
 
 In the region of Fayonm 32,200 
 
 In the region of Lower Egypt 74,600 
 
 Total 212,000 
 
 of which 21,000 are uncultivated in Upper Egypt, and 54,000 in Lower Egypt. As to the domains 
 of the state, their property is more especially in Lower Egypt. It comprises : 
 
 Heotarea. 
 
 In Upper Egypt 40,900 
 
 In Lower Egypt ,^ 137,900 
 
 Total 178,000 
 
 Of these, 33,000 are considered as uncultivable. 
 
IKEIGATION IN EGYPT. 103 
 
 Thus one-fifth of Egypt is owned by the state and farmed by it, not counting all the lands 
 called free, more or less cultivated, which belong to it also, and which are sold to any one according 
 to requirements. 
 
 In the situation of the country resulting from this arrangement, with a system of ownership 
 badly established and continually changing, with so great an extent of land in the hands of the 
 princes of the state, with so unlimited an interference by an absolute government in whatever 
 concerns irrigation, it is evident that the practical and rational regulation of watering could not be 
 established up to the present time. 
 
 At present every act of dereliction or dispute relating to irrigation is subject to the ordinary 
 tribunals composed of three courts — summary justice, the tribunal of first hearing, and the court 
 of appeal. In addition, the laws and rules on the subject are most insufficient and incomplete. 
 ^Sypt still lacks a code for irrigation, whose elements do not exist in the new government, and 
 whose need is nevertheless felt more and more urgently in proportion as the ownership is better 
 settled and justice rendered according to the most strict principles. 
 
 It is fifteen years since the Government felt the necessity of creating a special administrative 
 orgattization to regulate everything which concerns irrigation. A law was even promulgated to 
 this effect, called the law concerning agricultural councils and regulating of dikes and canals. It 
 comprised at the same time a law on the duties of the administrators of provinces and of the 
 engineers. The spirit of this law is clearly indicated in the considerations which precede the 
 section, and which are given below: 
 
 It appears proper to the privy council that the agricultural councils should be organized in a permanent manner 
 that these councils should examine the projects of public, communal, and individual works, control expenditures, 
 designate for each commune the number of individuals which execute Ihe works, and that the councils ought to 
 supervise the execution on the spot; that the members of these councils should be chosen by election by the in- 
 habitants of the commune ; that there should be elected one for each arrondissement, and their duties performed in 
 turn; that there should be required of these councils the constant watching and amelioration of agriculture, and 
 the establishment of fundamental rules for the distribution of water, to be followed in the works of drainage or dams, 
 and works intended for a change in level of the canals, ditches, outlets, etc. 
 
 The apparent object of this law was, as may be seen, to obtain a kind of decentralization of 
 the service of irrigation by confiding its direction to the representatives of these councils; the real 
 end was perhaps solely to relieve the treasury of the greater part of the expense of irrigation by 
 causing to be assumed, by those interested, the expense resulting from the decisions made by their 
 representatives assembled in council. 
 
 The idea was good in itself, and it might have been the germ of a complete and fortunate 
 transformation of the system of irrigation if it had beeo formulated in a more practical method, 
 and if the country had been able to comprehend it and to recognize what advantages there would 
 have arisen if the control of irrigation in Egypt were in the hands of the proprietors themselves. 
 In fact, although this law has not been repealed, and although it has been added to the new 
 Egyptian code, to be applied by the courts, most of the articles which it contains have never been 
 placed in force for a single instance; in practice it is a dead letter, the councils of agriculture 
 of the provinces are only convoked to determine the labors incumbent on the corvSe, as has been 
 shown in a preceding chapter, and the agents of the state regulate almost as they choose the 
 works, canals, and the distribution of water. 
 
 It is therefore unnecessary to stop to examine this law for the agricultural councils which has 
 never passed into the domain of application. 
 
 In reality, legislation on irrigation in Egypt comprises only a few articles of the code, some 
 general rules, and some ancient customs, their enumeration will be short. 
 
 Use of water. — The law applicable to individuals comprise the following principal prescriptions 
 referring to irrigation : 
 
 The tribunal of summary justice stands as a last resort up to 260 francs,* and is subject to appeal for amounts 
 above this sum, and, whatever may be the amount of the motion, decides actions for damages to fields, fruits, and 
 crops, either by man or animals, which are connected with the use of water. * • * (A.rt. 26, Code of Procedure.) 
 
 * These sums and the amount of damages are indicated in the tax laws and regulations in piasters and Egyptian 
 pounds. ' 
 
104 lEElGATION IJsr EGYPT. 
 
 The extent of the right of using the water of the canals, constructed by the state, is proportional to the land 
 to be watered, except as it is regulated by the laws, decrees, and rules on the subject. (Art. 32, Civil Code.) , 
 
 Each person must allow, through his own lands, the passage of water necessary to the farthest end of the outlet, 
 on the payment of an indemnity previously determined by the tribunal, which will determine, in case of dispute, the 
 works to be made for the establishment of the passage, in order that it will be as little damaging as possible. 
 
 But the proprietor who waters his land by means of machines or canals can not oblige the lower bottoms to 
 receive his water. (Art. 33 of the Civil Code.) 
 
 The public domain of the state is imprescriptable, indestrainable, and inalienable. The Government only can 
 dispose of it by law or by decree. It comprises the rivws and navigable streams and canals whose maintenance is 
 in charge of the state. (Art. 9 of the Civil Code.) 
 
 Belonging also to the domains of the state are the arrangement of water-courses, public works, and generally all 
 the works carried on by the communal right, attached to the property of the public domains, or resulting from laws 
 or decrees issued with reference to public utility. (Art. 10 of the Civil Code.) 
 
 Whoever, by the rupture of dikes or in any manner whatever, shall have caused malicious inundation, shall be, 
 according to the amount of damage, condemned to penal servitude for a time or for life. (Art. 334 of the Penal Code. ) 
 
 Whoever shall have voluntarily destroyed, overturned, or damaged in any manner whatever, in part or in whole, 
 bridges or dikes belonging to another, shall be condemned to imprisonment from two months to two years and to a 
 fine equal to one-quarter of the repairs. (Art. 306, Penal Code.) 
 
 Whoever shall not conform to an administrative regulation shall be punished by a fine of from 1.30 to 6.50 francs 
 whenever the regulation does not prescribe the punishment for its infraction. (Art. 341, Penal Code.) 
 
 Whoever shall have cut down the public roads or other places designed for public use, or whoever has appro- 
 priated them, shall be fined from 13 to 26 francs and punished with from one to six days' imprisonment. (Art. 343, 
 Penal Code.) 
 
 The code applicable to foreigners residing in Egypt contains almost the same articles. 
 
 Confiscation for public utility. — The state has a right to confiscate private property for works 
 of public utility ; but the procedure of confiscation is not provided for by the Egyptian Govern- 
 ment as to natives, and that which is provided by the code applicable to foreigners is not prac- 
 ticed. In fact these affairs are conducted frequently as follows: 
 
 The declaration of public utility is made without the necessity of proceeding to previous 
 inquiry, by virtue of the decree of the Khedive. The notables, designated by the administrator 
 of the provinces in which the works are executed, meet then and estimate the damage arising. 
 If the interested party accepts the valuation thus made, the state pays him the amount agreed 
 upon; if not, the affair must be carried before the tribunal, but it is seldom that the indemnity to 
 be paid on account of confiscation is not arranged amicably between the commission of notables 
 and the proprietor. 
 
 For the lands which have become the complete property of the possessor by the application 
 of the different laws of property the owner of the confiscated ground is entitled to an indemnity > 
 in kind, or in lands, equivalent to the amount of damage which has been caused. 
 
 As to the lands which, not having paid their advance taxes in pursuance of tjje law of 1871, 
 have remained on the hands of the occupants in usufruct, they are only entitled to a diminution of 
 taxes for the parties whose lands are confiscated. 
 
 Most of the land, at the time of the establishment of the great canals of irrigation and dikes, 
 constructed in the first half of the century, were under this latter regimen. Thus these works 
 have not caused an actual confiscation but a simple diminution of taxes, and even in many points 
 the area occupied by these canals and dikes has not been lightened in taxes, and still regularly 
 pay the tax. 
 
 The law for the territorial property of 1858, modified and published in 1875, provided always, 
 in favor of the tenants who had been deprived by the confiscation of their means of existejice, a 
 reparation for the damage caused more complete than the lessening of the tax. The law, in fact, 
 gave to the Government the right to give to these tenants lands taken from free lands, or lands 
 abandoned by their villages or another neighboring village. 
 
 Regimen of the property which borders the Nile. — There are often on the banks of the Nile, 
 between the protection dikes, low lauds which are sown as the waters fall, and whose cultivable 
 surface varies each year with the level of low water. Every year the cultivated portions of these 
 low lands are measured, and they apply the tax to these according to the area of crops carried. 
 
 The territory thus comprised between the dikes of the Nile is considered as forming a part 
 of <he bed of the river, and is subject to the control of the agents of the ministry of public works, 
 
lEEIGATION m EGYPT. 105 
 
 who have the right here to forbid any dikes, or any construction or establishment of a machiuo 
 capable at any time of obstructing the force of the water and turning the current out of its normal 
 direction. The Egyptian code stipulates only that alluvium brought in large quantities by the 
 river belongs to the riparian owners (Art. 60 of the Civil Code) ; but when the Nile, inconsequence 
 of a change in its course, carries away a portion of high land along its banks and creates in the 
 middle of its bed new islands, it is the law of*territorial property, which has already been men- 
 tioned, which regulates the lands displaced or islands formed in the following manner : 
 
 First. If the movement of the water leads to a loss in the high lands, or in the commune, and 
 when it forms by accretion a bottom connected with the commune subject to loss, although 
 adjoining at the same time to other lands, this bottom shall serve to replace the loss of land, and 
 in case of an insufficiency the portion not replaced will be relieved of the taxes against it. If 
 the bottom exceeds the area of the land lost the case will be subject to adjudication by public 
 auction, to which the inhabitants of the commune connected with the bottom shall be called. If 
 the bottom does not join the commune which has undergone loss, but another commune not 
 damaged, it will be sold at public auction and allotted to the bidder offering the most, and will^ 
 form part of the territorial area of the commune. 
 
 Second, If an island or islet. is formed in the middle of the stream, between the sloughs, and 
 when the current has attacked only one side of the high riparian lands subject to taxes, the 
 ground lost will be relieved from the charges which affect it, according to the amount lost, and 
 the island or islet will be sold and awarded to the highest bidder among the inhabitants only of 
 the commune situated opposite the island or islet, and will be an integral part of the territorial 
 area of the commune of the buyer. 
 
 Third. If the island has been formed without loss to the riparian lands subject to tax, it will be 
 sold and awarded to the highest bidder among the inhabitants of the commune situated opposite 
 the island, and will be added to the territorial area of the commune of the bidder. The portion 
 of this island which may afterwards be removed by the water will be, according to the amount of 
 surface lost, subject to a relief from tax. In the case, on the contrary, when an increase may have 
 taken place, it will be by the formality of auction conceded to the buyer of the island, sub- 
 jected to the same conditions as the original award. 
 
 As has very justly been remarked by Tacoub Artin Pasha in the work cited above, this law, 
 which is very vague, is the only one which regulates the rights of property along the banks of the 
 Mle. This question, however, in consequence of the long course of the river, is-very important. 
 It has given rise, in fact, to continual litigation on this subject, either between communes or be- 
 tween the taxable riparian owners, and while awaiting for a more complete and better defined 
 law to regulate this matter the administration is obliged to supplement the insufficiency of legis- 
 lation by measures taken without fixed rules, and to defer to usage and custom in each locality. 
 
 Belief from tax. — It is probable that from the greatest antiquity, whenever land has not been 
 inundated by the Kile, and remained from this fact unproductive, the Government has allowed it 
 a relief from tax for the barren years. 
 
 "The Arabs had- even established a mean scale of tribute to be paid according to the height 
 which the flood reached on the nilometers. This explains the attention which the conquerors of 
 Egypt have always paid to the construction and repair of these nilometers. 
 
 At present the tax is fixed, but when it is plainly shown that land could not be cultivated for 
 want of water, the Government sends to these places, on the demand of the proprietors, a com- 
 mission composed of functionaries from the ministry of public works, finances, and the inte- 
 rior. This commission estimates the damages caused by the lack of water, and the Government 
 allows generally a relief from taxes according to the result of this inquiry. In Upper Egypt 
 relief from taxes is still allowed each year, because with a system of basins it is easy to ascertain 
 whether certain lands have been reached or not by the level of the flood; but in a region of 
 irrigation, where the canals receive more or less water the entire year, conclusions are much more 
 difficult to arrive at, and a relief from taxes is more rarely granted. 
 
 Various regulations. — The principal regulations in regard to the corvie and to the establish- 
 ment of elevating-machines along the Nile and canals have already been mentioned In the chap- 
 
106 lEEIGATIOlfr IN EGYPT. 
 
 ters which treat of the maintenance of the canals and elevation of irrigation water ; it will be 
 unnecessary to return to this matter. 
 
 The guarding of the dikes of the Nile.— The decree of the 6th of August, 1885, has regulated 
 as follows the guarding of the banks of the IS^ile during the flood: 
 
 AH the inhabitants who are subject to the corvee by the decree of the 15th of January, 1881, 
 are also charged with guarding the dikes of the J^le during the flood. 
 
 On the 1st of January the ministry of public works designates for the provinces the points 
 which ought to be guarded and watched; also the number of men which should be furnished for 
 this purpose. ' . 
 
 The assembly meets annually, on the 15th of January, in each province, presided over by the 
 administrator of the province, and having for its members the chiefs of the villages and districts 
 and the chief engineer of the province. 
 
 The president communicates to the assembly the instructions given by the ministry of public 
 works relating to the number of men to be furnished for the service of guards, and the assembly 
 distributes this number among the districts and villages. 
 
 Each chief of a village must send to the administrator of the province before the 25th of Jan- 
 uary a list of the names of the men whom his village should furnish,, and who are divided into two 
 contingents. 
 
 The men of the first contingent repair to their posts on the 1st of August, and the second con- 
 tingent on the 1st of September ; the posts guarded are only abandoned by order of the ministry 
 of public works. 
 
 The assembly of each province chooses four notables, who, presided over by the engineer of 
 the province, form a commission to judge the delays and delinquencies charged against the village 
 and against the men called out. 
 
 The penalties applied are as follows : 
 
 Every chief of a village or district, or any notable who shall have neglected to furnish the 
 number of men due from his section, and who shall not have repaired to the post which he had to 
 guard, or who shall have abandoned his post without authority, is within twenty -four hours tried 
 by the commission and condemned to imprisonment of from twenty days to three months and to a 
 fine varying from 52 to 520 francs. The culprit can also be entirely pardoned, if the commission 
 judges it proper, without prejudice to the interests of the damaged party, the latter being able 
 to reclaim damages from him in cases where damages have been caused by the fact of this neg- 
 ligence and in consequence of the desertion of his post; he is immediately replaced. 
 
 This decree contains the first attempt to establish a special jurisdiction, although in an 
 indirect.manner, for irrigation. It is still too recent to be able to judge the results of its application. 
 
 Decree ofthe25th of January, 1886, relative to the penalties for disobeying the regulations in regard 
 to the corvee. — Up to the present time the only penalty applied in fact for disobeying the regula- 
 tions in regard to the corvSe was merely corporal punishment, and especially the lash. The 
 decree of the 25th of January, 1886,^ had for its object the establish ment, by its requirements of the 
 special jurisdiction, which is the same as that which had been fixed by the decree of the 6th of 
 August, 1885, for the guarding of the Nihe dikes. The commission constituted by this latter decree 
 was also called upon to try the delays and delinquencies charged against the chiefs of villages and 
 districts and against the men in all the labors of the corvie, and the penalties provided are as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 Every chief or notable who has neglected to furnish the number of men due from his section 
 or who has not repaired to the post where he should work his men, or who has quitted his post 
 without authority, is condemned by the above-named commission, within the next twenty-four 
 hours, to an imprisonment of from ten to thirty days, or to a fine of from 26 to 130 francs • he may 
 also be totally relieved of his duties. Every man who fails to respond to the call or who deserts 
 his post is immediately tried by the commission and condemned to a fine of 13 to 26 francs and to 
 the performance of the labor which is allotted to him. Whenever he is not in a position to pay the 
 amount of the fine he will be held at labor to a value equal to the amount of the fine at the rate 
 of the daily pay given to the workmen at the place where his labor is performed. 
 
 They have hardly had time yet to apply the requirements of this decree, which will remain 
 perhaps a long time before being admitted into the method of the country. 
 
• CHAPTER X. 
 
 CONCLUSIONS AND PROJECTS. 
 
 From all that precedes, it results that Egypt is not an exceptionally fertile country; it owes 
 in a great measure its ancient reputation for fertility to the same causes which have always given 
 celebrity to the oases of very small extent, or to the cities of little importance, built in the midst 
 of the desert. As a few of these oases and the cities strike the imagination of the traveler who 
 sees them after having crossed sandy and arid regions, so the valley of the Mle, bordered on its 
 two sides by uncultivated solitudes which extend over indefinite space, and cutting through the 
 desert with a narrow band of cultivable land, appears to the eyes of the people who inhabit it as 
 the most complete type of fertility of soil; nevertheless the product of the crops of Egypt indicate 
 in no manner a soil of special richness. 
 
 What has especially contributed to attract to this country the attention of nations, is the 
 method by which the inundation waters permit the fellah to obtain each year, almost without 
 labor and without trouble, the various crops under a slsy without rain. 
 
 But although the basins of submersion form truly the traditional system of Egyptian agri- 
 culture, the practice of irrigation on a vast scale is in this country of very recent origin; for this 
 reason the methods are not ^yet well planned, and there did not exist, up to the present, rules 
 properly established and sanctioned by long usage, for the employment of the water for irrigation, 
 for the rotation of crops on irrigated lands, for the drainage of the soil, and generally for every- 
 thing which pertains to irrigation. Progress should evidently lead, at the end of a certain time, 
 in the whole of Egypt, to the substitution of irrigation for the system of basins, which, while 
 requiring much less manual labor for agriculture, gives on the other hand products less valuable 
 and less abundant. But, on the other hand, it has been seen how many difilculties and expendi- 
 tures the maintenance of an inlet work of a canal of irrigation gives rise to, and how the annual 
 filling up of the principal arteries renders precarious the watering of entire regions. Therefore, 
 in every project of irrigation the Egyptian engineers ought to occupy themselves, before every- 
 thing, in establishing and organizing the regimen of the canals under such conditions, that the 
 deposits of mud will be kept down as much as possible, so that the maintenance of them may 
 thus be rendered easy and economical. 
 
 The principal precautions to be taken to obtain these results are those which are observed in 
 all countries where there are rivers with sedimentary waters and movable beds, but they acquire 
 a vital importance in the valley of the Nile, where the two characteristics of mobility of bed and 
 turgidity of water are particularly developed. They can be summed up as follows : 
 
 The number of outlets on the river banks must be diminished as much as possible; because 
 it is in the works at the head of the canal that the heaviest materials are deposited, in consequence 
 of the constant diminution of the velocity which is here generally produced, and it is here that 
 the dredging is most difficult to execute ; besides, the works of inlets are costly to construct and 
 diflcult to protect against the action of the floods, on account of the little cohesion of the subsoil. 
 It is by the application of this method that the dredging in the province of Menoufieh has been 
 notably reduced ; it has sufficed for this to close the Inlets from the Nile of the principal canals 
 
 107 
 
108 IRRIGATION IN EG^PT* 
 
 a 
 
 and join these with the Eayah Menoufleh, which thus becomes the only canal draining directly 
 from the Nile the water intended for feeding the whole province. 
 
 The inlet work must be established as near as possible to the ordinary location of the current 
 of the Nile; thus every year considerable dredging is necessary to keep open the inlet of the Ibra- 
 himieh canal at Choubrah, because this work is almost 600 meters distant from the mean current 
 of the river; while on the contrary the lock at the head of the Mahmoudieh never has been filled 
 up, because it is scoured by the current of the river. 
 
 The openings of the canals must be placed in a position where the lesser bed of the river dif- 
 fers as little as possible in extent from the greater bed, or where at least the position of the lesser 
 bed may be maintained in a stable position by means of spurs and dikes ; thus the pool above the 
 Ibrahimieh canal is often filled by considerable deposits coming from the banks of sand which the 
 water carries in front of the head of the canal, because in thi^place the width of the river is too 
 great for the low-water discharges, and because the position also of the current in its bed is not 
 sufQciently fixed naturally or artificially. 
 
 The dredging in the caflals must be regulated in such a manner, especially during flood at the 
 moment that the water is most charged with material in suspension, that the velocity will not be 
 diminished notably, transforming many pools into settling basins. The regimen of the canals 
 should be organized as much as possible in such a manner that the velocity will always be suffi- 
 ciently strong to maintain in suspension the fertilizing muddy materials, without being too great 
 to erode the banks. 
 
 These canals must be watched to see that they carry only the water strictly necessary for the 
 requirements. If, in order to comply wiih the conditions of velocity indicated above, it is neces- 
 sary to give some of them a too great discharge, it must be so arranged that this supplementary 
 water should flow without stoppage and with a normal velocity as far as the reservoirs arranged 
 for this purpose, or in a sufficient quantity as far as the drainage canals. 
 
 The fulfilling of these conditions constituted without doubt a complicated and diflflcult prob- 
 lem to solve. But it is certain that they have not taken sufficient account of all these require- 
 ments, of which experience has well indicated the utility, for the fellah is obliged to move each 
 year a considerable quantity of earth to assure irrigation of his fields. It is very probable that 
 the maintenance of the canals will always continue to require each year euormous earth-work, 
 because the reduced velocity of the water necessarily causes the deposit of a portion of the mate- 
 rial which it holds in suspension, but they will surely obtain amounts less than those which now 
 exist by a serious study of the works of irrigation and by the establishment of a judicious regimen 
 for the distribution of water. 
 
 Up to late years Egypt had for the execution and maintenance of works a powerful instru- 
 ment in the corvee, and it was used without stint; but, thanks to the progress of modern ideas, this 
 instrument is to-day much ameliorated, and it can no longer render the service which was formerly 
 exacted of it. Thus the Government finds itself obliged to rely on its financial resources for the 
 funds necessary to assure the execution for a great part of these works of maintenance, only 
 reserving for the corvee the least onerous earth- work. Under these conditions engineers find them- 
 selves naturally obliged, much more than in the past, to examine the means of reduciug as much 
 as possible the expense of maintenance and to occupy themselves with this important question, 
 which they had largely neglected when labor cost them nothing. 
 
 The drainage of irrigated lands is an essential Condition of maintaining their fertility, and in 
 most countries where irrigation has been practiced for a long time the works intended for carrying 
 off the waters of drainage are as important as the works constructed for obtaining irrigation water. 
 Egypt is much behind in this respect; nevertheless the permeability to a great depth of the soil, 
 the small slope of the surface, the disastrous effects of saline deposits, which subsoil infiltration 
 produces, require that she should arrange in a very special manner and with the greatest care for 
 the hurtful water. They were very often content, even quite recently, to bring the water to the 
 lands and to increase the humidity of the soil without establishing at the same time the indis- 
 pensable net- work of drainage ditches along the canals, as well as around Ihe irrigated lands. It 
 has resulted that considerable areas are gradually lost, and can only be reclaimed for cultivation 
 after they have been provided with drains and when repeated washings of the soil shall have 
 
IBRlGATIOlfr IN EGYPT. 109 
 
 gotten rid of the salt which rendered them sterile. It has been seen elsewhere that the problem 
 of draining the lands is a delicate one to solve in the low portions of the Delta, on account of the 
 varying levels of the lakes which border the sesT. 
 
 Notable improvements have been introduced since a few years in the service of irrigation as 
 it affects the regulation of the bed of the canals, the better utilization and more careful mainte- 
 nance of the works now existing, the construction of new distribution works, and the regulation 
 of the flow of the water, especially in the time of the flood; but there yet remains much to be done 
 ,in this respect. In addition, the distribution of water in a manner to regulate as much as possible 
 its employment is to be organized. This will be a complete revolution in the system of Egyptian 
 irrigation, because on the one hand the peasant is in the habit of drawing largely from the canals 
 according to his needs and beyond his needs, and on the other hand usage and custom differ in 
 one region and another when the decision of the agents of the Government is now the only rule 
 which governs the distribution of the water among those interested. There exists many agricult- 
 ural councils and provincial councils, who should, according to the law, especially occupy them- 
 selves with these questions, but this law has remained a dead letter. Besides, it is necessary to 
 remark, it is not very long since property rights have been regularly instituted in Egypt, and the 
 country is not sufficiently trained and has not sufficiently understood the proper interests to allow 
 with security the groups of proprietors and syndicates to direct any system of irrigation canals 
 without the supervision of the Government. The Government must for a long time centralize in 
 its hands every service of irrigation. It may avoid always without doubt many mistakes and 
 errors by giving regularly and legally to the representatives of the people the right to express 
 their opinion on the questions of irrigation which interest them. 
 
 In the present state of^ Egypt, the principal results which are intended to be obtained from the 
 execution of new works are as follows : 
 
 First. The improvement of the irrigation region by rendering the discharge of the canals during 
 low water as independent as possible of the level of low water, by diminishing the expense of 
 maintenance, by raising the level of the water in order to bring it to the surface of the soil, by 
 regulating the drainage of the surplus water of irrigation. 
 
 Second. The substitution of the method of irrigation for the system of basins of inundation in 
 the districts where basins still exist. 
 
 Third. By regulating the discharge of the Nile so as to decrease the too high floods and increase 
 the extreme low water. 
 
 The last international conventions, which followed the conference which was held in London in 
 1884, have allowed Egypt, involved in debt, to commence the realization of the first part of this 
 programme. In the loan of £9,000,000, which had just been consented to by the powers, there 
 has been reserved £1,000,000 to be used for the amelioration of the irrigation system. The works 
 allotted to this loan are now in course of execution under the direction of Col. Scott Moncrieff, 
 under secretary of state to the ministry of publ'c works, assisted by English engineers who have 
 acquired in India experience in this kind of work. These works, commenced in 1886, are not suf- 
 ficiently advanced to yet estimate their results, even partially, but their plan is now sufficiently 
 determined to be able to indicate the grand lines. They are exclusively distributed in Lower Egypt, 
 in Fayonm, and in the part of Upper Egypt watered by the Ibrahimieh canal. * 
 
 Lower Ugypt, — The works projected in Lower Egypt comprise especially the strengthening of 
 the great dam at the point of the Delta, and the distribution of the water between the two branches 
 ot the Nile, and outside the branches by three grand canals taking their water from the pool above 
 this dam. The present foundation of the dam, which is at the 8.20-meter level above the sea, 
 having been damaged in many points in consequence of settliog, it is proposed to strengthen it 
 by masses of masonry to the maximum of 9.50 meters in the worst part and 9 meters in the better 
 parts, and to enlarge the dam throughout its whole length. The fermeture of the arches will be 
 obtained by means of iron gates, which permit the water to be raised to an altitude of 14 meters 
 above the lowest water. It appears quite venturesome to make the whole irrigation of Lower 
 Egypt depend upon a work founded at such a little deptl^upon a subsoil so compressible. 
 
 The provinces between the two branches of the Nile will be solely supplied by the Eayah 
 Meuoufieh. which, with its width of 60 to 55 meters, suffices for the daily discharge, almost without 
 
110 lEETGATION IF EGYPT. 
 
 modification, of the 14,000,000 to 16,000,000 cubic meters necessary at low water. It will be neces-_ 
 sary, however, to enlarge the inlet work somewhat, to the detriment of the lock which is placed 
 there. 
 
 For the provinces of G-aloubieh, Dakalieh, and Charkieh, situated to the east of the Damietta 
 arm, and whose irrigation ia summer requires the daily discharge of about 11,000,000 cubic meters, 
 a part of this quantity (about 2,300,000 cubic meters) will be furnished by the canals of Ismailieh, 
 Charkieh, and Bessoussieh. The remaining 8,500,000 cubic meters will be provided by the neV 
 canal being constructed, called Eayah Charkieh. This canal will have its inlet just above the dam 
 of the Damietta arm. It is planned with a width at bottom of 26 meters and an altitude at its 
 mouth of 9.50 meters. Its slope is 8 centimeters per kilometer; the side slopes are 1 base to 1 ver- 
 tical ; the depth below the level of the soil varies from 6 to 8 meters, and the difference in height 
 between the bottom and the top of the embankments is fixed at 9 meters, with a berme 6 meters 
 wide halfway up. 
 
 This canal, which is 638 kilometers long, will be prolonged at its extremity by the Sahel canal, 
 then by the Mansourieh canal, and finally by the Charkaouieh of Damietta, parallel to the Dami- 
 etta branch, as far as the sea-shore. 
 
 Finally, on the left bank of the Eosetta branch, the province of Behera will be watered solely 
 by the Eayah Behera, which now exists, and which will be arranged from its origin with a width 
 of 16 meters at the bottom and a slope of 75 millimeters per killimeter. The elevating-machines of 
 the Katatbeh and the Mahmoudieh will be done away with, and the two canals fed by these machines 
 will receive their water from the Eayah Behera alone. 
 
 In consequence of the execution of these works the greater portion of the low water will be 
 stopped at the dam of the Delta, to be employed for irrigation. Navigation will then become im- 
 possible in the two arms of the river below this dam. Always below Mansourieh, on the Damietta 
 branch, and a little farther than Kafr-Zaiah, on the Eosetta branch, the depth of the water 
 is such that navigation is always impossible here during low water. - They have managed to 
 avoid this stopping of navigation in the upper portion of the branches of the Nile in the following 
 manner: 
 
 The regulation works of the Charkieh and its prolongations, as far as Mansourieh, will be fur- 
 nished with locks for navigation. They will thus have created a vast navigable canal along the 
 Damietta branch as far as Mansourieh, where locks will be established between the Nile and the 
 canal, and will permit boats to resume their route on the river, always practicable below this point. 
 Another navigable way will be created between the branches of the Nile by means of the Eayah 
 Menoufleh and its prolongation, the Bagourieh canal, as far as Goddaba, a point situated a little ' 
 north of Kafr-Zaiah, on the Eosetta branch. By placing a lock connected with the^ile at this 
 point boats coming from the dam will be able to continue their voyage by the river and also returns 
 either from Eosetta by the river or by the Mahmoudieh canal from Alexandria. 
 
 The two parts of the Nile rendered impracticable for navigation will be thus replaced by a 
 series of navigable canals following each of these two branches. These principal lines of navigation 
 will be connected with the secondary lines which already exist. 
 
 Such is the general plan of the works which are in process of construction in Lower Egypt. 
 A few impoflant lines of drainage will be also established in the lower portion, 
 
 Fayoum. — The works projected for Fayoum are generally works of detail. They consist of the 
 arrangement of inlets designed to insure an excellent distribution of water among the different 
 parts of the province, and in the substitution at some points of irrigation canals for the basin sys- 
 tem which still exists here. 
 
 Upper Egypt — The principal works which will be executed in Upper Egypt are designed to 
 feed with water charged with sediment certain basins which now receive only settled water coming 
 from the upper basins, and which are separated from the Nile by the strip of land irrigated by the 
 Ibrahimieh canal. 
 
 These works consist principally of building syphons, constructed under the Ibrahimieh canal, 
 which can play a double rdle: » 
 
 To supply by means of transverse canals, during low water, the basins to the right of those 
 which have been estabhshed, with sedimentary -water; 
 
IRRIGATION IN EGYPT. Ill 
 
 To serve at the same time to empty into the Nile during low water the drainage of the irri- 
 gation water from the irrigated lands situated between the Ibrahimieh and the longitudinal dikes 
 of the basins, lands that have become impregnated with salt, because they have never been 
 arranged with any provision for drainage. 
 
 According to present intentions this vast amount of work will be finished in two years. If it 
 is executed under good conditions it will accomplish a great advance in the actual condition of 
 irrigation in Egypt. 
 
 The financial resources of the country are too limited to allow the second part of the pro- 
 gramme of amelioration, which has been indicated above, to be touched ; that is to say, the exten- 
 sion of the system of irrigation in the region of basins. 
 
 As to the third part of- the programme (that is to say, the regulation of the course of the Nile 
 with the object of diminishing the discharge of the floods and increasing the discharge of low 
 water), its realization is still distant. Nevertheless, an interesting project has been started for 
 this purpose in late years, and has already been subjected to the first summary investigation. M. 
 Jacquet, inspecteur g6n6ral des ponts et chauss6es, came, in fact, to Egypt a few years ago to ex- 
 amine it, and from the data which he collected at that time he reported on the practicability of its 
 execution in his report dated July 15, 1882. 
 
 This project* was presented by M. de la Motte, and was backed by a company which was 
 formed in Paris under the name of " The Society for Studying the Nile." It consists of the crea- 
 tion of an enormous reservoir in the valley of the Nile above the defile of Gebel Cilcila, or a few 
 kilometers to the north of Assouan. The place, in fact, appears perfectly adapted for this. At 
 Gebel Cilcila the Nile flows over a bed of rock in a defile 400 meters wide, which M. Jacquet pro- 
 poses to dam by a masonry wall able to support the pressure of 20 meters of water. A new bed, 
 300 meters wide, closed^by a movable dam, and a lateral reservoir 700 meters wide, both cut out 
 of the rock, on the right bank of the river, will serve to carry off the waters of the flood, the great 
 masonry dam being always above water. A derivation with locks for navigation and an irriga- 
 tion canal having its inlet above the dam in the left bank would complete the work. It would be 
 ueces.sary, also, by a second insubmergable dam of about 1,300 meters in length, to close the de- 
 pression which exists 2 kilometers to the east of the present one, up the river, in a Ime of rocks 
 which cross the valley. This depression is formed where an old arm of the river flowed. 
 
 With this series of works there will be obtained in the great plain of Kom Ombo, which the Nile 
 crosses above the rock bed of Gebel Cilcila, an enormous reservoir, with a surface of 1,400,000,000 
 square meters, where they will store 7,000,000,000 cubic meters of water, and whence they can 
 deliver to Egypt a continuous flow of 400 cubic meters per second independently of the normal 
 discharge of low water of the river. They will thus have sufficient water to create 400,000 hec- 
 tares of cultivable lands which do not exist to-day. 
 
 This is a grandiose conception. It will require to execute it an expenditure of 100,000,000 
 francs at the maximum, according to the calculations of M. Jacquet. 
 
 When will Egypt become sufficiently prosperous to be able to turn her thoughts to such works ? 
 
 ' See Plate XXII. 
 
MINISTERE DE L'AGRICULTURE. 
 
 bulletin. ' 
 
 DIRECTION DE L'HYDRAULIQUE AGRICOLB. 
 
 L'lRRIGATION EN EGYPTE. 
 
 Par J. Barois, 
 
 Ing^nieur en chef des Fonts et ChaussSes, Secretaire g6u6ral du Ministfere des Travaux; publics en J2gypte. 
 
 TABLE DES PLANCHES. 
 
 Planche I.— Carte g6n6rale de I'fig.vpte.— Carte du Nil. 
 
 II. — Bassius de la Haute-Egypte compris entre Sohag et Siout. 
 III.— Region du canal Ibrahimieh. 
 IV. — Carte hydrographique de la Basse-figypte. 
 V. — Chariot de manoeuvre du Pont da Sohagieh. 
 yi. — Ouvrage r^gulateur des bassins de la Haute-figypte. 
 VII. — Coupe de quaissur le bord da Nil. — Fig. 1. Coupe des quais circulaires du grand barrage. — Fig. 2. 
 
 Coupe des quais de Kasr-el-Nil, au Caire, k I'entr^e du caniil Ismailieh. 
 VIII. — Ouvrages r^gulateurs ^clus^s du canal Ismailieh. 
 IX. — Ouvrages riSgulateurs ^clus^s du canal Ismailieh. 
 X. — Ouvrages rdgulateurs ^clus^s du canal Ismailieh. 
 XI. — D^versoir de N^fiche sur le canal Ismailieh. 
 XII. — Fig. 1. Emplacement du grand barrage de la pointe du Delta. — Pig. 2. Situation du grand barrage 
 de la pointe du Delta pendant I'^tiage de 1885. — Pig. 3. Disposition de quelques canaux dans la 
 province de Menoufieh. 
 XIII. — Grand barrage de la pointe du Delta, details d'une arche. 
 XIII'''^ — Grand barrage de la pointe du Delta, details d'une arche. 
 XIV.— Pont sur le Cherkaouieh. 
 XV. — Fig. 1, 2 et .3. Roue <S16vatoire. — Fig. 4 et 5. Barrage provisoire de Mit Gamr sur le Nil (branohe de 
 
 Rosette). 
 XVI. — Machines du Katatbeh. 
 
 XVII. — Plan giSu^ral de I'^tablissement hydraulique d'Atfeh. 
 XVIII.— Nattal. 
 XIX.— Chadouf. 
 XX.- Saki(5. 
 
 XXI.— Fig. 1, 2, 3, 4 et 5. Noria.— Fig. 6 et 7. Koue hydraulique h, palettes. 
 XXII. — Projet de barrage au Gebel Cilcileh. 
 
 H. Mis. 134 8 113 
 
Minist6re de I'Agricxilture 
 
 L'lRRIGATION EN £GYPTE 
 
 Fascicule H. — Planche I 
 
 Hydraulique agricole 
 
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Minist6re de I'Agriculture 
 
 L'IRRIGATiON EN £GYPTE 
 
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 GRAND BARRAGE DE LAPOINTE DU DELTA. 
 
 Coupe suivant cd. 
 
 (S63.S7) 
 
 Hydraulique agricole- 
 
Minist6re de 1' Agriculture 
 
 L'IRRIGATION EN EGYPTE 
 
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 L4RRIGATI0N EN EGYPTE 
 
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 PLAN^ GENERAL DE LETABLISSEMENT HYDRAULK^UE D'ATFEH 
 
 a Vemboucliure du lyfahmoudieh. 
 
 E chelle de 3 ifop p 
 
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 Hydraulique agricole 
 
Minist6re de rAgriciilture 
 
 L'IRRiGATION EN EGYPTE 
 
 Fascicule H. — Planche H 
 
 Legende : 
 
 Canaiui:, Cours cLeau.. 
 
 Digues . 
 
 Ouvraaes de retenue . 
 
 BASSINS DE LA HAUTE -EGYPTE 
 
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 L'IRRIGATION EN £GYPTE 
 
 Fascicule H. — Planche XXH . 
 
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 GEBEL CILCILEH. 
 
 ■i i(C. 
 
 F LAINE 
 
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 0MB OS 
 
 (68-87) 
 
 Hydraulique agricole 
 
Minist6re de 1' Agriculture 
 
 IRRIGATION EN EGYPTE 
 
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Minist6re cLe I'Agriculture 
 
 L'IRRIGATION EN EGYPTE 
 
 Fascicule H. — Planche IV. 
 
 Hydraulique agxicole 
 
Ministers de 1' Agriculture 
 
 L'IRBiGATION EN EGYPTE 
 
 Fascicule H. — Planche . V 
 
 CHARIOT DE MANCEUVRE. 
 pour le Font du SohagieK. 
 
 Elevatioa cLe Ta-ce 
 
 ptii^i&mi 
 
 Hydraulique agxicole 
 
Minist6re de 1" Agriculture 
 
 L'IRRIGATiON EN £GYPTE 
 
 Fascicule H. — Planche V.I 
 
 OUVRAGE REGULATEUR 
 
 des Bassins dekH^Egypte . 
 
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Minist6re de I'Agriculture 
 
 L'IRRIGATION EN £GYPTE 
 
 Fascicule H. — Planche YIE. 
 
 ECIUSES DE CHOUBRAH, DE SIRIAKOS ET DE BELBEIS_ Plans Xoiipes et Elevations d^ensemWe . 
 
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