Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/518

 At a distance of a few hundred yards from the European town stretches the Arab quarter, in which more than one building in the style of the "Infidels" has already sprung up, and which promises ere long to be completely surrounded by its flourishing neighbour. In any case the bed of Lake Menzaleh, which is here very shallow, offers an unlimited space for the development of the city.

The outer port is sheltered by two breakwaters built with blocks of concrete weighing 20 tons each. The western structure is 8,300 feet, the eastern 6,300 feet

long, and they jointly enclose a space of about one square mile in extent, which gives ample room for the largest vessels to ride at anchor, and which in front of the city ramifies into several basins, affording a further space of 175 acres for the shipping. Facing the city on the east or Asiatic side are vast depots of coal, of which over 540,000 tons were imported in the year 1883. On the southern or African side are the workshops and dry docks built for the construction and repair