with the Egyptian Government, undertaking to build the Aswân Dam and supplementary works for the sum of £2,000,000; the works are to be completed in 1903, Messrs. Aird will receive no payment until that date, when the debt is to be paid off in 30 half-yearly annuities of £78,613. The canals and drains, which form an important part of the scheme, are to be made within the five years in which Messrs. Aird are building the dam, and will cost about £2,000,000 sterling more. When the works are completed, it is calculated that the revenues of the country will be increased by about £2,750,000, and while they are in progress Egypt pays nothing.

The Aswân Dam stands in the First Cataract, a few miles south of Aswân. It is designed to hold up water to a level of 106 metres above mean sea level, or rather more than 20 metres above the low-water level of the Nile at site. Its total length will be 2,156 yards, with a width at crest of 26.4 feet. The width of the base at the deepest portion will be 82.5 feet, and the height of the work at the deepest spot will be 92'4 feet. The dam will be pierced by 180 openings, or under-sluices, of which 140 are 23'1 feet by 6.6 feet, and 40 are 18.2 feet by 6.6 feet, provided with gates. Three locks will be built, and a navigation channel made on the west of the river. The Asyût Dam will be what is called an open Barrage, and will consist of 111 bays or openings, each 16.5 feet wide, and each bay will be provided with regulating gates. The total length of the work will be 903 yards, and a lock 53 feet wide will be built on the west bank, large enough to pass the largest tourist boat plying on the river. Both works. were begun by Messrs. Aird in 1898.

ancient Egyptians called the Nile Hap, or Ḥāpi

the Arabs call it "Bahr," which is

y large mass of natural water, whether

sea, lake, or river. As the Egyptians divided their country into north and south, even so they conceived the existence of two Niles,

the lotus plant, typified the country of the north, i.e., the Delta, where the lotus grew. The god of one Nile was coloured red and the god of the other a greenish-blue; it has been thought that these colours have reference to the colour of the waters of the Nile after and before the inundation. The ancient Egyptians seem to have

The Source of the Nile at Philæ. (From Rosellini.)

had no knowledge of the source of the Nile, and in late times it was thought that the river sprang out of the

ground between two mountains which lay between the Island of Elephantine and Philæ. Herodotus tells us that these mountains were called Kpŵpɩ and Mŵ, in which some have sought to identify the Egyptian words Qer-Ḥāpi and Mu-Hapi www &

Δ

In the temple at Philæ is a very interesting relief in which

an attempt is made to depict the source of the Nile of the South. Here we see a

huge mass of

rocks piled one

upon the other,

and standing on the top of them are a vulture and a hawk; beneath the mass of rocks is a serpent, within the coil of which kneels the Nile god of the South with a cluster of papyrus plants upon his head. In his hand he holds two vases, The reverence paid to earliest period, for the

The Nile god pouring water over the soul of
Osiris. (From Rosellini.)

out of which he is pouring water.
the Nile was very great from the
Egyptians recognized that their health, happiness, and
wealth depended upon its waters. The god of the
Nile was addressed as the "Father of the gods," and
we are told in a hymn that if he were to fail, "the

gods would fall down headlong, and men would perish"; his majesty was considered to be so great that it is said of him, "he cannot be sculptured in stone; he is not to be seen in the statues on which are set the crowns of the South and of the North; neither service nor oblations can be offered unto him in person; and he cannot be brought forth from his secret habitations; the place where he dwelleth is unknown; he is not to be found in the shrines whereon are inscriptions; no habitation is large enough to hold him; and he cannot be imagined by thee in thy heart." This extract is sufficient to show that the Egyptians ascribed to the god of the Nile many of the attributes of God.

Among the festivals of the ancient Egyptians that which was celebrated in honour of the Nile was of prime importance. It was believed that unless the prescribed ceremonies were performed at the right season, in the proper manner, by a duly qualified person or persons, the Nile would refuse to rise and water their lands. The festival was celebrated by all classes with the greatest honour and magnificence when the river began to rise at the summer solstice, and the rejoicings were proportionate to the height of the rise. Statues of the Nile-god were carried about through the towns and villages, so that all men might honour him and pray to him. The ancient Egyptian festival finds its equivalent among the Muḥammadans in that which is celebrated by them on the 11th day of the Coptic month Paoni, i.e., June 17, and is called Lêtet al-Nukta, or the "Night of the Drop," because it is believed that a miraculous drop then falls into the Nile and causes its rise. The astrologers and soothsayers pretend to be able to state the exact moment when the drop is to fall. Many of the Egyptians spend this night in the open air, usually on the banks of the Nile, and Mr. Lane says (Modern Egyptians, vol. II., p. 224) that the women observe a curious custom. After sunset

they place as many lumps of dough on the terrace as there are persons in the house, and each person puts his or her mark upon one of them; on the following morning each looks at the lump of dough upon which he set his mark the evening before, and if any lump be found to be cracked, it is held to be a sign that the life of the person whom it represents will soon come to an end. About a fortnight later, criers begin to go about in the streets and proclaim the height of the daily rise of the river, each being usually accompanied by a boy; they are listened to with respect, but no one believes the statements they make about the height of the rise. The criers converse with the boys that are with them, and invoke blessings upon the houses of the people before which they stand, the object being, of course, that alms may be given to them. A little before the middle of August, the criers, accompanied by little boys carrying. coloured flags, announce the "Completion of the Nile," i.e., that the water reaches to the mark of the 16th cubit on the Nilometer. According to an old law the land tax cannot be exacted until the Nile rises to this height, and it is said that in old days the Government officials used to deceive the people regularly as to the height of the Nile, and demanded the tax when it was not due. The day after this announcement is made, the Cutting of the Dam at Fum al-Khalig, in Cairo, takes place. This dam is made yearly near the mouth of the Khalîg Canal, and the top of it rises to the height of about 22 or 23 feet above the level of the Nile at its lowest; a short distance in front of the dam is heaped up a conical mound of earth called the 'arûsa or "bride," in allusion to the young virgin who, in ancient days, was cast into the river as a sacrifice, in order to obtain a plentiful inundation. This mound is always.

washed away before the dam is cut. At sunrise, on the day following the "completion" of the Nile, the thickness of the dam is thinned by workmen, and at length a boat is rowed