Africa . capital of the exceedingly fertile basinwhich surrounds the Birket el Kerim (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 this short journeyin 1876, proceeding for several da
Africa . capital of the exceedingly fertile basinwhich surrounds the Birket el Kerim (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 this short journeyin 1876, proceeding 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 Alar Bollos) are respectively. I EGYPT. 215 on the northern and southern slopes of the heights ofGalfila, which form the south-eastern side of the more than fifteen centuries 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 fissures of the steep wall of Jebel AbuFocla, one of the most picturesque, but, at the sametime the most dangerous passes of the Nile voyage. Far-ther sou
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Keywords: ., bookauthorkeaneaha, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookyear1878
