2-913-960 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

"The Barrage of the Nile", 1854. Dam across the River Nile in Egypt. 'A large passage is kept close to the Eastern shore, for the steamers, to be closed by Gates when the Nile rises...other passages...are reserved for...river boats; and each of the lesser arches is to be closed by sluices. Various opinions are held...as to the result of closing the Barrage: some think the waters of the Nile would be diverted in a new direction...in which case some valuable land would be inundated, and the navigation of the river seriously impeded. Others suppose that the pent-up waters of the Nile would permeate the light alluvial soil of the present river banks, and forming springs in the cultivated grounds, which would then be in many parts lower than the water level of the "barraged" Nile, would carry up to the surface quantities of saline matter...turning the arable land into insalubrious salt swamps'. From "Illustrated London News", 1854.