DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11715#0043
ALEXANDRIA TO CAIRO.
twenty-two cubits. Less than this leaves the soil insufficiently irrigated ; more than
this drowns the country and inflicts immense mischief upon the peasantry. Every
morning during the rise of the river criers go throughout Cairo proclaiming the level
to which the inundation has reached. The announcement is awaited with intense and
eager interest, for upon it depends the question whether the coming year shall be one
of famine or of abundance. When the proper height has been attained the dams
are cut, allowing the water to flow into the canals, and universal rejoicings prevail
throughout the city.
twenty-two cubits. Less than this leaves the soil insufficiently irrigated ; more than
this drowns the country and inflicts immense mischief upon the peasantry. Every
morning during the rise of the river criers go throughout Cairo proclaiming the level
to which the inundation has reached. The announcement is awaited with intense and
eager interest, for upon it depends the question whether the coming year shall be one
of famine or of abundance. When the proper height has been attained the dams
are cut, allowing the water to flow into the canals, and universal rejoicings prevail
throughout the city.