Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/514

 416 NOETH-EAST AFEICA. Traces of the former presence of the waters of the Red Sea may here be still traced all the way to the Bitter Lakes. The waters have gradually retired, and if the town had to follow the progress of subsidence it would have to be again dis- placed and rebuilt some two miles farther south at the entrance of the canal. Here has been created the modern port of Teufik, enclosed by two diverging piers 7,700 feet long, and lined with warehouses belonging to the Suez Canal Company. At the end of one of these piers a few trees have been planted round the statue of Waghom, a man distinguished beyond all others before the time of Lesseps by his persistent endeavours to open up more rapid communications between England and her Indian possessions. Suez, which has lost the aqueducts constructed under the Ptolemies, now receives its supply of fresh water through a canal derived from the Nile and running through the "VVady-Tumilat. Hence the town might now be freely developed without running the risk of perishing from thirst, as at the time when it had to depend entirely on the brackish wells sunk at the foot of the Jebel-Attakah. But after rapidly expanding at the time of the construction of the inter-oceanic canal, Suez has again diminished in population and importance. It derives little advan- tage from the ever-gi'owing traffic between the two seas, because most of the inter- minable line of steamers pass on after getting their papers signed. The chief depots of supplies for the shipping have been established, not at the head of the Red Sea, but at Port Said, at the northern extremity of the canal, facing Europe. Nevertheless, sufficient local trade has been developed in connection with the through traffic to enable Suez to rank next to Alexandria and Port Said in the general commerce of Egypt.* BaLBEIS ZaGAZIG BUBASTIS. At present the railway connecting Cairo with its port on the Red Sea skirts the northern foot of the advanced spurs of the Arabian or coast range, running thence to the canal along the depression of "VVady-Tumilat. Here was the land of Goshen, cultivated by the " Impure," that is, by the Hebrews in bondage ; and the Tumilat Arabs, who give their name to the district, have also become agriculturists. The presence of the Israelites in this region is still commemorated by the Tell-el-Yahud, or " Jews' Hill," a small eminence lying not far from the station of Shibin-el- Kanater. Here have been discovered some vestiges of an edifice erected by Ramses II. Farther on stand the towns of Balhcis and Bordein, in this vast and well- watered plain, where every village is surroun/ied by cotton plantations and by the tall chinmey of some factory built amid the palm-groves, where the raw fibre is cleansed and compressed into bales for exportation, mostly by Greek agents of the growers. • • Trade of the Port of Suez in 1830 acording to Ajnici : — Arrivals 681 vessels of 682,110 tons Departures 663 ,, 677,626 „ Total. 1,144 „ 1,359,736 „