[7]“The Lake of the Horns,” so called from the narrow horn-like promontories which jut out into the lake on the north side. Views of the lake are shown in Plates [I,] [IV,] [XVI.]
[8]This was the case until a year or two ago. At the present time a limited amount of freshwater finds its way to the area immediately north of the east end of the lake and small plots are cultivated by the arabs.
[9]Herodotus, Book II; Strabo, Book XVII; and Diodorus Siculus, Book I, Chap. LI. (See Brown op. cit. p. 19-22.)
[10]“Hawara, Biahmu and Arsinœ,” 1889.
[11]Brown, op. cit. p. 95. As mentioned above in some areas the cultivated land was formerly even more extensive than at present, notably near the modern villages of Roda, Tamia, etc.
[12]For details of evaporation and level-records of the lake, see Brown, op. cit. pp. 6-9, and P.W.M. annual reports.
[13]See Willcocks’ Egyptian Irrigation, 2nd edition, London, 1899.
[14]See A Preliminary Investigation of the Soil and Water of the Fayûm Province, by A. Lucas, Survey Department, Cairo, 1902.
[15]See Appendix II, A Note by Dr. Schweinfurth on the Salt in the Wadi Rayan, in Willcocks’ Egyptian Irrigation, pp. 460-465.
[16]The word “freshness” is used comparatively, as the amount of salt is sufficient to make the water unpalatable or unfit for drinking, except near the feeder canals. It is, however, quite good enough for most culinary purposes, and camels will usually drink from it, although it is not advisable to water the latter from the lake either before or after a fatiguing desert march, as in such cases the salinity of the water may have bad effects.