At the entrance of this town commences the great aqueduct in a hexagonal building, each side of which is eighty feet wide, and one hundred high. Oxen go up a very gentle ascent, and turn a wheel, which raises water from the Nile to the top of the building. From a reser voir stationed here, it flows into the aqueduct, and is thus carried to another reservoir near the castle : there it is raised a second time by several wheels to the palace of the pacha, for the supply of the garrison. The aque duct is a handsome structure of rustic work, supported by three hundred arches, and is said to have been built by the Arabs in the sixteenth century, in imitation of a similar work now in ruins, which supplied the citadel of Fostat.
Near this place, too, begins the great kalige or canal. Diverging from the Nile at a pretty scarp angle, it pro ceeds down towards Cairo, divides that city into two por tions, filling in its passage all the ponds, reservoirs, and private canals of the place, and empties itself some leagues to the cast in the Birque, a lake surrounded at present by the villas and pleasure-houses of the rich, and famous as the rendezvous of the pilgrims of Mecca. The extent between the Nile and the Birque forms but a small portion of this stupendous canal. It once commu nicated with the Red Sea ; and vessels laden with the productions of Egypt traversed the burning desert. This work is ascribed by Savary, on the suspicious authority of the Arabian writers, to die caliphate of Omar, whose dominions at home being afflicted with famine, he is said to have commanded Amron (who had just conquered Egypt, and burnt the library of Alexandria) to a dig a kalige," for the conveyance of grain. Bence this canal i, styled by the Orientals, " The R r of the Prince of the Faith•ul." But our best anthill- •,es ascribe it to the emperor Trajan, calling it by the Lame of A mnis Tra jams, a canal mentioned by Ptolemy ; and indeed it ap pears to us infinitely more likely to be the work of a Ro man emperor, than of a sanguinary horde of barbarians in the meridian heat of their religious fanaticism. This canal is certainly of great utility to Cairo and the neigh bourhood, as it lills the reservoirs within and without the walls, and thus ensn-•es a supply of water for house hold purposes, and linr the irrigation of the lands. It is accordingly cleaned very carefully every year for the re ception of the flood, and for sonic time is used as a street. This operation, however, being delayed as long as pos sible, to prevent a fresh accumulation of obstacles, the canal remains for six months after the recess of the wa ter in a most horrible condition. The quantities of filth which it then daily accumulates, prevent its being dried by the heat or the sun within the city ; and the detesta ble smell which is produced, during the hot season, from this putrid mass of stagnant water, soil, and dead fish, which are here left in great quantities by the Nile, in fects the air, and, as some have conjectured, gives rise to the plague. It must be observed, however, that many of the best houses are built on this canal, where also is the quarter of the Europeans. During the influx of the inundation it is extremely pleasant, and presents a splen did exhibition of Egyptian fashion, being covered with parties of pleasure in their light skiffs and gilt barges, regaled with every species of music, and enjoying, in the midst of thousands of spectators, who at this time crowd their terraces and windows, the refreshing cool ness of the recent flood.
Between Fostat, on the right bank of the Nile, and Ceza, a small village on the opposite side, is the island of Rhoda, a pleasant spot in the middle of the river, about a mile in length, and entirely covered with large sycamore trees, and the most lovely verdure. The southern extremity of this island is fortified with bul warks of the strongest masonry, to resist the force of the current. Over this breast-work is erected the building which contains the celebrated Nilometer, called Alekias, an accurate engraving of which the reader will find in Pococke. This water gauge, which has been visited by every traveller into Egypt, consists of a very superb marble pillar with a Corinthian capital, rising out of the centre of a basin, which has a communication with the Nile ; and being accurately graduated to the top, exhi bits the quantity of increase or diminution in the height of the river. Over the pillar is built a magnificent dome, supported by columns placed round the basin, and the whole is surrounded by the ruins of a great palace. It is unnecessary to remind the reader of the importance at tached by the Egyptians to the annual overflowing of the Nile. As little or no rain falls in that country, the crops depend entirely on artificial irrigation ; and when the waters of the Nile do not fill the canals and reservoirs, called birques, as well as deposit on the fields its fer tilizing slime, vain are the labours of the husbandman. The Egyptians accordingly have, in all ages, assiduously 'watched its progress, and ascertained its quantity by a nilometer. The present mekias is above nine hundred years old. As soon as the river has begun to rise, its daily increase is watched by an officer, who continually transmits his report to Cairo, where it is proclaimed and received with the utmost eagerness. When it has risen to the desired height, about sixteen cubits, and the peo ple have paid to the grand signior the tax for the use of the water, the paella, attended by the begs and the whole of the court, goes in grand procession from Cairo, to be present at the opening of the great canal, which we have Me • I' already described as intersecting that capital. Upon a signal given by the pasha, the workmen immediatelv open the mouth of the canal, •hich till now has been kept shut, and, as the water rushes into it, handfuls ()I silver are thrown into the stream lay the nobility, In whit htneansamostarnusingaquatic scramble is produced among the populace, who dive for the money. At the same instant, multitudes of people in thousands of boat, and decked in their gayest attire, are eager to glide into the canal, and with the sound of vocal and instrumental music testify their joy on the occasion. The pasha, the same time, going on board his magnificent bald:, accompanied by the whole of his attendants in their bar ges, returns• by water to Cairo in the same order of pro cession as he had gone by land. This ceremony of open ing the canal, when the whole population of Cairo turn out, presents one of the most interesting spectacles to be met with in Egypt.