Africa . pital of the exceedingly fertile basinwliicli surrounds the Birket el Kerun (the lake of thepromontory), the ancient Lake Moeris, fed by a canalfrom the Nile, the water of which is also drawn off bynumerous irrigation canals forming a network over thecultivated lands. In addition to the usual products ofEgypt, roses, apricots, figs, vines, and olives are producedin great quantities in Fayum. Eastward from Beni Suef the Arabian Desert has fre-quently been crossed to the shores of the Gulf of Schweinfurth and Giissfeldt made tliis short journeyin 1876, proceeduig for several d
Africa . pital of the exceedingly fertile basinwliicli surrounds the Birket el Kerun (the lake of thepromontory), the ancient Lake Moeris, fed by a canalfrom the Nile, the water of which is also drawn off bynumerous irrigation canals forming a network over thecultivated lands. In addition to the usual products ofEgypt, roses, apricots, figs, vines, and olives are producedin great quantities in Fayum. Eastward from Beni Suef the Arabian Desert has fre-quently been crossed to the shores of the Gulf of Schweinfurth and Giissfeldt made tliis short journeyin 1876, proceeduig for several days march across a num-ber of wadys between the heights, some of them affordinga scanty pasture for camels, and then into the wide WadyArabah which is six leagues in width, and, like the oasesof the Libyan Desert, is surrounded by steep ^precipices,surmounted by extensive bare plateaus. The two remark-able Koptic monasteries of St. Antonio (Deir MarAntonios) and St. Paul (Deir Mar Bollos) are respectively. EGYPT. 215 on the northern and southern slopes of the heights ofGalala, wliich form the south-eastern side of the more than fifteen centuiies these convents have pre-served their original features; the former is a magnificentbuilding resembling a huge fortress. Eeturning to the Nile voyage, as far as Minieh, animportant town with a population of 18,000 and about155 miles from Cairo, the Arabian mountains on the eastand the steep edges of the Libyan table-land on the westapproach at times close to the banks, presenting a panoramaof romantic groups of rock scenery often serving as thepedestals or framework of a colossal primeval architecture. Crocodiles are first met with in their native freedomat Beni Hassan, a little to the south of Minieh. Theyare frequently seen sunning themselves in the mouthsof the caves and fissm^es of the steep wall of Jebel AbuFoda, one of the most picturesque, but, at the sametime the most dangerous passes of the Nile voyage. Far-ther south
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidafricakeith0, bookyear1884
