6. The Geographer Ptolemy, who lived in the time of Trajan and Hadrian, (Geog. lib. iv. c. 5.) calls it Tra jan's River.
Ontar.ebn-el-Kattab ordered Amrou, who had con quered Egypt, abont the year 635, to open the canal from the Nile to Quotzoum, on the Red Sea, to convcy the contributions in corn into Arabia. Elkmaim informs us, that it was shut up again by the Caliph Abugia, or Almanzor, in the year 773.
From the before mentioned respectable authorities, we have reason to believe that there has at sundry times been a canal open from the river Nile to the Red Sea, et the bottom of the Gulf of Suez, and that there had been the naeans of occasionally using it. Whether ships were passed from the canal into the Red Sea does not appear. There might have been a trans-ship ping ; but it is certain that this route was afterwards abandoned, and the eastern commodities landed at a'place under the tropic, named Berenice, aboat 450 miles south of Suez, whence they were transported 258 Ro man miles across the Desert to the city of Coptis, upon the Nile, down which they were carried to Alexandria.
This instrument measured the rise of the Nile ; but as the ancient accounts vary from 8 to 18 cubits, some fallacy, or rather misunderstanding, is suspected, since, for more than 2000 years past, little alteration has taken place. But in the course of the many convulsive chang es to which the country has been subject, the Nilometer could not well be expected to remain of the same di visions, or even in the same situation. We have no cor yect account of what passed relating to it during the Per sian and Greek invasions, nor indeed until the time of Constantine. This prince prohibited sacrifices in the temple of Serapis, where the Nilometer stood, and re moved it into the church. Julian replaced it in the tem ple of Serapis, where it remained till Theodosius. Un til the time of Omar, it had been divided into cubits of 24 digits each ; but this was then destroyed, and ano 'her placed in the island of Rowda, where the lower 12 cubits were divided into 28 digits each. In the years 714 and 854 this instrument was twice destroyed, and the present one, said to have been put up by the emperor Elmctauakkel. There is one in Upper Egypt, which
may have been more exempted from alterations.
Thus we find, that the rise of the inundations, as as certained by the Nilometers in different eras, must be considered as far from a correct standard of com parison.
China.
This very extensive and singular country, separat ed from the rest of Asia by inaccessible mountains and deserts, and having a great variety of soil and climate, enables it to maintain a numerous society ahnost inde pendent of foreign elations. From the patriarchal form of its government, and in consequence of all the land being considered the property of the Emperor, and his decrees pervading his extensive dominions, which com prehend the entire course of numerous large rivers, plains, and deltas, the construction of inland navigations ;las been greatly facilitated.
This great country descends from the frontier mnun tains of Thibet and Tartary to the Eastern Ocean, and is traversed by two very large rivers. The most south ern, Yang-tse, Kiang-keo, or Son of the Sea, is reckoned about 2000 miles in length, ond at Nanking, 100 miles from the sea, it is more than 21 miles in breadth. The other, named the Yellow River, or Heng-ho-kea, is said In be longer than the former. The branches of those mighty streams are large rtvers, and travelse extensive and rich countries. The main streams are sometimes 1000 miles apart, but enter the sea within 100 miles of each other.
The general direction of the Chinese rivers being front west to east, and the chief line of intercoutse being north and south, bas led to form artificial canals between them. By which means an inland navigation is com pleted from the capital, at Pekin in the north, to the city of Canton in the southern part of the empire, reck oned a distance of about 920 miles. From this general canal, and the great rivers, branches are cartied to al tnost every town and village of any consequence in the flat countries.