It appears that M. D’Anville believed the existence of, and has expressed on his map of Egypt, a hollow or valley, extending the whole way from the lake Kairun, to the neighbourhood of the Gulf of the Arabs. The French, it seems, have never had an opportunity of determining the questions; which appears extraordinary. I shall now proceed to the description of another valley, which may possibly be a branch of the Bahr-bela-ma.
Valley of Mogara.
Mr. Horneman states, that the morning on which he left the foot of the sand hill, he entered the Desert which may be considered as “the natural limit of Egypt.” This Desert extends more than 150 G. miles from east to west: its extent southward, is not known, but it probably borders on the Lesser Oasis. Whether it be a part of that great sandy desert of twelve journies across, between the Greater Oasis and Siwah, Mr. Horneman had no opportunity of knowing; as he remained in uncertainty respecting the course of the Ummesogeir hills, southward.
This Desert, perfectly flat, and covered with shifting sand, is bounded northward by a chain of bare calcareous hills, running nearly east and west, in the line of our traveller’s route. On the side towards the Desert, they are steep, and are bordered by a remarkable valley or hollow, known to extend from the neighbourhood of the Bahr-bela-ma, to the length of a journey of seven days westward. Its breadth is from one mile, to six; it had much standing water in it, at certain seasons; but when Mr. Horneman saw it (in September 1798,) it had only some small lakes or ponds, at intervals; and in several places, tracts of marshy or swampy land, extending for several miles together. The water of the pools was bitter; but sweet water was found close to them, on digging to the depth of four to six feet. (See above, [p. 10.]) The caravans in this route, keep along the edge of the valley, availing themselves of its resources of water, every two or three days; but preferring the sandy path, as being best adapted to the feet of the camels.
How far the valley extends westwards, is not known to us: whether it terminates at the place where Mr. Horneman ascended the hills of Ummesogeir, (which form a continuation of the range of calcareous hills before-mentioned;) or whether it communicates with those valleys, which contain the Greater or Lesser Oasis. Be it as it will, it seems to partake of the nature of those valleys; being situated at the foot of steep calcareous hills, and below the level of the flat Desert beneath them. It is remarked, that the steep sides of all these ranges face the south or west.[29] In one particular, however, this valley of Mogara, differs very widely from those which contain the Oasis, (although it seems very much akin to that of Schiacha; of which more in the sequel,) in that no water springs up to the surface; to which cause we may probably attribute the absence of such tracts of land, as are denominated Oases. The springs indeed, appear to me, to be a characteristic feature of the Oases.
We learn a curious particular from General Andreossy, whilst speaking of the Bahr-bela-ma. He says, (Mém. sur l’Egypte, p. 246,) that the people of Terané on the Nile, transport from a valley situated three days journey beyond the Bahr-bela-ma, a species of rushes, which are manufactured into mats at Menouf, in the Delta. The General supposes the place in question to be a continuation of the Bahr-bela-ma, into the interior of Africa; and indeed it may well be, that the valley of Mogara is a branch of the former: separating from it, at, or near, the place where Mr. Horneman crossed it. The place alluded to by the General, may be about Biljoradek, and in one of the swampy tracts spoken of above: or if the three journies are meant from Terané, as is not impossible, that it will be about Mogara. At all events, we must regard this valley as the place intended by General Andreossy.
This gentleman’s description of the Bahr-bela-ma is well worthy of attention, but is too long to be inserted here. He found in it, petrified wood, of the same kind with that seen by Horneman, in the adjacent sandy Desert:[30] but both of them remark, that the wood has not any mark of a tool on it, as some have fancifully imagined, and have thence regarded the valley as an ancient bed of the Nile, deserted about the date of the foundation of Memphis.
No doubt the hollow in question very much resembles a water-course, both as to form, and from its having pebbles in it; but where is the body of fresh water that could have scooped it out, or have filled it? General Andreossy reckons it nearly nine British miles in breadth, and exceedingly deep; and the Nile does not at any time carry a body of water, equal to one mile in breadth! What the state of things was, at an earlier period of the world, we know not, but within the reach of history, the Nile appears to have been much of the same bulk, as at present.
But this is not the only difficulty. The province of Faiume, through which the supposed issue of the Nile must have been, is separated from the valley of the Nile, by a continuation of the ridge of hills that forms the western wall of Egypt; and through which, (if I understand the matter right,) the passage to the lake of Kairun, by Illahon and Hawara, has been made by art. At all events, this canal or passage cannot be regarded as the continuation of the ancient bed of the Nile from Upper Egypt into the Bahr-bela-ma, because of its confined dimensions: and of course, all idea of the Nile having detached a western branch, or thrown itself into the bed of the lake of Kairun and Bahr-bela-ma, is done away; for even admitting the continuity of these, the hollow that contains the lake, and also constitutes the province of Faiume, must be regarded as a kind of cul de sac to the Bahr-bela-ma, whilst the hills by Illahon existed. And hence I took occasion to remark, elsewhere,[31] that it is possible, that the famous work of the lake Moeris, which now forms a kind of enigma amongst the learned, might have been formed by the very act of cutting through a low part of the western wall of Egypt, and letting the water into the hollow space which now contains the lake of Kairun. But had the Nile ever formed its alluvions adjacent to the Gulf of the Arabs, there would surely be some traces of them remaining, either along the shore, or in the sea itself.
It may be remarked, that there are other valleys or hollows along the course of the Nile, almost equally extensive with that of Faiume, but to whose level the Nile is not yet risen. And here it may not be out of the way to repeat what has been said in another place,[32] that although the Nile in these times, when swoln, flows into the lake Kairun, yet there must have been a time, when its bed was too low to reach it: for it cannot be doubted, that its bed has been gradually rising, by deposition; a necessary effect of the protrusion of the lands of the Delta into the sea: and, of course, that it will continue to rise.[33]