Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/792

* EGYPT. 688 EGYPT. miles west of Wadi Haifa. In addition, "the oasis regions in the eastern third of the Libyan Desert belong to Egypt. The northernniost jJiiint of the country is in latitude 31" 40' X. Kgypt thus extends 075 miles north and south, with a general breadth of about 500 miles. Its area is about 400,000 square miles, but the cultivated region in the Xile Valley and Delta includes only about 10.000 square miles, about 9.000.000 ])eople being crowded into a space about as large as the area of New "Haiupshire. The vast region called the Egyptian Sudan, extending southward from Egypt into ccjuatorial Africa, is governed by Great Britain and Egypt jointly. Toi'ouR.PiiY. Egypt is a part of the great desert zone of North Africa, most of it being compara- tively level sand waste, varying in elevation from 600 to lliOO feet above the sea. Four natural features distinguish parts of the countrj- from the expanses of sand that stretch away in all directions. To the west of the Xile, in the Ijarrei^ wastes of the Libyan Desert, are many little regions of depression where the surface is below sea-level, or only a few hundred feet above it. Oases occur in these regions, deriving their water by infiltration from the Nile or from other sources of subterranean supply. The desert conditions of this part of the Sahara are more pronounced than in any other region of the ■world; but a considerable population inhabit the oases, and ,Tof, in the Kufra group, was the home of the Senussi JIahdi. whose followers, in various parts of Africa and Asia, number some mil- lions of ilohammedans. (See M0HAiIMED.NISM, Senu.ssi.) The second distinctive feature lies to the east of the Xile — a district of mountains. The roughly oblong piece of country between the Xile and the Red Sea, with Cairo and Suez as its north- ern, and Assuan and Berenice as its southern cor- ners, is a mountainous desert, 150 miles broad, rising gradually from the Xile over sandy wastes and hills of secondary formation for 100 miles, where the elevation is about 2000 feet. Down the centre runs a main ridge or backbone of granite or primary rocks, from which the desert slopes more steeply and evenly to the sea. Clouds hang around the tops of these mountains in winter and there is sutlicient precipitation to provide water and herbage for the scanty tlocks of the Bedouins. Along the Red Sea is a line of jagged moun- tains whose highest summit is about 7000 feet. The third distinctive feature lies south of Assuan — a region of desert hills and of pitiless sand plains, the northern part of the Xubian Desert. This district is bordered on the west Tjy the Xile with its thin fringe of vegetation. The fourth distinctive feature is the vallcv of the Xile. The First Cataract, the only one in Egj-pt. is just sotith of Assuan. The course of the Xile from the southern boundary of Egypt to the sea is about 800 miles. The Lower Xile, from Assuan to Cairo at the head of the Delta, is much visited by tourists. This riverain region, fertilized by flood waters and irrigation canals for an average breadth of nine miles, yields large crops. The Delta, from Cairo to the Mediterranean, covered with a network of navigable streams and irriga- tion canals, is the garden of Eg)-pt. Most of the population and agricultural interests are grouped here, with Cairo, the political and administrative centre, on one side, and Alexandria, the chief port and commercial centre, on the other. On the west side of the Xile, southwest of Cairo, is the depressed valley of Fayum, a fertile tract, in the northern part of which is the lake called Birket- el-Kerun. Clim.'VTE. In the southern part of Egypt there is considerable rainfall : over a large part of Lower Egvpt there is practially no rain. On the imme- diate shores of the Mediterranean, however, there is some i)recipitation, owing to proximity to the sea. Thus at Alexandria, on the coast, the rain- fall is on the average 8 inches, while at Cairo at the head of the Delta, it is but l'^ inclies. There are also great dilVercnccs in temperature. X'ear the sea, where its intluences are felt, the tem- jierature rarely reaches the freezing-])oint. while sometimes during the prevalence of the land-wind from the south, the "Khamsin," it has been known to reach 114°. In the part of Lower Egypt where desert conditions luevail, great contrasts of tem- perature are observed. Throughout Lower Egypt the air is extremely dry, and the sky clear, the average annual cloudiness being not over 20 per cent. The winds blow from the north and north- west during the fall and winter, but in the spring and suiiuuer are often from the south. The hot south Khamsin blows chietly during April and May. There are practically three seasons in the Xile valley: The period of inundation or Hood from the middle of June to the middle of Xovembcr; the so-called springtime, when seeds are planted and crops grow, the period from Xo- vembcr to ilarch; and the summer time, from March to June. Flor.. The date-palm and sycamore are the chief trees of Egjpt, but all the trojjical fruits vliich nourish in a dry climate are found. Among these are lemons, oranges, and figs. Tamarisks and thorny acacias occur in the less dry deserts. !Many species of trees have been introduced, and where thcj* can obtain sutlicient moisture they thrive well. Clover, grains, and cotton are extensively grown in the watered region, and in the Delt.a -region rice and sugar- cane. Tobacco might be a large crop, but its cultivation has been prohibited since 1800. Durra. the almost extinct papyrus, and the lotus are characteristic Egv'ptian plants. Fat:na. Considered with respect to its animals, Egypt is essentially a part of Euro]>e, and not at all Ethiopian. It is, in fact, like the whole south shore of the Jlcditcrranean. classed as a part of the Palearctic Province. ( See DiSTHinrrioN' oi-' Animals.) Perhaps no equally extensive part of the world has witnessed so great a change in its fauna as has occurred in the lower valley of the X'ile during the (1000 years that it has been the seat of historical human occupation. Origi- nally, no doubt, a large area, if not the whole breadth of the country on both sides of the Xile, was clothed with forests, which, sustained a great variety of animals that disappeared with the destruction of the trees: and. on the other hand, some of the most characteristic of the animals of modern Egypt have become so only through man's occupation. Anciently, many of fb.e aninuils of the tro|)ical Xile followed the river down to its Delta, including the elephant and hippopotamus. Crocodiles abounded within historic times, but have long been absent below the cataracts of the Xile. The river still fur- nishes a great variety of fish, few of which, how- ever, are desirable for the table. Among them is the strange ganoid bichir (q.v.). Many varieties