UJ 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE B/XRPAGE 
 
 AT 
 
 ->** TIIE. HEAD OF THE DELTA OF EGYPT 
 
 COMPILED BY 
 
 MAJOR R. H. BROWN (LATE R. E.) 
 
 INSPECTOR GENERAL &F IRRIGATION IN LOWER EGYPT. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTORY NOTE 
 
 BY 
 
 W. E. GARSTIN ESQ. C. M. 6., 
 
 VXDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR PUBLIC WORKS, EGYPT. 
 
 4 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 CAIRO 1896. 
 F. DIEMER, PUBLISHER, 
 
 INTERNATIONAL BOOKSTORE. 
 
-:.*: 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OF THE BARRAGE. 
 
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FRONTISPIECE. 
 
 View of Rosetta Barrage from down-stream, photographed by 
 Mr. Allan F. Joseph. 
 
 The tower with the flag staff, on the left of the picture, marks the East end of this Barrage. 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE BARRAGE 
 
 AT 
 
 -** THE BEAD OF Tl DELTA OF EGYPT a& 
 
 COMPILED BY 
 
 MAJOR R. H. BROWN (LATE R E.) 
 
 INSPECTOR GENERAL OF IRRIGATION IN LOWER EGYPT. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTORY NOTE 
 
 BY 
 
 W. E. GARSTIN ESQ. C. M. G., 
 
 UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR PUBLIC WORKS, EGYPT. 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 CAIRO 1896. 
 F. DIEMER, PUBLISHER, 
 
 INTERNATIONAL BOOKSTORE. 
 
GIFI 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE 
 
 COMPARATIVELY few persons, now-a-days, make any stay in Cairo, without 
 paying a visit to the great Barrage. Picturesquely situated at the apex of the 
 Delta, and separated from one another by an avenue of magnificent acacias, 
 the two regulating dams with their long lines of arches reflected in the water, 
 and their graceful towers, standing out in strong relief against the sky, combine 
 to form a striking and beautiful picture, and one not readily to be forgotten. 
 
 When it is considered, moreover, that this structure forms the centre 
 from which the great irrigation system of Lower Egypt is directed and 
 controlled, and that upon its existence depend the fertility of over two millions 
 of acres, and the water supply of several millions of human beings and cattle, 
 it is little wonder that it should form an object of interest to the visitor, rivalled 
 only in importance by the Pyramids, the Sphinx and the Giseh Museum. 
 
 Major Brown has thought that a short account of the origin and 
 construction of this work would meet a much felt want, and enable those, 
 possessing no technical knowledge of the subject, to appreciate the long and 
 arduous struggle which its completion has entailed, between the trained energy 
 of man and the forces of the great river, with its immense volume of water, 
 its powerful springs and its shifting sandy bed. 
 
 Major Brown possesses special qualifications for the task which he 
 has undertaken. As Inspector General of Irrigation in Lower Egypt, the 
 regulation and supervision of the Barrage are in his hands. As a writer upon 
 scientific questions he has already acquired a reputation, to which several 
 papers, printed by the Royal Engineers Institute, can testify. He is, moreover 
 the author of the work entitled "The Fayum and Lake Moeris", well known 
 to those interested in subjects connected with Egypt. 
 
 
VI 
 
 In the present instance he has, I consider, achieved success. He tells 
 his story so graphically and clearly as to render it easy of comprehension 
 even to persons unacquainted with the rudiments of Hydraulic Engineering. He 
 has an interesting history to relate. His narrative more especially throws a light 
 upon the manner in which vast projects were undertaken and carried out in 
 Egypt during the earlier portion of the present century. 
 
 His account of the impatient Viceroy (Mehemet Ali), who directed the 
 demolition of the Ghiseh pyramids in order to furnish stone for the works, and 
 who further commanded that a given quantity of material should, whether 
 required or not, be put daily into the foundations, proves how absolutely the 
 engineers of that period were subject to the caprice of the ruler of the country. 
 Stories of this kind would be amusing, did we not know that such actions 
 played their share in building up the heavy burden of indebtedness, under 
 which Egypt at the present moment labours. 
 
 Originating with Napoleon I., the idea of regulating the Nile supply by 
 means of dams was taken up with enthusiasm by the founder of the present 
 dynasty, the great Mehemet Ali. To the talented Frenchman, Linant de 
 Bellefonds, belongs the honour of having first caused this idea to assume a 
 concrete shape. To his compatriot, Mougel Bey, must be awarded the still 
 greater honour of having designed and carried to completion the structure which 
 to this day stands as a monument to his name. 
 
 It is true that the work, as constructed by the latter, was faulty in 
 certain of its more important parts, but the faults in question were due rather 
 to the impetuosity and to the arbitrary nature of his master than to any lack 
 of engineering talent on the part of Mougel Bey himself. 
 
 Major Brown relates how, for years after its completion, the Barrage 
 remained unused on account of the ominous signs which, from the commencement, 
 it had given of its inability to withstand the strain due to even a moderate 
 head of water. 
 
 He describes the numerous commissions which sat upon the work 
 between the years 1861 and 1883, and epitomises the reports made by the 
 many experts who were called in to examine the question and advise the 
 commissioners thereupon. 
 
VII 
 
 He explains how the studies of these twenty-two years resulted in the 
 official condemnation of the entire construction in 1883. 
 
 He further shows how it was reserved for two Englishmen, Sir Colin 
 Scott-Moncrieff and Mr. Willcocks, to prove in 1884 that the condemned structure 
 could be converted into one that was practically sound. The former boldly 
 accepted the responsibility of attempting what he was universally warned was 
 an impossible task, and the latter vindicated the action of his chief by 
 successfully demonstrating that the Barrage, if repaired, could be used for the 
 purpose for which it had been originally designed. 
 
 With these two names must ever be associated those of Lieut. Colonel 
 Western and the late Mr. Reid, who were specially charged with the work of 
 restoration. To them belongs the honour of having repaired the unsound work, 
 and rendered it capable of playing its present important part in the regeneration 
 of Egyptian irrigation. Major Brown indicates clearly the numerous and 
 apparently insuperable difficulties against which these two officers had to 
 contend throughout the progress of the operations, and how it was entirely 
 owing to their high technical skill and to their self-denying labours, that the 
 final results proved to be so satisfactory. 
 
 Lastly, as Major Brown informs us, it is to his predecessor Mr. Foster 
 that the credit must be allotted of having perfected the work during the years 
 succeeding the completion of the main repairs. Throughout this period he devoted 
 himself steadily and patiently to the task of staunching the springs which passed 
 underneath the structure, and at the moment of greatest pressure appeared 
 just down-stream of its floor. So successful was he in this, that in the present 
 year (1895) it has not been found necessary to spend any money in connection 
 with the Barrage special repairs. 
 
 Those portions of Major Brown's note which describe the foundation of 
 the dam, both as regards the original and the restored work, show very 
 plainly how insecure was the base upon which the construction was founded. 
 With one portion of it built upon shifting sand, and another upon a mass of 
 loose stone laid on the river bed, it is not surprising that, as soon as completed, 
 it should have shown signs of instability. The sudden failure of a portion of 
 the newly laid floor, during the progress of Colonel Western's operations, 
 
VIII - 
 
 indicated, in the most unmistakeable manner, how unreliable was the soil upon 
 which the great mass rested. 
 
 Even now, as completed, it would be rash to assert that the Barrage 
 is a thoroughly sound work at every point : it can at best be described as one, 
 which, originally defective, has been repaired as completely as under the 
 circumstances was possible. 
 
 Its future must always, therefore, give rise to a certain amount of 
 anxiety. It will always require the most careful handling and the most untiring 
 supervision : these being, however, given, and in the absence of any unforeseen 
 catastrophe, there appears to be no reason for doubting that it should endure 
 for an indefinite period. 
 
 One fact is certain: were the Barrage to fail tomorrow, it would, in 
 the increased value of the cotton crop alone, have repaid the sum expended 
 upon its restoration many times over. 
 
 Major Brown's figures show, that during the fourteen years preceding 
 the commencement of the repairs, the average annual yield of the cotton crop 
 was two and a half million kantars. In the six years, during which the work 
 was in progress, this figure rose to three million kantars, while in the six 
 years subsequent to the completion of the restoration works, the average 
 annual out-turn was four and three quarter millions of kantars, the figure of 
 five millions having thrice been surpassed. 
 
 Briefly then it may be stated, that since the completion of the Barrage 
 repairs the cotton crop in Egypt has been doubled. It cannot, however, be 
 asserted that the above increase is wholly due to the effect of the work in 
 question. Improvements in seed and in the system of cultivation have un- 
 doubtedly played their share in the result. Admitting this fact, it can hardly be 
 denied that the improved and assured summer water-supply due to the Barrage 
 must necessarily have been the principal agent in ensuring the increase. If to 
 the above be added the benefits resulting to the country from the economies 
 realised in the annual canal clearances, in the cost of lifting water, and above 
 all in the suppression of the Corvee, the case in justification of the expenditure 
 incurred in the restoration of the Barrage becomes an overwhelmingly strong 
 
IX 
 
 one. The Administrators of the Finances of Egypt will, I am sure, cordially 
 allow how considerable a share in the improvement of the revenues of the 
 country is due to the work in question.' 
 
 It is to be hoped that the time is not far distant, when Mougel Bey's 
 grand work will form a single portion of a great system, by which the 
 inhabitants of Southern Egypt, and even those of the Soudan, shall profit to 
 an extent equal to that already experienced by their more fortunate brethren 
 in the North from the construction of the Great Barrage. 
 
 W, E, GARSTIN, 
 
 UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR PUBLIC WORKS. 
 
 CAIRO, December 1893. 
 
 NOTE: 
 
 Since the above was written, we have decided upon taking further 
 precautions against failure, and upon" strengthening those portions of the structure 
 which are known to rest upon an unstable foundation. The system to be 
 employed is that invented by Mr. Kinipple M. I. C. E., and consists in the 
 removed of the bad subsoil and the substitution of sound material forced in 
 under pressure. 
 
 The above work will be commenced upon a limited scale during the 
 ensuing winter, and if we are satisfied with the results obtained, will be 
 gradually extended throughout the entire construction. 
 
 CAIRO, July 1896. W. E. G. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Introductory Note ......... V 
 
 Preface XV 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 History of the Barrage previous to 1884. 
 
 Proposals and Projects. 
 
 Conditions necessitating a Barrage ..... 1 
 
 Proposal to construct a Barrage ..... 3 
 
 Linant's Project ...'.... 6 
 
 Construction. 
 
 Execution and Abandonment of Linant's Project . . . 6 
 
 Mongol's Project ........ 7 
 
 Comparison of Linant's and Mongol's Projects . . . 10 
 Execution of Mougel's Project . . . . . .11 
 
 Commissions and Reports. 
 
 Commission of 1861 and 1863 ...... 17 
 
 Disastrous attempt to use the Barrage . . . .18 
 
 Linant's unfavourable Report ...... 18 
 
 Sir John Fowler's Proposals ...... 22 
 
 General Randall's Report ...... 24 
 
XII 
 
 Page. 
 
 Official condemnation. 
 
 Rousseau Pasha's Verdict ...... 26 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Object and description of the Barrage . . . .31 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 History of the Barrage from 1884 . 
 
 Practical Experiments and the Work of Restoration. 
 
 Rousseau Pasha's Verdict appealed 37 
 
 Practical Experiments instituted ..... 38 
 
 The Verdict considered . . . . . . .41 
 
 The Verdict not confirmed, but restoration decided on . . 41 
 
 Project of Restoration ....... 42 
 
 Execution - - 1886 to 1890 47 
 
 Cost and quantities of work of restoration .... 52 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Work done by the Barrage. 
 
 Effect produced on the River levels ..... 53 
 Springs below the Damietta Barrage ..... 56 
 Benefits resulting from restoration ..... 58 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Proposed operations for further security of Barrage foundations. 63 
 
LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 Page 
 
 Frontispiece. View of Rosetta Branch Barrage from clown -stream. 
 
 Photograph by Mr. Allan F, Joseph, at present in charge of 
 
 the Barrage. 
 Plate I. Portion of Linant's Map, showing sites of Linant's and 
 
 Mongol's Barrages. ....... 9 
 
 II. Plan and Section of the Rosetta Barrage, showing its state 
 
 in 1853, according to Linant. . . . . .16 
 
 III. View of road-way of Rosetta Barrage, showing displacement 
 
 of 1867. Photograph by Mr. A. F. Joseph. ... 19 
 
 IV. Cross section of the Barrage, showing Sir J. Fowler's proposed 
 
 additions. ......... 23 
 
 V. View of the Damietta Barrage up-stream from the cross channel 
 
 connecting the two Barrages. Photograph by Mr. A. F. Joseph. 29 
 VI. General diagrammatic plan of the Barrages and Main Canal 
 
 Heads. 32 
 
 VII. Details of the Barrage as originally designed, from vVillcock's 
 
 "Egyptian Engineering". ...... 34 
 
 W VIII. Type Section of the Barrage adopted for the restoration. . 36 
 IX. View of the Rosetta Barrage during the third season's work 
 
 of restoration, taken from the East end. Photograph by 
 
 Mr. J. Heyman, Photographer, Cairo. . . . .43 
 X. View of the Rosetta Barrage during the third season's work 
 
 of restoration, taken from up-stream, showing the old condemned 
 
 gates, and vertical shuttings before removal. Photograph by 
 
 Mr. Heyman. ........ 49 
 
PREFACE 
 
 becoming Inspector General of Irrigation in Lower Egypt, I felt the 
 want of a collected account of the History of the Barrage, and moreover 
 I was informed by a publisher, that requests were frequently made to him for 
 such a work. I therefore put the following account together for my own 
 information and for the convenience of those who take an intelligent interest 
 in Egypt and its modern works of utility, which bring riches to its people. It 
 will serve as a variety to the guide - books, which deal with Egypt and its 
 Ancient Monuments of Vanity, on which the country's wealth was pur- 
 poselessly spent. 
 
 I have not attempted to make the account sufficiently light for the 
 tourist whose mental digestion is upset by all descriptions of solid food. For 
 him the Barrage will be looked upon as a pleasant spot for a day's picnic, 
 and that is all: "A primrose by the river's brim, a yellow primrose was to 
 him, and it was nothing more." 
 
 The History of the Barrage naturally divides itself into two periods, 
 (1) that of Projects, Construction and Confessed Failure, and (2) that of Practical 
 Experiments, Restoration and Acknowledged Success. A short Chapter 
 descriptive of the Barrage and its Object, separates these two periods in the 
 following account. 
 
 The works, from which extracts, often literal and lengthy, have been 
 made and illustrations borrowed to form this compilation, are the following: - 
 
 "Memoires sur les Principaux Travaux d'utilite publique executes en 
 Egypte" par Linant de Bellefonds Bey. 
 
XVI 
 
 "L'Egypte, son avenir agricole et financier" par Felix Paponot. 
 
 "Note on the Barrage" by Sir C. Scott-Moncrieff, K.C.M.G. C.S.I. 
 
 "Irrigation in Egypt", Lectures by Sir C. Scott-Moncrieff, Professional 
 Papers of R.E., Vol. XIX. 
 
 "Egyptian Irrigation" by W. Willcocks, M.I.C.E. 
 
 "Annual Irrigation Reports, Egypt" from 1884 to 1894 inclusive. 
 
 Manuscripts in the Khedivial Library, and Public Works Ministry, Cairo, 
 have also been consulated. 
 
 The two general views of the Barrages and the view of the road-way, 
 showing the displacement of 1867, were photographed for this paper by 
 Mr. Allan F. Joseph, who is the Inpector at present charged with the care 
 of the Barrage and its regulation. The two other photographs, showing the 
 work of restoration, were taken for the Egyptian Government in 1889 by 
 Mr. J. Heyman, a professional photographer of Cairo. 
 
CHAPTER 1. 
 History of the Barrage previous to 1884. 
 
 Conditions necessitating a Barrage. 
 
 IT is recorded by Clot Bey that Napoleon Bonaparte when in Kirvpt 
 in 17!is and I Tli'.i durinir the French occupation, foresaw the construction of 
 a Barrage at the head of the Delta to control the distribution of water in the 
 two branches of the Nile; and ihat lie irave ex))ression to liis anticipations of 
 the future in the followini. 1 ' words: 
 
 "Til jour viendra oil I'on entreprendra nil travail d'etablissement de 
 digues harraut les hrauclies de Daniiette et de Kosette an ventre de la vache. 
 ce i[iii, nioyeimaut des batardeanx. pennettra de laisser passer Successivement 
 tontes les ean\ du Nil dans line branche on dans I'antre et de doubler ainsi 
 rinondation." 
 
 The day that Napoleon is said to have foreseen soon came in the rei^n 
 of Meheniet AH. who became Viceroy of Kirypt in 1805. He was a man of 
 energetic action and lost no time in introducing a period of activity in irrigation 
 works, making use of the unpaid labour of the Corvee as his instrument for 
 carryiiiir them out. 
 
 At the commencement of his rei^n, Lower, as well as l'|>per Kirypt. 
 was iri'i^ated under the basin system, that is, by inundation, and depended on 
 the height of the floo.l for its water-sup])ly. Too low a Nile would leave 
 
 i 
 
iint'avoiinilily situated lands without inundation, an. I hence the idea, that had 
 snuyosted itself to the mind of Napoleon, of a I.arra<re for obtaining such 
 control over the river that a. Hood, which was a low one in the united Nile 
 above its bifurcation , could be made a hiirh one in each branch of Lower 
 Kirypt alternately, by adopting, as it were, the military principle of concen- 
 ti'iitinir one's forces in succession on the separated parts of an enemy s army 
 and defeatini!- them in detail. 
 
 The development of cotton cultivation on a larjrc scale in Lower Kifypt 
 during ilehemet All's reiirn necessitated a radical change in the whole canal 
 system. Under the basin system winter crops, such as wheat, barley, beans 
 and clover, were in-own on the lands from which the Nile flood had retired 
 after immdatinir them. Hut cotton cannot be rown under these conditions, lor 
 it requires to be protected from inundation, and also to be planted and irri- 
 gated before the. Nile be.inns to rise. Hence it became necessary to embank 
 the branches of the river for the protection of the cotton cultivation from 
 inundation, and to diir deep canals to conduct the low level waters of the sum- 
 mer Nile to the neighbourhood of th.' crops to be irrigated. The water, beiujr 
 so much within soil, had, durinir the low Nile season, to be lifted onto the land 
 by pumps, sakyas or shadnfs. To make and maintain the Nile banks, so as 
 to be capable of resisting hi^h Hoods, and to di,y and keep clear the canals, 
 so that they should be deep cuoiurli to How at low Nile, was a task that fell 
 heavily on the country, and had to be executed by unpaid labour. Lilian) 
 ]>ey calculated that the quantity of work necessary for the effective clearance 
 of the canals alone, (without taking into account the maintenance of the Nile 
 banks.) would have com' to over l:i million cubic metres a year, requiring an 
 army of I'T.-NU men working for 100 days to execute it. Such a clumsy system 
 was unable to produce the results desired, though the taskmasters did not 
 fail through tender-heartedness to make the lives of the laboureis hitter with 
 hard bondage in those days when the "Koorbash" was still a recognised and 
 favourite instrument of government. 
 
 So it became necessary to devise some more scientific method for ob- 
 taining and distributing water. The conjuration of the Delta naturally 
 
suirirosted the construction, across the heads of the two branches of til: 1 Nil: 1 , 
 of Barrages or Re.irulators, which would raise the low 1,'vel of the SUIUIIKT 
 Nile by such an amount that water would How into the canals, takin.ir oil' from 
 above the regulators, at so hiirh a level that it would not b - necessary 
 to clear tin 1 beds to a greater depth below country surface than was reasonable 
 and practicable. 
 
 But. before such a project took shape, Meheinet AH had. in l.s:;:?. 
 boldly commenced operations for increasini: the Damietta supply at the expense 
 of the Kosetta. The water levels of the Damietta Branch lieinir alwavs higher 
 than those of the Kosetta. the irrigation of the pail of the Delta, which lies 
 between the two branches, as well as the part on the Ivist of the Damietta 
 Brand), was carried on almost entirely from canals taking oft' the last named 
 branch. Therefore, to obtain more water during summer in those canals which 
 served as perennial canals for the Central and Hasten) Delta. Meheinet Ali. 
 with but little consideration for Beherah Province and regardless of the water 
 supply of Alexandria, proposed to dam the Rosetta Brand) by a bank of loose 
 stone, and divert all the wat'r into th; 1 Damietta Brand). The i.lea was a 
 bold one. but this is the only complimentary epithet that can be applied to 
 it. If the proposal had been carried out, it would probably not have succeeded, 
 whidi would have been a matter for congratulation, as success would have 
 li.i I more unsatisfactory results than failure. 
 
 Proposal to construct a Barrage. 
 
 The work of damming the Rosetta Branch at Koratayn had actually 
 been be.irun. when Linaut Bey (afterwards Linant Pasha), then in charge of 
 tin 1 I miration of I'pper fvrypt, arrived from the South, lie at once pointed 
 out the probable consequences of such a violent interference with natural 
 arnniireiiicnts. and proposed the construction, across the head of each branch, 
 of a ReL'-ulatinir Barrage designed to <rive command over the distribution of the 
 water between the two brandies in summer, and to leave a free passage for 
 
 i 
 
4 
 
 the river during ;i Hood. Whereupon, with nothing but the l>;ire proposal 
 before him. .Mehemet Ali. with characteristic impetuosity, forthwith ordered 
 M. Liimnt to proceed with the eollectiou of the materials necessary to carry 
 out his proposals, after iroing through the form of submitting a note to the 
 "(Jrand Coiiseil". M. Linant was then pressed by the members of the Council 
 to state what materials were necessary, and, in order to satisfy their impatience, 
 In' gave a figure of the quantity of ashlar, rubble stone and lime require. I. 
 asking that a Commission might be appoint";! to study the whole subject. 
 
 At this stage Mehemet Ali. with his mind excited by the Barrage 
 project and more impatient than his Council, proposed to M. Lilian!, to 
 dismantle the (Ji/eh Pyramids in order to utilise the stone from them in the 
 construction of the Barrages. M. Linant. knowing how to deal with his master, 
 as an Irishman knows how to persuade his pig t<> move in tlie right direction. 
 did not oppose the idea as an unparalelled act of vandalism, but proceeded to 
 prepare a project for tlii> demolition. Surroimde 1 by the halo of a Commission. 
 composed of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Public Works and Public In- 
 struction, lie went to the Pyramids, and prepared his project for their 
 demolition, according to his own account conscientiously. Whether conscientiously 
 arrived at or not, or with a bias in favour of the continued existence of (lie 
 'Pyramids, the final results of the calculations showed that it would be more 
 economical to obtain stone direct from the quarries than from the Pyramids, 
 which consideration turned the Viceroy from his purpose. And so the 
 Pyramids remain to this day to grow yet older. 
 
 The Commission, which M. Linant asked might be called to study the 
 project of the Barrage, was meantime formed and included a charming variety of 
 assorted talent. The members were an architect, the Chief Engineer of the 
 Delia, the Director of the School of Engineering and a retired boatman in the 
 confidence of the Viceroy, all of the foregoing being Egyptians. To these 
 were added two English engineers, a foreign engineer who had studied in 
 Kngland, two French Commandants of Artillery and a French mining engineer. 
 
 This commission divided into two camps in favour of different projects. 
 It is a wonder it did not divide into more. The one camp advocated tl:e 
 
((instruction of a solid dam or weir with fixed height of nvsl. mi each branch 
 of the Nile, at 1 >eiroue on the Damietta liranch and al lleni Salaina on the 
 Kosetta. It was |iro])osed in this scheme that the Hood should pass ,,n / tiie 
 dam. and also through a larire opening at each end of it. which would he 
 opened in the flood season and lie kept closed during summer, on the principle 
 of the ancients with their undor-slnices. as constructed in India. The Kiiirlish 
 element in the Commission ^ravo its support to this project, not improbably 
 influenced in its favour by what they had learnt had lieen done with success 
 in India, where however the conditions were different. It was ur^od as an 
 objection to the adoption of such a form of dam in Kirypt that it would be 
 difliciilt to raise the xiinnmT level of the Kiver to the extent desirable by such 
 a permanent obstruction without raising the flmul level to an undesirable 
 extent up-stream, and. as a result (in the case of the J)elta Harra^e) inundating 
 Cairo and much else, .lurther it was argued that The power irf distributing 
 water in summer, as illicit be wished, between the two branclie-J would not 
 be obtained by such an arrangement. 
 
 In connection wiih this proposal it is interestim. 1 ' to note th.it, when 
 in later years the question of restoring the unsound I.arra.^e was under con- 
 sideration. Mr. \VilIcocks made a proposal to remove nil the piers and to raise 
 the floor permanently 2.-V) metres: on the top of this 1loor he proposed to 
 add niovoable drop ^ates 1 .."><) metres hisdi. He maintained that a solid wall 
 _'..">() metres hidi would not obstruct more of a liii/li Hood than (he present piers 
 do. r.ut though this would have been creating a solid immovable dam or \\eir. 
 such a weir would not have had a /i,.n/ crest, as tin 1 irntes of l..">o metres 
 height would have been made use of for raising the summer level to the extent 
 desirable, while at the same time the lixe.l obstruction would not have raised 
 the Hood level to an extent greater than the existing liarra'v does. 
 
Linant's Project. 
 
 Tlir other project. favoured hy .M. Linant and the rest of the Commission 
 was to construct open narrates across the t\vo branches as mar as possible to the 
 head of the Delta, then at Derrawe: the Kosetta Branch Barrage to be situated 
 at KalV-.Mansonr and the Damietta Branch Barrage below Derrawe. at both 
 whicli sites the bends of the river favoured such a disposition of the works. 
 These two Ban-ages were, according to this project, to be regulators capable 
 of raising during summer the water level np-stiv;uii of them to the height 
 required to supply the three main canals which were destined to irrigate nearly 
 all Lower Kgvpt. During the time of flood the regulating apparatus was to 
 be removed, so that the river might be given a free passage through the 
 Barrage, and not be headed up. 
 
 Execution and Abandonment of Linant's Project. 
 
 The latter project, which w.is undoubtedly the more suitable one, 
 received the Viceroy's approval, ami the excavation for the work was begun 
 forthwith towards the end of 1S3.-J by mans of Corvee labour, the men being 
 sent onto the work by the orders of the Viceroy in such numbers as to cause 
 considerable embarrassment to those in charge of the work. But in spite of 
 tlu> confusion that overcrowding produced (and only those who have worked 
 with Kgyptian labourers can appreciate what that means), a start was made, 
 and work went on fairly well, until in 1<S.T> the plague, that Kiuglake describes 
 in "Kothen". visited the works and made itself master there for four months, 
 during which period the works wore suspended. Still the preparation of the 
 project progressed, so that, in July IH-'M, M. Linant was able to present to 
 the Viceroy the designs and estimates nf the Barrages complete, and to get 
 them accepted. By this time ti.c plague had left. But the work itself seems 
 to have been stricken by the pest, for it languished as one doomed to die. 
 
The number* of the labourers dwindled, materials ceased to arrive, and 
 M. Linant himself, now no longer occupied in attending to the (-(instruction of 
 the Barrages, was called in is:57 to the Ministry to direct tin* Public Works 
 Department. 
 
 The Viceregal interest would have been capable of reviving the spent 
 energy, but Mis Highness Mehemet Ali had grown 'iral of the Barrages, and 
 from being impetuous had grown lukewarm. In this state of mind he appointed 
 a Commission of sixteen members to examine the question of the desirability of 
 such constructions. To this Commission his view, that Barrages were not 
 necessary, was enough plainly indicated to guide a subservient Commission 
 to conclusions in agreement with His Highness's views. But the Commission 
 did not take the hint though so plainly Driven, and declared decidedly in favour 
 of Barrages as proposed by .M. Linant. setting forth in its report the advantage's 
 that would result from their construction and recommending a continuance of 
 the work. The Viceroy, notwithstanding, after reading this report, replied 
 officially to the .Minister, that the Commission was quite right, but still he did 
 not want Barrages. The materials collected were therefore removed from the 
 site of the projected regulators to other works, and the workshops dismantled 
 for the sake of the wood of which they were constructed. And that was the 
 end of M. Linant's BaiTa'jv. a child still-born. 
 
 Wlougel's Project. 
 
 A few years later, in 1S42. Monsieur Mongol (afterwards .Mougei Bey) 
 arrived in Kgvpt to construct the graving dock in Alexandria. On an occasion 
 presenting itself, lie proposed to .Mehemet Ali another system of carrying out 
 the construction of the Barrages, with which he combined a. scheme of forti- 
 fications to please the military mind of the Viceroy. He claimed to have dis- 
 covered an artificial pu/./uolana in Alexandria, which made the construction 
 of a Barrage a more hopeful undertaking. Mis Highness listened, and, 
 pleased perhaps with the idea of making the Barrage a military centre, directed 
 
-- s 
 
 M. .Mougel to prepare his project, at the same time calling upon M. Linant to 
 nive him all information possible, as well as the henetit of his experience. 
 In compliance with this order .M. Linant handed over his complete project to 
 M. .Mougel. not. we may be sure, without some feelings of bitterness as he 
 parted with the unused baby clothes of his still-horn child for another's child 
 to wear. 
 
 In January 1S43 M. Mongel laid his project before, the Conseil des 
 1'onts et Chaussces. The design of the Barrage, according to this project, 
 wive .'i ( .i arches to the Rosetta Marrage and 4.~> to the Damietta, all of 8 metres 
 width divided by vertical iron uprights into two bays of 4 metres width. It 
 was intended to hold up to (> metres above Low Water Level. Mongol 
 considered (and subsequent experience has shown him to have been right) 
 that all the Low Nile water was re'|iiired lor irrigation and that the work 
 should be designed to provide for its being all utilised. Hut the Conseil des 
 Fonts et Chaussees thought that this was "almost absolutely impossible" of 
 attainment, as they calculated that the canals could not be made to carry the 
 whole of the summer supply. And not only did they consider it to be impossible, 
 but even undesirable, as navigation and sanitation along the two branches 
 would suffer seriously were the whole summer supply diverted into irrigation 
 canals. Finally the Council gave it as its opinion that the project had 
 not been sufficiently studied. 
 
 But that was nothing to Mehemet Ali: sooner than delay, he adopted 
 the project as it stood and gave orders for the construction of the Barrages 
 and the fortilications combined with them, under the direction of M. Mongol. 
 Tiie Barrage which now exists is the result of this order, but the original 
 design was modified. 
 
PLATE I. 
 EXTRAIT DE LA CARTE DE LINANT DE BELLEFDNDS BEY 
 
1 
 
 Comparison of Linant's and Mougel's Projects. 
 
 It will be convenient before going I'nrtlier with this account ID 
 compare the two projects of M. Liimnt and M. Mongel. The sites chosen tor 
 AI. Linant's Barrages were on the Kosetta Branch !) kilometres and on the 
 Damietta .") kilometres to the North of tlie present one. (see Plate I), and 
 the sections of the Murrain 1 on cither branch of the liver would have been 
 (J kilometres distant the one from the other. In the present Barrage, which 
 is Mougel's, the two sections are so near as to almost form one work, so that 
 it is the custom now to speak of the two together in the singular as "'the 
 Barrage". In consequence of this union, the regulation of the Barrages 
 themselves, and of the Canal Heads taking off above them, is easily controlled 
 
 BK/UVCH 
 
 Sif. 1 
 
 LONGITUDINAL SECTION 
 
 From Willcocks -Kjjypti.in lrrig:ui<in". 
 
 by one Director in charge of the whole: anil the daily examination of all the 
 l>'>'i;'iilators is much facilitated, especially now that a tramway for trollies 
 connects all the parts of the Barrage by which the water distribution is effected. 
 The separation of the Regulators by long distances, as in M. Linant's project, 
 would not have been such a convenient arrangement as the one actually 
 adopted. But M. Linant claims on behalf of his project, that lie would have 
 had more reliable constructions, since his works would have been built in good 
 
soil, while M. Monti's were actually founded upon loose sand. Also, sine,' 
 the works, as designed by M. Linant, would have been built in the dry oiitsi, li- 
 the course of the river (which would not have been diverted thioiigh them 
 until they were complete), the foundations could have been .sriven a level bed 
 and the concrete have been laid in the dry: whereas. building as Mougel did, 
 in the river bed itself, the work was founded on an uneven surface, and the 
 concrete was, to a threat extent, laid in running water. The varying level> of 
 the bed are shown in Fig. 1- which is a longitudinal section along the Kosetta 
 Barrage. At the West end of this line the sand bed rose 4 metres above the 
 summer low water level, while towards the East end the river bed was 1G 
 metres below the same water level. (See also the diagram, Fig- -') 
 Hence the \Vest end was founded on loose sand, and the East end on a mass 
 of rubble stone, 12 metres in height and GO metres broad at the deepest part, 
 which was pitched in to form a platform for the concrete to be laid upon. 
 (See also Plate 11.) The concrete layer was consequently formed in running 
 Witter, and did not therefore set and had to be relaid, probably more than oner. 
 
 Execution of Mougel's Project. 
 
 For the s years succeeding' the acceptance of M. Mongol's project in 
 1843, the construction of the Barrage was carried on fitfully with more or 
 less rapidity and success. The Damietta Barrage was begun first and no 
 special difficulties are recorded as having been met with in connection with it. 
 No account exists of the condition of the foundations, but Mougel stated that 
 the work here is excellent, since it was practically built in the dry. 
 
 In June 1S47 the Rosetta Barrage was begun. Mehemet AH, impatient 
 for the completion of the work, ordered that 1000 cubic metres of concrete 
 were to be laid daily whether possible or not. It so happened that in this 
 year the river level in April was more than one metre higher than it had 
 been at the same time the year before. Difficulties were also occasioned in 
 
12 
 
 consequence dt' the earth excavated from the foundations having been thrown 
 too near the edge of tlie pit, anil therefore causing slips, which interfered 
 with the work. M. Mongol attempted to earn out the Viceroy's order in spite 
 of difliciilties and technical objections to doing so, knowing that lie would 
 have been dismissed, had he acted otherwise. In went the concrete, as fast 
 as it could be got in, to too shallow a depth at the West end. and into running 
 water at the Kast end over the loose rubble mass. Naturally the lime of the 
 concrete mixture was carried away by the current, and the concrete lost the 
 ingredient which gave it the property of setting. Naturally also springs found 
 their way through the material that remained and upon which the Barrage was 
 to be founded. 
 
 The following account* of the manner in which the Barrage was 
 constructed was -riven to M. Willcocks by Mousse I Bey himself and is therefore 
 worth reproducing in full: 
 
 "A level of 8.80 nistres above the Mediterranean Sea (or 8. -20 metres 
 on the Barrage gauge) was fixed as the mean bed of the river at the bifurcation. 
 The floor was to be 3.50 metres deep, and consequently a reduced level of 
 1.70 metres was the formation level of the bottom of the floor. Owing to 
 scour along the right bank of the Rosetta Branch, the bed of the river 
 was some 10 metres below this level at the deepest points; while on the left 
 bank there was considerable silt deposit above it. 
 
 w~^^- 
 
 '&%j$$ffl.&** ' 
 
 If the above Fig. > represents a cross section of the Rosetta Branch 
 at the site of the Barrage during construction, and the line AB the bottom 
 
 * "Egyptian Irrigation" by Willcocks p. !.">". 
 
13 
 
 to the Hour, the pail from A to ('. where the floor is below the bed of the 
 river, was lir.st constructed. The sand was excavated as far as possible in the 
 dry, and then two rows of sheet piling were driven along the up and down- 
 si ream faces of the platform. In the 
 cross section Fig. :$, K F and (ill are 
 sheet piles; within the sheet piling the 
 sand was dredged out down to a reduced 
 level of 4.70 metres, and concrete 
 skipped into the water to its full 
 thickness of '} metres, and then allowed 
 to set. Next season the sand was removed from above the concrete K L, 
 and a cotter-dam MN, Fig. 4. was erected on the concrete, enclosing the space 
 to be occupied by about live openings. The cotter-dam was made water-tight 
 and the water was pumped out. The springs through the concrete were then 
 staunched, the stone and brickwork floor OP laid over the concrete, and the 
 piers raised to one metre above water-level. 
 
 Fiy. 4 
 
 Sheet nttes 
 
 ' 
 
 PL/IN 
 
 The cotter-dam was then moved forward, and the space to be occnpie.1 
 by live new openings enclosed, and treated in the, same way. The slieel 
 piling, KF and G H, was not cut down to floor level, but projected both up 
 and down -stream of the platform to a height of one metre above the floor. 
 There seems to have been no difficulty experienced in this method of working, 
 except under the arches numbered 7, 8, !) and 10. near the left flank; here 
 the sand was of a particularly fine quality, dark in colour and very light. 
 
\vith the springs strongly impregnate;! with decayed organic matter. In spite 
 of the dredger working- in still water, tlie tine saml poured in fast from 
 between the piles, and after being dredged was allowed to accumulate to a 
 height of 8 metres and upwards, just outside the sheet piles. The more it 
 Accumulated the more the silt ran in, until the deepening of tlr trench became 
 an impossibility. 
 
 Mongel Bey wanted to postpone the work to the following year, but 
 the Viceroy was urgent: men were crowded into the quicksand, the concrete 
 skipped in, and the mixture of concrete and quicksand had to do duty for 
 the floor. Mongol Bey says that the concrete there could not be more than 
 1.50 metre thick; Linant Bey says that the springs there were always 
 Considerable, cracks appeared in the superstructure before any water was 
 hell up on the Barrage, and eventually this part of the Barrage failed and 
 was surrounded by a coffer-dam Kig. "). 
 
 Referring to the cross section of the river Fig. _' on paire 12, it will 
 be seen that the construction of the Barrage along the part CB, where the 
 floor is higher than the bed of the river, could not have li.vn eirriud out as 
 above. Here a mass of loose stone was pitched into th^ river from boats. 
 until the upper surface of the tipped stone corresponded with the bottom of 
 the platform on the line A B. Into this barrier of stone, sheet piling (along 
 the up and down-stream edges of the platform) was driven in as far as it 
 
 * The numbers of Ihr arches given in Fig. 5 are according In the old molhnd of numbeiiiig. 
 According to the new method No. 61 of Fig. 5 should be No. 1 and No. 40 should be No. 16. 
 
15 
 
 could go. .Sail cloth was laid on the up-stream side of the piles and held 
 against the piles by the force of the current. The concrete was .skipped 
 into the water between the piles. As much of this concrete was skipped into 
 running water, great part of the lime was washed a\vav. according to Linant 
 Hey. Subsequently when the cotter-dam, Kig. '',. was erected mi the concrete 
 for the completion of the floor and superstructure, the springs in places were 
 so excessive that the floor level had to be raised ."><) centimetres above the 
 general level. The concrete was composed of broken stone, pure lime and 
 artificial puz/.uolana in the ordinary proportions. Much of this concrete has 
 not set. and in places has been found like pudding, though in others it is as 
 hard as rock.'' 
 
 K.L, 
 
 Meantime, while this work was uoing on. Mehein A All die;l in 1N4S 
 without seeing the completion of the 1 Jan-age, which was to be many years 
 before it recovered the injury done to its constitution by his impatience and 
 impetuosity. He was succeeded by Abbas Pasha, who. in March I No 2, having 
 no faith in the success of the Man-age as being constructed, was desirous of 
 abandoning the work; but he did not do so for fear of public opinion. At. 
 this same time also M. Linant declared himself in favour of pumping esta- 
 blishments in preference to completing the Marrage. and defended his change 
 of opinion on the ground that during the last 10 years pumping machinery 
 had been much improved and rendered economical. 
 
If) 
 
 IT- 
 fit 
 
 j.'*L- ' ' *. ! 4 
 
Ill April 1853, Abbas 1'aslia, not being satisfied witli the progress 
 made, dismissed M. ilougel, and ordered liim to hand over the incomplete 
 Barrage to Ma/Jiar Bey. At the time of transfer a Commission reported on 
 it to the effect that the concrete floor over the iTTbtHe heap an.l elsewhere 
 was in a bad state and that springs found their way through it. M. Linunt 
 relates that at the time of transfer the work was far from being finished, as 
 there were scarcely any of the piers constructed to above water-level: lie also 
 adds that up to this time 47 million francs had IK' en spent on the work 
 besides the labour of the Corvee and soldiers. The state of the work in 18">3 
 according to M. Linant is shown on Plate II. 
 
 In spite of the Report made at the time of transfer, work was 
 continued without remedying the defects in the foundation and making the 
 concrete layer sound; the piers were completed and the whole superstructure of 
 road, pathways, parapets and turrets completed by 1861. The cost, exclusive 
 of the value of the Corvee labour, is said to have been L 1,HMO,(HH). 
 M. Willcocks in his "Egyptian Irrigation" states that the Barrages, fortifications, 
 canal heads iVc. are considered as having cost the country L 4,000, ooo. 
 
 Period of Commission and Reports. 
 
 The condition of the Barrage at this period is recorded in the Reports 
 of two more Commissions, one appointed on the 13 th November 1861, and the 
 other on the 4 th . Inly 1863. At the time of the first Commission no other 
 cracks were remarked except those, which existed from the beginning of the 
 construction in the 1 s '. -2"' { and 3 nl arches of the West end of the Rosetta 
 Barrage, and these did not appear dangerous. The Commission considered 
 that little remained to be done to complete the Barrage and till it for the 
 object for which it was designed, but recommended that, before holding up 
 the water at all the floor should be finished and the springs should bo 
 stopped by the aid of a diving-boat ("bateau plongeur") in preference to the 
 
18 
 
 employment of dams ("batardeau"); for it was feared that if a head were 
 put on the work, water would pass through the loose rubble heap. The first 
 Commission after making this proposal, adjourned for more information, which 
 it never got. 
 
 The second Commission of .July LSI;:-} pointed out that the works 
 recommended by the former Commission had not been carried out, that the 
 experiments required had not been made and that the springs had not been 
 stopped. The system of gates was condemned. This Commission came to much 
 the same conclusions as the former, and recommended postponing the digging 
 of the Main canals taking off above, the Barrage, until it had been tested. 
 
 But in this year the want of water in the Damietta Branch made 
 itself felt during the summer, and, in order to feed the summer canals, Hie 
 gates of the Rosetta Branch, which had been erected, were closed, and the 
 water-level raised above the Barrage from 1.00 metre to 1.40 metre. The 
 result was that the sand below the floor was forced out by the pressure, and 
 ominous cracks appeared. Later, in 18U7, a section of the Rosetta Barrage, 
 consisting of 10 openings (N2?. 5 to 14) towards the West end, separated from 
 the rest of the work and moved perceptibly down -stream. (This is visible 
 now in the existing work, and is clearly shown by the shadow of the parapet 
 wall in IHate III.) These 10 openings were then enclosed within a coffer- 
 dam 5 metres high and 2 metres wide, composed of a wooden framework, 
 tilled with stiff clay, overlaid by stone resting on the platform. 
 
 M. Linant's last connection with the Barrages (which in principle he 
 claims to have proposed, though the actual project adopted was M. Mongol's 
 and not his) appears to have been the writing of a Report on it in 1871. 
 This is his account of the work as it existed then: 
 
 "Le Barrage est comme un corps gangrene: il est reconvert d'un 
 beau surtout, mais la maladie le travaille interieurement; toutes ces sources 
 sont autant de fistules, qui, quand on vent les fermer, circulent interieurement 
 et se reproduisent plus loin. II faut de grandes operations, de grands remedes 
 et non des palliatifs, qui ne feraient qn'empirer le mal. " 
 
 In this same Report M. Linant admitted the possibility of putting the 
 
;r r-T 
 
Plate III. 
 
 View of roadway over the Kosetta narrate from West end looking East, 
 pliotoi/nijilied by Mr. Allan F. Joseph. 
 
 This view, which shows the winch for liflini; the gates and the tramway that runs from end 
 to end of the Barrages, was photographed to show the displacement of 1W7 visible in the line of the 
 parapet wall and more clearly in its shadow. 
 
*- 21 
 
 Barrage in order, but the uncertainty and the expense frightened him. He 
 would not throw good money after bad. He estimated that the sum required 
 to do what was necessary would be -25 million francs, which he remarked 
 as far from being exaggerated, and he calculated that -it would take 5 years 
 to do the work. And then he proceeded to make calculations to show that it 
 was preferable to set up steam pumps. This estimate of Linant's should be 
 remembered, when what has been done since and the cost of doing it is read 
 about further on. 
 
 In April of the same year, 1871, that M. Linant wrote his note for the 
 Khedive, Messieurs Laval ley and de Langaudin made a joint report, recommending 
 an expenditure of L 20,000 in repairs to the floors of arches 6 to 13 of the 
 Rosetta Barrage, the repairs to consist of a layer of concrete 3 metres thick 
 laid over the defective floors. This done, the Barrage was to be tested by 
 closing the arches and finding out what head it would stand. 
 
 These recommendations were unfavourably criticised in similar terms 
 by both AH Pasha Moubarek, Minister of Public Instruction and Wakfs, and 
 Bahgat Pasha, Minister of Public Works. The criticisms were accompanied by 
 suggestions more vague and less practical than the proposals under consideration. 
 The two Pashas probably got their heads veiy close together, when they wrote 
 their separate notes, which however contain nothing worthy of immortality. 
 
 Still one more short report was written in 1871 by Mr. D. K. Clark 
 (Engineer representing Mr. J. Fowler). This note contains a well -deserved 
 condemnation of the form of gate adopted and under trial in some of the 
 arches of the Barrage at the time it was written. 
 
Sir John Fowler's Proposals. 
 
 The next to be called in consultation to prescribe tor (lie despaired- 
 of patient was a well-known Knglish engineer. Sir .John (then .Mr.) Kowler. 
 lie examined the Barrage in 1S7<5. pronounced the piers and arches, so tar 
 as visible, to be of good construction, but the floor to be detective. The 
 floor-surface of brick and stone was not in a bad state, but the concrete 
 below was, in sonic places being no more than a confused mass of small stones 
 or gravel, lie was convinced that the foundations of the floor were too 
 shallow, and that considerable and expensive works wore required to put the 
 Han-age into working order, half measures being useless. 
 
 Sir John Fowler proposed not to abandon the Barrage entirely, but 
 to utilise the existing work as far as possible, and to obtain the additional 
 height, to which it was desired to raise the water-level, by means of a new 
 and independent construction. He recommended that the gates of the existing 
 Barrage be completed and be made efficient, that a new line of gates be 
 constructed on foundations carried to a great depth immediately down-stream of 
 the existing floor and that the river bed beyond it be protected against scour. 
 
 lie pointed out that, had not, the floor been cracked, the sand of the 
 foundations might have been confined between up- and down -stream curtain 
 walls, and the Barrage have been made to hold up the full 4' > metres desired. 
 But as the floor and foundations were cracked, the sand would have found its 
 way out between the cracks under the pressure of the water and the foundations 
 have been undermined. 
 
 As the Barrage had actually supported a head of l.~>(> metres. Sir John 
 proposed to utilise it in future to this extent. The remaining 3 metres was 
 to be held up by gates tixed on a massive wall S metres thick and ]."> metres 
 deep below Low Water- Level. The river bed immediately down -stream of 
 this wall was to he covered by a wide layer of rubble intersected bv two 
 rows of heavy concrete blocks S metres below Low Water- Level, so as to 
 
23 
 
 obtain a water-cushion of a sufficient depth to deaden the tall of the water. 
 One row was to be up against the curtain wall and the other at a distance 
 of 24 metres from it. Between these rows and beyond the second row was 
 to be a protective layer of loose rubble pitching. Thr cross section. I 'late IV, 
 shows clearly the form of curtain wall proposed. 
 
 Hut the deep wall had to be made without endangering the stability 
 of the existing structure. Sir John proposed to make it in sections of :5"> metre 
 lengths by the aid of iron caissons and compressed air, and to unite the 
 different sections by means of end grooves, by which a tight joint could be 
 
 I'LATE IV. 
 
 glykTMt 
 
 Cross Section orthcBarrngr 
 
 showing the work proposed by 
 
 Sir John Fowler 
 
 1816. 
 
 obtained in an ingenious way, not very easy to describe. On the top of this 
 curtain wall were to be strongly bolted the iron uprights, which were to hold 
 the down-stream row of gates. 
 
 The cost of carrying these proposals out, including repairs to the 
 Locks, was estimated at L 1,000,000 allowing for probable contingencies; or 
 at L 1,200,000 allowing for all reasonably possible contingencies. 
 
 But the Khedive Ismail I'asha, who was a prodigy of a spendthrift 
 jn the gratification of his extravagant whims, refused to sanction this outlay 
 
, 24 - 
 
 on a work that was ail-important to the country, probably because faith in 
 the success of the work was dead. 
 
 In his Report Sir .1. Fouler also, like M. Linant in 1N71, discusses 
 the relative cost of providing Cor irrigation by the restoration of the JJarragc 
 on the one hand and by the establishment of large pumping stations on the 
 other: but, unlike M. Liuant's, his figures prove that the pump project would 
 be not only more costly but less efficient. 
 
 In the same year that Sir J. Fowler made his Report, another Report was 
 drawn up by a distinguished Anglo-Indian Irrigation Kngineer. Lieut: (ienera-1 
 .1. II. Rundall. H. Iv. formerly Inspector (-eueral of Irrigation to the Ciovernmeiit 
 of India. His Report is dated 17. .May is7ii and was written for the 
 information of H. II. the Khedive. The Report has not been referred to in 
 any of the publications given in the Preface, and yet the manner of restoring 
 the liarrage. as recommended by (Jeneral Rundall is very nearly that which 
 was actually adopted; and further, the cost, of the restoration was correctly 
 estimated. 
 
 In this Report (ieueral Rundall lays great, stress on the necessity of 
 training the river up-stream of the Barrage, so that its currents shall set in 
 proper directions on the two sections of it. and the river -discharge lie 
 divided in correct proportions between the t\vo branches. 
 
 Discussing the condition of the Hoor, he gives his opinion as 
 follows: 
 
 "I cannot however but think myself that the great mass of the 
 substructure must still be in a sound condition, otherwise the great superin- 
 cumbent weight, which it has to support, must have caused a much more serious 
 settlement than even that which has taken place in the left Hank of the 
 
 Rosetta portion." 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 ''ily own opinion is that the original foundations of the Barrage were 
 ample as regards dc-pt/i, provide 1 that they had been faithfully built; but 
 that they were deficient as regards hrnidt/i and the protection given both on 
 the upper and lower sides of the flooring." 
 
He recommended obtaining breadth principally by extending the 
 flooring and protective nibble aprons, not with the object of preventing 
 springs finding their way below the work, but as a precaution against scour 
 from the rush of water over the floor. (General Rrmdall also does not class 
 the Barrage with the incurables, for he remarks: - 
 
 "The conclusion at which I have arrived is that the present Barrage 
 may yet be made perfectly capable of fulfilling the purpose of its original 
 construction." 
 
 He based the following recommendations on the understanding that 
 two essential conditions be fulfilled, viz: -- that the flooring be laid dry for 
 a thorough examination and previous to its thorough repair: ami that the 
 necessary works be undertaken first to restore and afterwards to maintain a 
 proper equilibrium of the river Hood. 
 
 The works he considered then necessary were: - 
 
 I. Repairs of the floor with strong cement masonry, raising its level 
 one metre and covering it with dressed Ashlar blocks. 
 
 >. Extension of floor up-stream by an apron 25 metres wide and 3 metres 
 thick, and. in addition, the formation of a curtain wall of masonry wells sunk 
 H metres, or to the depth of the existing rough stone. 
 
 ;5. Extension of the floor down-stream by an apron 60 metres wide 
 and 3 metres thick with two curtain walls like the up-stream one. 
 
 4. Substitution of needle system of closure for the then existing gates. 
 
 lie estimated that the repair work would cost L 400,000, with 
 L 100,000 added for training the river and changing the gates, - in all 
 I, :>()(). 000. 
 
 If the list of works recommended in this Report and their estimated 
 cost is compared with the account of work done and expenditure incurred in 
 the actual operations of restoring the Barrage, it will be seen what a close 
 agreement there is between the two. In the work, as carried out, the curtain 
 walls have been omitted, and the needle system of closure has not been 
 adopted, but the rest of the recommendations have been in principle 
 carried out. 
 
26 
 
 The training of the river above the Barrage was commenced in 1884 
 and has been continued ever since. A short account of what has been done, 
 illustrated by a map showing what is being aimed at, will be found on p. 126 
 of the Irrigation Keport for 18H4. 
 
 Head by the light of the experience and knowledge gained since 1ST."), 
 (iencral Randall's Report is recognised as being that of an expert, who had 
 sound views of the situation and had formed a correct estimate of the condition 
 of the Barrages. 
 
 Official condemnation of the Barrage. 
 
 As a tinal result of all these Commissions and Reports and in spite of 
 some of them, Rousseau Pasha, Director (ieneral of Public Works, in his 
 yearly Report of 1883 on Irrigation, pronounced that the Barrage in its 
 existing state could only be used as a distributor of the river discharge 
 between the two branches. To make it tit to serve even this purpose only, 
 he proposed to spend L 400,000 in raising the floor of the Rosetta Barrage, 
 so as to enable it, with the addition of suitable gates, to hold up a head not 
 exceeding two metres; and to leave the Damietta Barrage alone, merely 
 maintaining it as a bridge for traflic. The irrigation of Lower Egypt he 
 proposed to provide for by a system of pumping stations. 
 
 Having made up his mind in favour of pumps, Rousseau Pasha stated 
 the objections against the Barrage project. The tirst objection was the cost of 
 restoring or repairing it. This has since been carried out successfully for both 
 Barrages at a cost of LE. 465,000, so this objection lias been answered. 
 
 The second objection was that he considered that the utilisation of 
 t'.ic Barrage would att'ect the regime of the Nile inconveniently and cause immense 
 deposits up-stream of it. 1'h is objection has also been answered by experience 
 showing that what Rousseau Pasha feared does not take place. 
 
The third objection was that it would not only bo necessary to restore 
 the Barrage, but to remodel the whole canal system at great expense. This 
 remodelling has since been carried out at a moderate expenditure. 
 
 The fourth objection was that the country would be dependent on one 
 work. This is only an objection when the work can not be depended on. 
 
 The fifth and last objection was that the high level, at which the 
 water would be maintained, would cause damage to land from infiltration. 
 This objection experience has shown to be a real one, but it applies with far 
 greater force to the system of irrigation by pumping, as it was claimed in 
 support of this system that it would deliver water onto the surface of the 
 land without any further lifting on the part of the cultivator. 
 
 But as experience and accomplished facts had not disposed of these 
 objections in 1883. the Barrage stood condemned in an official document to 
 play a minor part in the irrigation of Lower Egypt to that for which it was 
 originally designed. 
 
Plate V. 
 
 View of the Damietta Barrage up-stream from the cross channel connecting 
 
 the two Barrages, 
 photographed by M. Allan F. Joseph. 
 
 The arches, that are hidden from view between the left-hand flagstaff tower and (he low 
 Hqnare lower are those, which were closed during the restoration. 
 
 The central towers were built for a lift bridge, as it was originally intended to have a 
 navigation opening in the centre, hut this passage was suppressed anil converted into two openings. The 
 same arrangement will he remarked in the Uoselta Barrage. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Object and description of the Barrage. 
 
 The object of the Barrage, as lias been stated in the previous Chapter, 
 is to raise the river level to a convenient height for the irrigation of the 
 Delta. The two branches of the Nile divide the Delta into three separate 
 divisions; the Barrage consists of Regulators built across each branch of the 
 Nile at the apex of the Delta, and the irrigation of the three divisions is 
 provided for by three main canals fed from the high-level water above the 
 Barrage. (See Plate VI.) The West division is the Province of Beherah and 
 is irrigated by the Kay yah Beherah; the central division comprises the 
 M'-niitiya-h and Ciharbiyah Provinces and is irrigated by the Rayyah Menufiyah; 
 and the Hast division, comprising the Provinces of Kaliubiyah, Sharkiyah and 
 Dakahliyah is irrigated by the Rayyah Tewfiki (made in 1889), assisted by the 
 canals Ismailiyah, Sharkawiyiih and Basnsiyah. These last three canals take 
 off from the right bank of the Nile between Cairo and the Barrage, and are 
 also affected by the regulation of the river level at the Barrage: they provide 
 irrigation for the Province of Kaliubiyah and the greater part of Sharkiyah. 
 
 The Rosetta Barrage has 61 arches and two locks, and is 465 metres 
 long between the flanks: the Damietta Barrage had originally 71 arches (since 
 reduced to 61) and two locks, and was 535 metres long. 
 
 The Barrages, according to the originally accepted design, had 
 respectively 72 and 62 arches, and also a navigable opening in the centre 
 
32 
 
 of ouch Barrage 14.50 metres in width, which it was intended to leave always 
 open. These navigable openings were converted into two arches, each of 
 ."},")(! metres span, and the place of 3 end arches was occupied by a lock 
 
 I' LATE VI. 
 
 G 
 
 eneral, 
 
 of JVUv 
 
 constructed on that Hank where no lock had been provided in the original 
 design. The two Barrages are separated by a revetment wall about JOOO 
 metres in length, in the middle of which is situated the head of the. Hawaii 
 
33 
 
 Menufiyah. The arches of the Barrages are all of 5 metres span, except the 
 two in the centre, which are 5.50 metres. They are fitted with gates, which 
 arc used to close the openings during summer with the object of raising the 
 water-level, but which are lifted clear of the water iu Hood to allow a free 
 passage for the river. Lt was originally intended that the Barrage should be 
 capable of raising the water-level, when the river was at its lowest, by 4 1 : 
 metres or 14 feet 9 inches, but this it was never equal to doing. 
 
 A peculiar feature of the Barrage, before its restoration, was an iron 
 grating, 30 centimetres high, fixed into the piers across each opening between 
 the bottom of the gates and the floor surface. These gratings allowed of a 
 free passage of water when the gates were down. They were originally put 
 in to prevent deposit of mud in front of the gates when shut. The gratings 
 on the Rosetta Barrage were capable of discharging, with a head of 1.75 metres, 
 over 20,000,000 cubic metres per day, according to Mr. Willcocks. It was 
 found that the severe action below the Barrage, when a gate was lowered to 
 its full extent, was due to these iron gratings, and not, as it had been 
 supposed, to a honey-combed foundation. Mr. Willcocks remarks that this fact 
 was apparently unknown to the writers of the Reports on the Barrages, and 
 points out that, it ought to have been evident that, if all the action observed 
 was due to fissures in the foundation, the Barrage would have been swept 
 away many years before. But though the existence of these iron gratings 
 seems to have been forgotten in 1884, it was not so in 1871, for M. Lavalley 
 in a Report on the Barrage dated 10^? April 1871 refers them in the 
 following passage: - 
 
 "Enfin les ouvertures qui existent dans les seuils en fonte devront 
 etre bouchees. Les pertes d'eau qui se feraient par ces seuils sont telles, 
 qu'elles ne permettraient meme pas d'atteindre a 1'etiage une charge d'eau 
 d'un metre. La denivellation de 1.75 m. qui a ete constatee etait due sans 
 doute a la hauteur du Nil a ce moment et a ce qu'un certain nombre 
 d'ouvertures etaient deja obstruees." 
 
 Another peculiarity was the original form of iron gate with which 
 some of the openings had been fitted. They were 5 metres broad and 5*/2 metres 
 
34 
 
 PLATE VII. 
 
35 
 
 high, shaped as the arc of a circle, and supported at either end by iron rods 
 radiating from the arc to the centre ; here they were attached to massive iron 
 collars working round cast-iron pivots embedded in the masonry of the piers 
 at the centres of the arcs. It was originally intended to lower the gates by 
 their own weight, and to raise them by compressed air automatically pumped 
 into the hollow ribs, but the principle did not work. These gates have been 
 replaced since 1881 by more simple and more efficient ones, and the hollow 
 ribs of the original gates may now be seen scattered about the country, 
 serving as land boundary pillars and kilometre-posts. These old gates are 
 to be seen in Plate X still in place. 
 
 The new system of regulation adopted in the restored Barrage consists 
 of wrought iron gates provided with rollers sliding in cast-iron grooves fixed 
 in the piers. Since the maximum depth of water on the floor is 4 1 /z metres 
 (14 ' 2 feet), each opening has been given double grooves and two gates, of 
 which the upper one is always 2 ! /2 metres high, and the lower one in the 
 Damietta Barrage 2 metres. In the Rosetta Barrage the height or' the bottom 
 gate varies from 2 : 2 to 1 metre in height on account of the floor 
 having been raised to different levels during the repairs. In one arch, No. 9, 
 there is no bottom gate at all, the floor level being at R. L. 11.50. The top 
 of the upper gates, when the Barrage is closed, is at R. L. 14.00, and of the 
 lower gates at R. L. 11.50 throughout. The floor of the Damietta Barrage is 
 at R. L. 9.50 in every archway: that of the Rosetta Barrage varies in different 
 arches from R. L. 11.50 to 9.00. 
 
 The gates are lowered and raised by means of powerful crab winches 
 (of which there are two to each Barrage) travelling on continuous rails. 
 
 Plate VII from "Egyptian Irrigation" by Willcocks, gives details of 
 the Barrage as originally built, or intended to have been built. Plate VIII 
 gives a typical cross section of the Barrage after restoration, without showing 
 the recently formed clay apron up-stream. For record sake I give below 
 the varying levels of the floor on the Rosetta Barrage. 
 
 At R. L. 9.00. No. 19 to 22, 24 to 25, 27 to 45, 55 to 61. 
 R. L. 9.20. No. 46 to 54. 
 R. L. 9.50. No. 1 to 6, 12 to 18, 23 and 26. 
 
36 
 
 R. L. 10.00. No. 7 and 11. 
 R. L. 10.50. No. 8 and 10. 
 R. L. 11.50. No. 9. 
 The arches, throughout this Note, are numbered from West to East. 
 
 PLATE VIII. 
 
 TYPE SECTION 
 
 L 
 
 - 4. 
 
 *r 
 
 In Chapter I. it was shown that the East half of the Rosetta Barrage 
 was founded on a mass of rubble stone tipped into the water to fill up the 
 deep channel of the river. In several of the Reports on the Barrage a fear 
 was expressed that when it was subjected to a head of water, a now would 
 take place through the unfilled interstices of the rubble heap. This however 
 does not now at any rate take place, as the Nile deposit has staunched this 
 mass of loose stone and it is not improbable that this section of the Barrage 
 is now the most secure portion of the whole construction. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 History of the Barrage from the year 1884. 
 
 Verdict of Condemnation re-considered. 
 
 A new period in the history of Egyptian irrigation began in May 1883, 
 when Sir Colin (then Colonel) Scott Moncrieff came to Egypt and the Irrigation 
 Department and Works were entrusted to him to be put in order with the 
 satisfactory results recorded in various publications since that date. But this 
 account is concerned with the Barrage alone and the temptation to digress 
 and tell of what the Department, organised by Sir Colin, has done, must 
 be resisted. 
 
 The Public Works Ministry had just concluded a contract, to last 
 until 1915, with a private Company to supply irrigation to the W estern Delta 
 at a cost of about L. 50,000 per annum; and the first thing Sir Colin had to 
 do was to pronounce on a proposal to extend the application of this system 
 of irrigation by means of pumps to the whole of Lower Egypt at an initial 
 cost of L. 700,000 and an annual outlay of L. 248,550. 
 
 Hitherto there had been differences of opinion as to the relative merits 
 of the two systems of providing for the irrigation of the Delta - - by means 
 of the Barrage, or by pumping. But, at the time of Sir Colin's arrival, 
 unanimity seems to have been established, and all, English as well as foreign 
 
38 
 
 engineers, warned him to have nothing to do with that unsound work. Sir 
 Colin, however, with his Indian experience to influence him, was not satisfied 
 with the soundness of these conclusions, and, before accepting the extravagant 
 programme of pumping stations, he felt that he must be certain that the 
 Barrage was the worthless failure it was represented to be. 
 
 In December 1883 therefore, when Mr. Willcocks came from India to 
 join the Egyptian Irrigation Service, Sir Colin stationed him at the Barrage 
 to apply his enthusiasm and recognised ability to the task of testing the work 
 and determining what it could be called upon to do. Mr. Willcocks found the 
 closing apparatus in very bad order, the staff, though large, quite incapable 
 of doing anything beyond drawing their pay, and appliances and tools almost 
 entirely wanting : the stone pitching below the Barrages had never been 
 completed and the Damietta Branch had no gates at all. Mr. Willcocks 
 set to work to remedy or remove these defects, expending L. E. 25,611 
 in so doing during 1884. As the river fell, first one and then the other 
 Barrage was closed, this being the first time that the Damietta Barrage had 
 ever been regulated on at all. The result of these operations was that, in 
 June 1884, 2.20 metres (7 feet 2 ins) of water was being held up on the 
 Rosetta Barrage aud about 0.95 on the Damietta, obtaining thereby a command 
 of water of about one metre more than the average, which, however, was due 
 in part to a favourable summer Nile. Not only was an abundant supply of 
 water thus obtained for all the lands irrigated by the Delta Canals, but the 
 water was delivered at a higher level, and such enormous savings in canal 
 clearances were effected that the idea of abolishing the Corvee wes entertained 
 for the first time. 
 
 Previous to 1884, the cotton crop had given the greatest outturn in 
 1879, when the Nile at Aswan at its lowest was 1.39 metres higher than in 1884. 
 The outturn in 1879 was 3,186,060 kantars or cwt; in 1884 it was 3,630,000 
 kantars. The result, therefore, of the first year's experiment was satisfactory 
 and encouraging. 
 
 tn 1885 the summer Nile was a low one. But the Barrage was this 
 year made to hold up as much as 3 metres (9 feet 10 ins) on the Rosetta 
 
0) 
 
40 
 
 Branch and 1.76 metres on the Damietta Branch, and this gave the canals 
 an increased level of 10 centimetres over the supply of 1884. But an 
 unpleasant reminder of the warnings to leave the Barrage alone occurred on 
 the 21^ March, when a widening of the cracks appeared in arches No. 7 and 
 8 of the Rosetta Barrage, and there was a down-stream subsidence of the old 
 coffer-dam put in years before to protect this most doubtful part of the work. 
 Masses of stone were thrown in round the cracked portion, so as to take the 
 strain off it as much as possible. Just previously to this the head on the 
 work had been divided into two by forming a bar of rubble on the floor of 
 the Barrage as shown in the diagram Fig. 7. This bar contained 
 26,100 cubic metres of stone and cost LE. 7627. The bar was removed in 
 July and utilised in the down -stream apron of the Barrage. The sum spent 
 on this year's operations was LE. 18,246. 
 
 In 1886 the manner of working the Barrage and the results were 
 much the same as in 1885. During this period of experiments, 1884 to 1886, 
 Mr. Willcocks, (who was also responsible for the irrigation of the two Central 
 Provinces of the Delta.) had Mr. Arnold Perry to assist him as Resident 
 Engineer at the Barrage. 
 
 Preparations for the Restoration. 
 
 While temporary measures were being successfully employed by 
 Mr. Willcocks to make the Barrage do its duty to a greater extent than it 
 had hitherto been made to do it, steps were being taken to provide ways and 
 means for its permanent restoration. In 1885 a loan of a million pounds 
 sterling was obtained for imgation works, of which the most important was 
 the Barrage Restoration. Lieut. Colonel Western came the same year from 
 India to direct the works which were to be built with the Million, and he 
 brought with him the late Mr. A. G. W. Reid, who was afterwards specially 
 charged with tlie Ban-age. 
 
41 
 
 Before describing what was done to the Barrage, it will be as well to 
 explain what system it was decided to adopt. As a result of Mr. Willcocks 
 experiments with the Barrage in 1884 and 1885, it was resolved h'rst that 
 the irrigation of Lower Egypt should be carried out on the general scheme 
 laid down by Mehemet Ali, which consisted in raising the Nile level by means 
 of Regulators and producing a natural flow of water into the canals. The 
 
 PLAN OF RCSCTT* BAKKA^f 
 
 ROSTT/t BRANCH 
 
 rival proposition to raise the water artificially by pumping from the river into 
 the canals was rejected. 
 
 The next question to be .settled was: Should the Barrage itself be 
 repaired and strengthened, or should new works be constructed to do the 
 work the Barrage had been designed but had hitherto failed to do? 
 
 6 
 
4:2 
 
 For some time after their arrival Colonel Western and M. Reid thought 
 the task of restoring the existing- Barrage so unpromising that they were 
 inclined to favour an entirely new work, and estimates were framed accordingly. 
 But after some hesitation and the examination of alternative proposals, it was 
 finally decided not to abandon the old Barrage, if it were found possible to 
 repair it. To settle this point, it was considered necessary to get down to 
 the floor and find out its actual condition; which was not so easy to do under 
 the 4 '/a metres (lo l /2 feet) of water which covered it. Still this was successfully 
 accomplished in 1886 by the simple plan of forming earth banks above, below 
 and across the Barrage to enclose 20 arches at the West end of the Rosetta 
 Barrage, and pumping the water out of the enclosed space. Within this space 
 the bed of the Nile and the Barrage floor were laid dry without excessive 
 pumping, although they were about 5 metres (16 or 17 feet) below the 
 surface of the water outside the banks not fifty yards off - - See Fig. 8. 
 
 Project of Restoration. 
 
 In consequence of what was then seen of the foundations of the 
 Barrage, it was decided to undertake its restoration, and it therefore remained 
 to lay down the lines on which the restoration should be carried out. Under 
 a head of water there was danger of the fine sand and mud. on which the 
 Barrage, as constructed, was founded, being forced out from under the floor, 
 and of the work failing from being undermined. The problem then requiring 
 solution was how to make the Barrage into an impermeable bar across the 
 river, under which water, acting with the force due to the head it was desired 
 to maintain, should not be able to make its way. 
 
 Sir John Fowler's proposal of a deep and massive down-stream curtain 
 wall was rejected on account of the difficulty of building it, its great cost 
 and the danger of bringing down the Barrage in the process of sinking the 
 wall. As deep excavations in the neighbourhood of the existing work were 
 
Pluto IX. 
 
 View of the Rosetta Barrage during- the third season's work of restoration, 
 
 looking West, 
 
 photographed by M. .1. Heyman. 
 
 This view shows tin; raised Hours of the West end repaired during I hi' tirst season's work. 
 A l.ridg.' of noats i-onnecls tin- West side with the bank, enclosing the East end of the Barrage, for the 
 transport of matt-rials. 
 
45 
 
 considered dangerous Colonel Western decided, in preference- to constructing 
 deep curtain walls, to spread tlie foundations out horizontally, so as to form a 
 broad water-tight platform. 
 
 "By an extension of the floor up and down-sli earn, the points, at which 
 water enters the strata under the Barrage, floor from the upstream side and 
 issues as springs on the down-stream side, are placed so far apart, that the 
 
 *./ 
 
 
 . J Original Barrotqc 
 
 cky> curfvux. 
 
 resistance the. Avater will meet with on this length will be sufficient to 
 deprive it of the force necessary to move sand and carry it away from under 
 the work. The springs will issue clear and be harmless. The figures above 
 I Fig. 9) explain the action of the springs and the distance they have to 
 travel''. (Willcocks.) - 
 
46 
 
 Mut besides adding to the width, it was necessary to give additional 
 security to the old work. This was to be done by covering the existing floor 
 witli a layer of Portland cement concrete 1.25 metres (4 feet) thick, over 
 which was to be laid a heavy pavement of dressed Trieste Ashlar stone under 
 the arches and over the down-stream apron, where the action was most severe. 
 The floor was to be extended up-stream 25 metres in rubble limestone masonry. 
 
 ,' /*+- '<> *. -iyfc:- IS. a 
 
 : Y*^P 
 F*$Hf 
 
 // 
 
 : fr'er - 
 
 t^^^iii^s^ 
 
 Along the up-stream edge of this extension a line of sheet piling, :> metres 
 (16 feet) deep, was to be carried across the whole river. 
 
 This programme was generally carried out, but where special difficulties 
 were met with, the new flooring often exceeded -' metres (ij'/a feet) in 
 
47 
 
 thickness. See Figures 10 to 12. which show by typical cross sections how 
 the work was actually executed. The difficulties of the work were much 
 increased by the necessity of using the Barrage to hold up water for irrigation 
 all the time work was going on, the strength of the springs to be dealt witli 
 being thereby greatly increased. Sir Colin compared the operations to mending 
 a watch without stopping the works. The working season, moreover, between 
 two floods was short, and in the most favourable year extended only from the 
 1?? November to the end of June. More than two months of this period was 
 expended in forming the ring banks and nearly as much in pumping out the 
 enclosure and making other preparations. Only four mouths were left for actual 
 work on the floor, which could not generally be begun before the 1?J; March. 
 Preliminary ^ has been already stated that in 1886 twenty arches of the Rosetta 
 
 season 1886. Barrage were enclosed and laid dry for the purpose of examining the floor 
 in this, the worst section of the Barrages, with the view of enabling a final 
 decision to be taken as to the general restoration ; and that, as a result of the 
 examination, the restoration was decided on. Advantage was taken of this 
 opportunity to partially repair the floor under six of the arches. 
 
 As the whole discharge of one branch of the river could not be shut 
 off at a time, it was arranged to spread the work of restoration over four 
 seasons, half of one Barrage being taken in hand at a time. 
 
 Sir Colin, in his "Note on the Nile Barrage, 1890", shortly describes 
 the four seasons work and the following account is taken almost verbalim 
 from his Note. A more detailed account will be found in Mr. Reid's Reports 
 and an abridgment of the late Liernur Bey's Report, published in the 
 Irrigation Reports for 1887, 1888, 1889 and 1890. 
 
 season is-7. Work began in earnest in 1887, when the Western half of the Rosetta 
 
 Barrage was undertaken. The first season was the worst of the four. 
 Experience of what was to be done was less and appliances more incomplete 
 than in succeeding seasons, and the section of the Barrage taken in hand was 
 in much worse condition than any other. 
 
 On the 2 nd December 1886 the enclosing earth dams were begun: on the 
 24 th March 1887 the first stone of the new work was laid. From the latter date 
 
48 
 
 work was carried on day and night, electric light being used during the 
 night, while nine powerful steam pumps were constantly at work keeping 
 down the water, until, in anticipation of the arrival of the flood, the 
 last piece of machinery was removed from the completed floor on the 
 l|i July. Before the next morning the rising flood had covered all that had 
 been done. 
 
 During the course of the season's work fresh and unlocked for 
 difficulties were experienced every day. A serious difficulty arose in connection ' 
 with the Wostei'ii Lock. It was found that the massive outer wall of the 
 Lock rested on foundations, the base of which was 8 feet higher than the 
 Barrage floor. To dry the latter, work had to go on below the Lock foundations, 
 and these foundations were appallingly bad as described by Mr. Reid in his 
 Report. It was only with difficulty that the Lock wall was prevented from 
 falling over bodily. 
 
 In the Barrage itself it was found that the floor, as well as the arch 
 of one opening, was cracked across diagonally, showing a complete fracture of 
 the work, the fissure being 4 inches wide. Strong springs burst out daily in fresh 
 places, and had to be staunched at an immense expenditure of material. Daily 
 Mr. Reid had to face some new trouble and to invent some new expedient, and 
 he was always equal to the occasion. The result of the season's work 
 A\as satisfactory, and established confidence in the ultimate success of the 
 restoration. 
 
 Season 1888. In 1^88 the Kastem half of the Damietta Barrage was attacked, and 
 
 the work proved to be easier than that of the preceding season. The earthen 
 dams were begun on the 1^ December 1887, and the repairs to the floor on 
 the 9^ March. The condition of this Barrage was much better than that of 
 the other, but it seemed that this was so, only because the work had been 
 less tried. There was the same inferior and careless work. The floors of 
 some of the arches were quite unfinished, and if the gates had ever been put 
 in place and subjected to pressure, the ett'ect must have been as disastrous 
 as in the case of the Rosetta Barrage. By the 20^ .June, when this season's 
 work came to an end, 41 arches had been put in order. 
 
Plate X. 
 
 View of the East end of the Rosetta Barrage during restoration, 
 photographed from the up-stream enclosing bank by M. .1. Heyman. 
 
 This view shows the old form of gates, and the sloping addition to the Barrage. floor added to 
 secure the stability of the Lock wall. 
 
After the deficient flood of 1H88 the river fell fast, and as early as ^ason '> 
 the 2 11 ' 1 November the earth dams were begun to enclose the Kastern half of 
 the Rosetta Barrage, which still remained to be repaired. This was the section 
 of the Barrage, which had been built on a mass of loose rabble. It was a 
 fortunate thing that the dams could be begun so early, as they had to be 
 formed in water which, over a length of 100 yards, averaged 40 feet in 
 depth. This season's work was the easiest and least eventful of all, and was 
 completed in good time in June 1889. Plates IX. and X. are photographs 
 of this season's work, taken by M. J. Heyman, Photographer, Cairo. 
 
 In November 1889 the last season's work began. It was expected to season iwo. 
 be a very easy one, but proved otherwise. There did not appear to be very 
 much to do, since, of the 71 arches of the Damietta Barrage, 41 were already 
 finished, and it had been resolved to cut off and close the 10 arches together 
 with the lock at the West eml of the Barrage, as it was found that the 
 extra waterway, provided by them, was in excess of what was necessary or even 
 desirable. There were only 20 arches then to repair, and the work seemed 
 advancing very fast, when suddenly a powerful spring burst out in the half- 
 repaired floor, and it was found that a rush of water was finding its way from 
 the liver outside, 230 feet distant, under a portion of the new flooring laid 
 in 1888. This spring, throwing up mud and sand, soon drowned out the pumps. 
 .Mr. Held promptly cut his enclosure banks and flooded the whole area. The 
 action of the stream had washed out the treacherous soil below the new 
 upstream apron and a considerable portion had settled as much as four feet. 
 Mr. Reid then threw up new banks, so as to isolate the unsound parts, and, little 
 by little, witli great precaution and frequent checks, he repaired all the 
 mischief. 
 
 On the Hi" 1 June 1890 he reported that the Barrage below water- 
 level was finished. Four season's anxious work was at an end, and 
 the Barrage was pronounced to be capable of holding up 4 metres of 
 water. The work was then placed under Mr. E. W. P. Foster, with M. Licrnur 
 as resident engineer. It will be pointed out further on what it has 
 actual I v done. 
 
cost. The total cost of this restoration for both Ban-ages was 
 LK 465,000. 
 
 The quantities of masonry executed were: - 
 
 Concrete 23,863 cubic metres 
 
 Rubble masonry . . 54,411 
 
 Ashlar masonry . . 6,983 
 
 Brick masonry . . . -J.fiso 
 
 Dry rubble pitching . 25,460 
 
 Total of all sorts 113,397 cubic metres. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Work done by the Barrage. 
 
 Effect on the river level above the Barrage obtained by regulation 
 on it before and after its restoration. 
 
 To enable a comparison to be made between the effect produced by 
 (be Barrage before and after its restoration, it will b? useful to give an 
 account of the, manner in which the Barrages were regulated previous to 1884. 
 This account is taken from ''Egyptian Irrigation" (Willcocksl. 
 
 "When the Nile gauge stood at R.L. 12.50 metres, which generally 
 happened in March, the Rosetta Barrage gates and needles were quickly 
 lowered to their full extent, beginning at opening No. 61 (East end) and 
 closing at No. 1 (West end). The consequence was a rapid current through 
 the last openings just before they were closed. It was on one of these 
 occasions that the 10 openings from No. f> to No. 14 were injured, according 
 to the report of the Egyptian foreman on the work. The Government Report 
 states that they were injured during the floods of 1H67 owing to contracted 
 waterway. As soon as the gates and needles reached the gratings, they could 
 descend no further, and the work of regulation was at an end for that year. 
 The up-stream gauge rose to R.L. l;j.OO metres, while the down-stream gauge 
 fell to R.L. 11.25 metres; so that, with a difference in water surface of 
 
54 
 
 1.75 metres, There was a train in water-level of only half a metre. This was 
 due to the fact that the Damietta Barrage was open. Of the water, which 
 escaped through the Rosetta Barrage, practically the whole found its way 
 through the iron gratings. These gratings, with a head of 1.75 metres, were 
 capable of discharging over 20,000,000 cubic metres per day. The river kept 
 falling through April, May and .Tune, and during the whole of this time the 
 Damietta Barrage was open, as well as the gratings of the Rosetta Barrage. 
 There was not sufficient water in the Nile to allow of a head of 1.75 metres 
 on the latter, and it fell to 1.00 metre. Towards the end of June the up- 
 and down-stream gauges roughly indicated 12 metres and 11 metres respectively. 
 If the Rosetta Ban-age had failed in June, the loss of head in the Delta 
 canals would have been 35 centimetres. When the Nile began to rise in 
 .July and the up-stream gauge read R. L. 13 metres, the gates were 
 raised as quickly as possible, the river fell to R. L. 12.50. metres, and was 
 allowed to recover as the flood rose. This it generally did in six or eight days." 
 
 Thus, previous to 1884, the maximum head held up by the Rosetta 
 Ban-age was 1.75, decreasing to 1.00 at the time of lowest Nile, and the 
 water-level maintained above the Barrage was at R. L. 13.00, decreasing to 
 R. L. 12.00 in June. The Damietta Barrage was always open and held up 
 nothing. 
 
 From 1884 to 1886 inclusive, Mr. Willcocks was in charge of the 
 Barrage. In 1884, in consequence of additions to the rubble talus and impro- 
 vements made in the closing arrangements of both openings and gratings, the 
 Rosetta Barrage was made to support a maximum head of 2.21 metres, and 
 to maintain an up-stream water-level of R. L. 13.00 almost throughout the 
 period of Low Nile. The Damietta Barrage held up a maximum head of 
 0.95 metre. 
 
 From 1885 to 1890 inclusive the upstream summer level was kept, 
 with but slight variations, at R. L. 13.00, the maximum head on the Rosetta 
 Barrage varying from 3.00 metres in 1885 to 3.43 metres in 1890. On the 
 Damietta Barrage the maximum head varied during this period from 1.76 metres 
 in 1885 to 3. 26 metres in 1890. 
 
55 
 
 After 1890, the year in which the Barrage restoration was completed, 
 the levels maintained above the Barrage varied from R.L. 13.50 in April and 
 May to R.L. 14.00 in July, the maximum head held up at any time having 
 been 4.07 metres on the Rosetta Barrage and 3. 72 on the Damietta. 
 
 To show the results in a convenient form for comparison the following 
 table is given: - 
 
 PERIOD 
 
 MAXIMUM 
 
 HEAD HELD UP 
 
 UPSTREAM LEVEL 
 
 
 
 
 in June 
 
 
 Rosetta 
 
 Damietta 
 
 
 
 
 
 R. L. 
 
 Previous to 1884 
 
 1.76 
 
 nil 
 
 12.00 
 
 1884 to 1886 
 
 8.05 
 
 l;76 
 
 12.90 to 13.00 
 
 1887 to 181)0 
 
 ;3.43 
 
 3.26 
 
 12.90 to 13.00 
 
 18!)1 to 18!i:> 
 
 4.07 
 
 3.7 -2 
 
 13.75 
 
 The up-stream level in June could now, if desired, be kept up to 
 1\.L. 14.00, except in very low summer Niles, but it is thought better to keep 
 the level down, so that cultivators may not be encouraged to put under crop 
 more than there will be water for at the time of shortest supply. The up- 
 stream level is, therefore, not brought up to R.L. 14.00 until July when the 
 demand for water becomes greatest. 
 
 In 1892 the up-stream level in June fell to R.L. 13.22, the lowest 
 level reached in summer since 1890. This was not because the Barrage could 
 not hold up more, but because there was so small a discharge in the river, 
 that the draw of the canals, taking off from above the Barrage, kept the 
 water surface up-stream of it down. In the summer of 1892 the Barrage 
 gates were caulked with rags to stop leakage and every drop of water in the 
 river was turned into the canals. The Barrage could not do more. 
 
56 
 Damietta Barrage Springs. 
 
 But the levels, maintained since the Barrage restoration, were not 
 obtained without some anxiety being- produced. In May 1891, when the 
 Damietta Barrage was holding up 3.18 metres of water, 7 springs appeared 
 along the down-stream edge of the masonry floor opposite bays 20, 21, 22, 
 25, 26 and 37; and it was ascertained by experiments that these springs 
 arose from water which was passing under the floor from up-stream of the 
 Barrage. (It may be noted here that, according to rumour, this portion of the 
 Damietta Barrage is founded on tipped stone like the right flank of the 
 Bosetta Barrage). A large inlet was discovered in front of bay 29-30. The 
 inlet crater was tilled with sacks of sand and an island of soil formed over it 
 up to water-level, and the up-stream apron floor was also covered with soil. 
 This weakened but did not stop the springs, as the soil was too light, but 
 further work had to be postponed till the next season. 
 
 The following system for stopping the leaks was eventually adopted 
 by Mr. E. W. P. Foster, late Inspector General of Irrigation in Lower Egypt. 
 A trench of the dimensions given in the accompanying diagram (Fig. 13) was 
 cleared of its rubble pitching and porous soil by dredging along the up-stream 
 edge of the floor in front of from 3 to f> bays a a time. This trench was 
 then tilled with stiff clay deposited in layers of half a metre thick, pressed 
 down by means of a sledge drawn over it, to form an impervious curtain. Over 
 the junction between the clay and the masonry floor a broad clay bank one 
 metre high was formed and consolidated to make a tight joint: it was then covered 
 with a layer of sacks tilled with concrete and laid close together to protect 
 the surface of the clay from erosion by the current. Great care had to be 
 taken that this joint was properly cleared of loose material before the clay 
 was laid on it, and that the concrete in sacks was cart-fully bedded and 
 arranged. To do this a diving bell was made use of. Careful soundings made 
 in 1895 over the whole area of concrete sacks showed that they had not 
 been displaced by the flood. 
 
o 
 
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 OH 
 
 O 
 
 57 
 
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 3 
 
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 r-* 
 
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 C 
 
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58 
 
 In 1892 and 1893 a bank had been made down-stream of the Barrage 
 enclosing the springs, so as to decrease the head on them by letting the 
 water rise in the enclosed pond, but this precaution was not considered 
 necessary in 1894, as the springs had been almost entirely staunched. 
 
 In 1894 and 1895 three weak springs, throwing perfectly clear water, 
 were detected below arches 21 and 26, but it was ascertained that these had 
 no direct communication under the floor with the upstream side of the Barrage. 
 
 The springs, that were staunched by the formation of the clay apron, 
 were in some way connected with the accident that happened during the fourth 
 season's work of the Barrage restoration. 
 
 Benefits resulting from the successful completion of the restoration. 
 
 The benefits, that have followed as a consequence of the work done 
 to the Barrage from 1887 to 1890, have been considerable and fully sufficient 
 to justify all the expenditure incurred. 
 
 The increase in the cotton crop it is possible to show by figures, 
 which, for the years succeeding 1880, have been obtained from the Alexandria 
 General Produce Association and may be relied upon to be as accurate as 
 possible. The figures for the years previous to 1881 were given in a list 
 published some years ago by the Egyptian Gazette. 
 
 The first crop on the record is that of 1820, which produced 944 
 kantars: the next year the figure had increased to 35,108 kantars. (A kantar 
 is about a hundred-weight.) From 1822 to 1848 the yield varied from 120,000 
 to 345,009 kantars. 
 
 In 1849 the yield was 364,816 kantars 
 
 1850 384,439 
 
 1851 670,129 
 
 The high figure of 1851 was not maintained, but the yield never 
 fell again to what it had been before 1851. From 1852 to 1859 the year's 
 
59 - 
 
 yield Varied from 480,000 to 540,000 kantars. The few years following i860 
 were a succession of record- beating years: - 
 
 In 1860 the yield was 590,200 kantars 
 
 1861 721,052 
 
 1862 1,181,888 
 
 1863 ,> 1.718,791 
 1804 2,001,169 ,> 
 
 The Barrage was declared to be finished in 1861, and it would seem 
 from the foregoing figures to have had a great effect. But the increase in 
 the cotton cultivation from 1861 to 1864 was due to the high prices obtained 
 for Egyptian cotton during the American Civil War, which lasted from April 
 1861 to May 1865. It was this which gave such impulse to cotton growing 
 in Egypt that the crop of 1864 produced almost four times that of any crop 
 previous to 1860. But this increase was not kept up to its full extent after 
 the war, as the figure fell from 1865 to 1869 to an average of about 
 1.300,000 kantars. It rose again, however, to between 2,000,000 and 3,186,000 
 kantars from 1870 to 1883. 
 
 Previous to 1884 the highest figure reached had been that of 1879, 
 viz: 3,186,000. The figures for the years succeeding 1883 were as follow: - 
 
 Year 
 
 Kantars of Cotton 
 
 Nature 
 
 of Summer 
 
 supply 
 
 1884 
 
 3 
 
 ,630 
 
 ,000 
 
 Good 
 
 
 
 1885 
 
 2 
 
 ,900 
 
 ,000 
 
 Bad 
 
 
 
 1886 
 
 2 
 
 ,983 
 
 ,000 
 
 Mean 
 
 (worms) 
 
 
 1887 
 
 2 
 
 ,965 
 
 ,000 
 
 Mean 
 
 (worms) 
 
 
 1888 
 
 2 
 
 ,720 
 
 ,000 
 
 Bad (very late 
 
 flood) 
 
 1889 
 
 3 
 
 .240 
 
 ,000 
 
 Bad 
 
 
 
 1890 
 
 4 
 
 ,150 
 
 ,000 
 
 Bad 
 
 
 
 1891 
 
 4 
 
 .765 
 
 ,000 
 
 Mean 
 
 
 
 1892 
 
 5 
 
 ,220 
 
 .000 
 
 Bad 
 
 
 
 1893 
 
 5 
 
 ,033 
 
 ,000 
 
 Good 
 
 
 
 1894 
 
 4 
 
 ,615 
 
 .000 
 
 Mean 
 
 (worms) 
 
 
 II will be noted that, since the Barrage was restored, the increase is 
 
60 
 
 independent of the nature of the summer water supply: it is more dependent on the 
 weather that prevails during the season when the bolls are mature, and upon 
 the tender mercies of the cotton worm; for, until a storage reservoir has been 
 made and more land reclaimed as a consequence, the area planted with cotton 
 will not be capable of further extension, except on a small scale. But under 
 favourable conditions of water supply and weather, combined with a scarcity of 
 cotton worm during the flowering season, a yield of 5 '/a million or even 
 
 6 million kantars may not improbably be obtained, even without any further 
 extension of the area planted. 
 
 Rice cultivation, which is also a summer crop, has increased at. the 
 same time with the increase of cotton, but reliable figures to show to what 
 extent are not available. 
 
 The delivery of the water at a high level, in the canals dependent 
 on the Ban-age, lias caused a large saving in cost of lifting and in coal 
 expended for working steam pumps. Even the partial use of the Barrage in 
 1884 caused, according to the Railway returns, a falling off of 12.000 tons 
 of coal supplied to the six. principal towns of Lower Egypt during the first 
 
 7 months of the year, and this in spite of the fact that many steam pumps 
 use cotton stalks as fuel instead of coal. 
 
 Another end gained by making the Barrage efficient was the avoidance 
 of tiie necessity of adopting the alternative costly project of pumping stations, 
 which, as has been already shown, would have yearly cost the country 
 L. E. 248,500 to work, whereas the yearly expenditure in maintaining and 
 working the Barrage is under L. E. 14.000. 
 
 Again, the raising of the water-level above the Barrage, combine! 
 with measures to maintain the Rayyah Beherah in an efficient state, which 
 have also been a great success, resulted in the Province of Beherah being 
 given a better supply by flow than the pumps at Khatatbeli and Atfeh, referred 
 to before, could give. So these pumps were no longer required and the 
 expense of pumping was therefore economised. From 1880 to 1880 this 
 pumping had cost the Government annually from h.K. 80.000 to L.E. 00.000, 
 
made up of a yearly subsidy of L.K. 26,320 and the remainder as payment at 
 tlic rate of L.E. 42 per million cubic metres of water lifted. 
 
 As far as the fellaheen of Kgypt are concerned, the greatest 
 advantage gained by raising the water-level at the off-take of the main canals 
 has been an enormous decrease in the quantity of silt clearance. This decrease 
 has permitted of the abolition of the Corvee and made it possible to maintain 
 the canals by paid labour working under contractors. The amount expended 
 in Lower Egypt on the work formerly done by the Corvee is now under 
 L.M 200.000. For this expenditure the necessaiy maintenance works are 
 fully executed, canals are remodelled am 1 , some new works carried out 
 every year. 
 
 The number of unpaid labourers turned out to clear canals and repair 
 banks in Lower Egypt (excluding Gizah) in 1883 was equivalent to 106.610 
 men, working for 100 days. In 1884 it was 88.299. Taking a man's labour 
 per diem as worth 4 Piastres (1 franc), this labour was wort!; L. E. 426,466 
 in 1883 and L.E. 353,11)6 in 1884. And moreover with these numbers the 
 work that was necessary was never completed, and remodelling and new works 
 had become out of the question. For not only were the nominal numbers 
 insufficient, but the actual numbers .were still more so. In 188o the Inspectors 
 of Irrigation reported that the Corvee would not turn out: and naturally, for 
 the koorbash had been abolished, an 1 no inducement had been substituted for 
 it. Thus, the koorbash being abolished, it became necessary to substitute 
 paid for unpaid labour, and this was only made possible by the economy in 
 the maintenance charges of canals effected by the restoration of (he Barrage. 
 
 There is yet more to be said in its favour. The efficiency of the 
 new closing "rates, fixed in the Barrage, has made it possible to utilise the 
 full discharge of the Nile during a bad summer, and to turn all the water 
 into the canals for irrigation purposes. But, with this, certain disadvantages 
 are connected: the Nile Branches below the Barrage are rendered unnavigable, 
 and salt water travels up the branches from the Sea. To meet the first 
 disadvantage, some of the principle canals have been made navigable b\ the 
 construction of locks : and to meet the second objection, the canals in the 
 
(i-2 
 
 North of the Delta have been connected up with those fed from above the 
 Barrage, so that irrigation and drinking water is provided by them to those 
 villages and areas, which formerly obtained their supply in summer direct 
 from the river. 
 
 The one great objection to the high-level water obtained by regulation 
 on the Barrage is the danger of damaging lands by infiltration. This has 
 actually taken place in some situations. The remedy appears to be a more 
 complete system of drains and a more plentiful supply for washing the lands. 
 Money is required both to dig the channels which will improve the drainage, 
 and to make a storage reservoir which will give in summer the increased 
 supply of water required for washing the salt out of the lands. 
 
 There is one other objection urged to the Barrage, but it is a fanciful 
 one. It is accused of creating a stagnant pool above it, which is said to be 
 injurious to the health of the dwellers in Cairo. This accusation has been 
 made chiefly on the authority of one or two misinformed medical men, 
 who adopt the port hoc propter hoc system of reasoning. Through what 
 is loosely termed a "stagnant" pool the whole Nile flows past Cairo in a 
 channel of no great dimensions. The minimum discharge of the Nile in 
 summer may be taken to be 30 million cubic metres a day, or 347 cubic 
 metres a second. To call a channel of 2700 square metres, through which 
 such a discharge passes, a stagnant pool, is to employ a misnomer; and to 
 consider that the reduction in the velocity of the flood, due to a holding up 
 at the Ban-age, is a cause of serious danger to the health of Cairo is to 
 show a want of appreciation of th general sanitary condition of the capital of 
 Egypt. If the inhabitants can live in the atmosphere and under the conditions 
 that all but a favoured few do in Cairo, they are not likely to be affected by 
 the fact that, instead of the river flowing past the town at the mean rate of 
 14 kilometres a day, it flows at the rate of 11 kilometres a day, the former 
 rate being the mean velocity at lowest Nile with the Barrage open and the 
 latter with it closed. The calculation of these velocities is made from a cross 
 section of the river taken just South of- Gezireh Palace. 
 
 It will be seen from the foregoing paragraphs that the results obtained 
 
from the Barrage, where capable of being expressed in figures, are expressed 
 in big ones. The original conception of such a work, to whomever it may 
 belong, was a grand one. It was to the haste, with which the work was 
 urged along, that the early failure must be charged. 
 
 It was further a bold thing, after the condemnation of the Ban-age 
 was almost unanimously pronounced, to attempt its restoration. The warnings 
 of the cautious would have had it left alone to be a monument of confessed 
 failure, and a witness, so long as it should stand, of the impotence of the 
 present age witliin full view of the enduring Pyramids of a more robust past. 
 But the Barrage fell into the hands of men, whose experience taught them 
 to be bold without being rash, and who, having confidence in themselves, 
 ventured what more timid men would not, in order that the country might 
 win much by their successful daring, and the standing reproach of a useless 
 Barrage be taken away from the builders of this century. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Proposed operations for further security 
 of Barrage foundations. 
 
 A perusal of the foregoing Chapters will probably leave the reader 
 with the impression that, though the Barrage now performs its duty, it does 
 so in spite of the fact that its present floor and foundations rest on a treache- 
 rous subsoil and that they are formed of patchwork, the subsequent additions 
 to the original structure having been formed about an unsound nucleus, the 
 radical defects of which necessitated those additions, so that the resulting work 
 of to - day has little that is homogeneous about it. The three springs down- 
 stream of the Damietta Barrage floor, which are si ill yearly detected, as well 
 as an old spring opposite arch N 5 of the Rosetta Barrage, which was looked 
 for and found in 1896, though not of a nature to cause anxiety, still show 
 that there are some imperfections in the foundations or in the soil below the 
 foundations on which the Barrages rest. Warnings have also been uttered 
 from time to time, among them one by Sir C. Scott Moncrieff himself, pointing 
 out that, though olf the sick list, the Barrage is still of delicate constitution 
 and must be handled with unceasing care and watchfulness. 
 
 A just appreciation of the immense importance of the Barrage to 
 Lower Egypt, and a knowledge of the defective condition of the old foundations 
 that lie under and within the later additions, create a feeling of uneasiness and 
 apprehension hi the minds of those who are responsible for the safe-keeping of 
 
65 
 
 the work. Hence any proposals tending to remove the causes of this uneasiness 
 are welcomed, though in the opinion of some it is better to leave well alone. 
 On this principle of leaving well alone no work with the view of strengthening 
 the foundations was undertaken in 1895 and 1896, but the springs were 
 merely watched and the floors examined. 
 
 But in the spring of 1896 Mr. W. R. Kinipple M. I. C. E. came 
 to Egypt to advise the Egyptian Government on the question of applying 
 his system of ''Stock-ramming" to two locks on the Ismailiyah Canal, which 
 had shown failure of foundations. Advantage was taken of his presence in 
 Egypt to consult him as to the practability of applying his system to the 
 Barrage, so as to make it sufficiently secure to remove all doubts as to its 
 permanent stability. His report was encouraging. 
 
 After Mr. Kinipple had been asked to give his advice, some slight 
 hair-cracks appeared in Arches N os 7 and 8 of the Rosetta Barrage, but after 
 their first appearance they did not enlarge. No doubt the appearance of these 
 cracks removed any hesitation that might have been felt as to the desirability of 
 adopting Mr. Kiuipple's system as a means of making the foundations of the 
 Barrage secure. 
 
 It has, therefore, been decided to commence work after the flood of 
 1896 on 11 arches of both Barrages opposite the springs which are known 
 to exist. If the springs are thereby stopped and the operations are otherwise 
 satisfactory and successful, the rest of the two Barrages will be similarly 
 treated in subsequent years. The Government has been fortunate enough to 
 secure the services of Mr. Kinipple himself for superintending the first season's 
 experimental work. 
 
 The system consists in forcing plastic clay under pressure down holes 
 bored through the masonry and floor, the pressure causing the clay to spread 
 itself out under the floor and foundations and to displace the shifting sand 
 it meets with, or render it so compact as to make it capable of resisting 
 without leaks the maximum water pressure desired. 
 
 In the case of the Barrage, three vertical holes, situated 3 J /2 metres 
 apart on the longitudinal axis of each pier, will be bored down to the underside 
 
66 
 
 of the lowest layer of the foundations. These holes will then be lined with 
 iron tubes, and the clay, formed into pellets, will be passed down them and be 
 subjected to pressure. 
 
 It is hoped that the clay from adjacent piers will meet under the 
 flooring between the piers and there unite, to as to form a continuous water- 
 tight curtain wall under the centre of the Barrage. But at present such work 
 belongs to the future history of the Barrage and any further account of it 
 may therefore be left to the future. 
 
 CAIRO, 24 July 1896. 
 
Large post quarto, cloth 10 s. 6 d. net. 
 
 FAYUM AND LAKE 
 
 By 
 MAJOR ROBERT HANBURY BROWN, 
 
 Royal Engineers, Inspector -General of Irrigation, Upper Egypt. 
 
 WITH PREFATORY NOTE 
 
 by 
 COL. SIR COLIN SCOTT- MOXCRIEFF, K. C. M. G., C. S. L, 
 
 Late Under Secretary of State, Public Works, Egypt. 
 
 Illustrated by the Author's Photographs, Diagrams, and a Recent Map of the Fayum. 
 Edward Stanford, 26 & 27, Cockspur Street, Cliaring Cross, 
 
 London S. W. 1892. 
 
 CONTENTS. Introduction. The Lake Mceris Question stated generally. 
 Chapter I. The Fayum of To-day. 
 Chapter II. Quotations from Herodotus, Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, and 
 
 Pliny; and Arabic Tradition. 
 Chapter III. Theories concerning Lake Mceris, as held by Linant, 
 
 Cope Whitehouse, and others, discussed. 
 Chapser IV. Author's View's concerning Lake Mceris and Account 
 
 of the Evolution of the Fayum divided into the following 
 
 Sections: (a) The Fayum before it became Lake Mcsris. 
 
 (b) The Fayum as Lake Mceris. (c) Transformation of Lake 
 
 Mosris into the Fayum of To-day. 
 Chapter V. The Fayum in the Future and possible Uses to which 
 
 the "VVadi Raian may be put. 
 
 "The Fayum and. JLake Moeris" 
 
 The Times. "The'book is well illustrated, excellently got up, and 
 forms a valuable addition to the knowledge which we possess of one of the 
 most interesting of all lands". 
 
 The Saturday Review. " One of the most fascinating problems of that 
 land (Egypt) is the subject of a very interesting monograph by Major Brown." 
 
 The Geographical Journal. "Major Brown's work is so concise, as 
 well as so thorough, that it is practically impossible to convey a correct 
 impression of it in an abstract. The book is a model of scientific precision." 
 
 Tlie Academy. "The book under review is indispensable for all who 
 wish to possess in a readable and easily accessible form all the previous 
 information about Lake Mceris." (Justin C. Ross.) 
 
The Royal Engineer's Journal " I lis suggestions are far more convincing 
 than those of his predecessors, and correspond much better with the accounts 
 of Herodotus and other geographers, both as to area, depth and suiTon>nli:i^. 
 It is impossible in a short notice to follow out his arguments, but wo 
 recommend it to the study of all who are interested in this question.'' 
 
 The At/H'iti/ctuii. "Major Brown has now given us a careful and 
 .professional survey of the province illustrated by several excellent maps, and 
 as to his competence to do this there can be no question whatever. 
 
 Dr. A. Petermann's Mitteilungen; and L'Egypte. "Bien que le dernier 
 mot n'ait pas encore ete dit sur ce sujet (le lac Moeris), le volume 4110 vient 
 de publier iTnspecteur general dc.s irrigations de la Han to Egypte est peut-etre 
 1'avant-dornier. En ctfet, pour la premiere fois, on se trouve en face d'une 
 solution basee sur des nivellements exacts de la region toute entiere, et qui, 
 avec son appareil de calculs et de donnees hydrauliques , ne pent etre quo 
 bien accueillie par tout cherchenr consciencieux." (Dr. <J. Schweinfurth.) 
 
 Engine-ring. " The researches and his deductions form a most 
 interesting and closely reasoned book, which will be read with pleasure not 
 only by Egyptologists and engineers, but also by those who take delight in 
 seeing how one science sheds illumination over the dark places of others." 
 
 Revue Critique. "L'etude technique que sa position ofh'cielle I'obligeait 
 a faire de la question donne it son livre une autorite indiscutable. La partie 
 d'observation exacte est excellente." (G. Maspero.) 
 
 Manchester Guardian. " The book is satisfactoiy and welcome, for it 
 brings a breeze of common sense and unimpeachable fact across a very 
 swamp of baseless speculation. The excellent illustrations are from his own 
 photographs." 
 
 Glasgoiv Herald. " The whole subject is ably expounded." 
 
 TJie Scotsman. "His book on the Fayum is the best kind of testi- 
 mony of the care and thoroughness with which the English engineers in Egypt 
 have gone about their work, and of the mark for good which they have left 
 on the Nile valley and its history. " 
 
 Blackwood's Magazine. " Major Brown's admirable monograph on 
 that oasis, (the Fayum). " 
 
 Egyptian Gazette. " This being the somewhat hopeless position of the 
 Mosris controversy, the thanks of all who take an interest in this bewitching 
 subject are due to Major Brown for his excellent review of the whole ques- 
 tion, written in a style as simple as it is concise and with an impartiality 
 which is the more surprising as he has a theory of his own to propound. " 
 
 The Scottish Geographical Magazine. " It is refreshing to take up 
 a volume like that of Major Brown, in which the facts and conditions of the 
 problem are stated in clear, precise and simple language, and in which solution 
 is sought by using at every step the implements and methods of the hydro- 
 graphical engineer. It is a real contribution to knowledge. " 
 
 In Cairo The Fayum and Lake Moeris is on sale 
 at F. Diemer's International Bookstore (Shepheard's Buildings). 
 
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 Cour d'appel inixte d'Alexamlrie. - - 2 vol. in 8 frcs. 25. 
 
 Les Commissaires de la Caisse de la Dette Publique gyptienne et 
 le Droit International, par "W. Kaufmann, Docteur en droit. Traduit de 
 1'allemand par Henry Babied, professeur a 1'Ecole frangaise de droit, 
 avocat a la Cour d'appel, Docteur en droit. - Prix 3 Frcs. 
 
R.IDSTER & Co., LE CAM 
 
 -* 
 
 Fers marehands. 
 x Poutrelles des 
 Usines de la Pro- 
 vidence. # Tuyaux 
 dedescenteenfonte 
 et en fer pour eau 
 et gaz, ;* Tuyaux 
 en plomp. >: Plomp 
 et Zinc en f 
 
 c 
 
 Grands Depots 
 de Materiaux 
 
 de 
 
 Construction 
 
 a 
 
 BOULAC. 
 
 Bureaux: 
 
 Avenue de Boulac. 
 
 Chaux hydrailipe. 
 K C! I m e n t s. :+: 
 Carreaux divers. # 
 Platres, -* Briques, 
 
 >: 
 
 vilet. 
 
 SK 
 
 Articles sanitalres 
 et de canalisation. 
 * ete. etc, ete. * 
 
 Agents generaux et Depositaires de la Maison ARTHUR KOPPEL, Berlin, 
 pour materiel de chemins de fer portatifs et fixes a voie etroite. 
 
 Agents generaux des Compagnies d'assurances "HELVETIA" St. Gall, 
 pour "INCENDIE & TRANSPORT". 
 
 Representants d'Usines Metallurgiques pour Constructions : PONTS, 
 CHARPENTES, RESERVOIRS, INSTALLATIONS DE SUCRERIES, etc. etc. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 5 line 6 for "ancients" read "anicuts" 
 
 5 14 for "Jurther' 1 read "Further" 
 
 13 1 for "to the floor" read "of the floor" 
 
 ,17 ,25 for "fill" read "fit" 
 
 ,,33 23 for "refers them" read "refers to them'' 
 
 47 22 for "verbalim" read "verbatim" 
 
 . 59 ,. 11 for "wich" read "which" 
 
14 DAY USE 
 
 RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED 
 LOAN DEPT. 
 
 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or 
 
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 Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 
 
 28Nov'58CS| 
 
 
 RLC'D LD 
 
 AlAA-l O A *A*A 
 
 
 NOV 26 1958 
 
 
 
 
 
 i'J 7 1971 9 2 
 
 fttt'D 10 M 
 
 5 7t-l2AM8 5 
 
 MAY 15 1981 
 
 
 SANTA BARBARA 
 
 
 Vr^irVSARy LOAN 
 nJN ?-t!88 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 LD 21A-50m 9,'58 
 (6889slO)476B 
 
 General Library 
 
 University of California 
 
 Berkeley