[5. A LETTER FROM EGYPT.]
The Nile in Flood.
(From the picture by F. Goodall, R. A., in the Guildhall Gallery. By permission of the Corporation of London.)
1. MY DEAR CHILDREN,—With this letter I am sending you a beautiful picture. Look at it carefully, and you will see what Egypt is like.
2. The water which you see in the picture is part of the great river Nile. If there were no Nile to water the land, Egypt would be nothing but a desert.
3. Once a year, as a rule, the Nile rises and overflows its banks. The waters spread out over the country and cover it with rich mud. In this mud much cotton, sugar, grain, and rice are grown.
4. Egypt now belongs to the British. They have turned part of the Nile into a huge lake, in which the water is stored.
5. The water is let out of the lake when it is needed. It runs into canals, and then into drains, which cross the fields and water them.
6. A sail along the Nile is very pleasant. There are lovely tints of green on the water. As the boat glides on, many villages are passed. Each of these has its snow-white temple.