rate of the increase of the
soil of Egypt is calculated as about 4-1/2 in. in a century.

_The Lakes._--The lagoons or lakes of the Delta, going from west to
east, are Mareotis (Mariut), Edku, Burlus and Menzala. The land
separating them from the Mediterranean is nowhere more than 10 m.
wide. East of the Damietta mouth of the Nile this strip is in places
not more than 200 yds. broad. All the lakes are shallow and the water
in them salt or brackish. Mareotis, which bounds Alexandria on the
south side, varies considerably in area according to the rise or fall
of the Nile; when the Nile is low there is a wide expanse of marsh,
when at its highest the lake covers about 100 sq. m. In ancient times
Mareotis was navigable and was joined by various canals to the Nile.
The country around was cultivated and produced the famous Mareotic
wine. The canals being neglected, the lake decreased in size, though
it was still of considerable area in the 15th and 16th centuries, and
was then noted for the value of its fisheries. When the French army
occupied Egypt in 1798, Mareotis was found to be largely a sandy
plain. In April 1801 the British army besieging Alexandria cut through
the land between Aboukir and the lake, admitting the waters of the sea
into the ancient bed of Mareotis and laying under water a large area
then in cultivation. This precedent was twice imitated, first by the
Turks in 1803 and a second time by the British in 1807. Mareotis has
no outlet, and the water is kept at a uniform level by means of
powerful pumps which neutralize the effect of the Nile flood. A
western arm has been cut off from the lake by a dyke, and in this arm
a thick crust of salt is formed each year after the evaporation of the
flood water. Near the shores of the lake wild flowers grow in rich
profusion. Like all the Delta lakes, Mareotis abounds in wild-fowl.
North-east of Mareotis was Lake Aboukir, a small sheet of water, now
dry, lying S.W. of Aboukir Bay. East of this reclaimed marsh and
reaching to within 4 m. of the Rosetta branch of the Nile, lies Edku,
22 m. long and in places 16 wide, with an opening, supposed to be the
ancient Canopic mouth of the Nile, into Aboukir Bay. Burlus begins a
little eastward of the Rosetta channel, and stretches bow-shaped for
64 m. Its greatest width is about 16 m. Adjoining it S.E. is an
expanse of sandy marsh. Several canals or canalized cha