The Ohio Democrat. [volume] (Canal Dover, Ohio) 1840-1900, 1844-02-29
BY KITCHENER 4 MATHEWS.
s!THE RIVER NILE AND ITS INHABITANTS.

1.-THE RIVER NILE AND ITS INHABITANTS.
The following about The River Nile and its nhabit-
ants is taken from French paper 1sl@
" sMehemet ALI Pacha of Egypt with design to ex-
splore the country adjacent to the White River selected
iron his Marine Captain Selim, and sent him to Sen
aar ordering the Governor OF that Province 10 equip
q pfoper party for him" lQi ll9t 1o' A't s.i's
SiR Captain se was accordingly provided %irh all the
necessary boats military escort Of two hundred and
y nien with provisions FOR seven months and he took
'Fhs departure from Kaftown Fhe account OF these Gu
rious geographical researches is published in the Carlo
Gazette We extract the following passages -
-9 son aaing the Island of ofLesGnkhabOar they found
4he vilagesot Makok ofSiam of Chalkan, OF Josmal
In and of oschira The country very agreeable and
fertile nmaize, tobacco, gourds beans, sesame wcae
saw little cotton growing In this region the river is
infested with Rippopotamus- encounter with whom
lis dangerous for they easily break in peces or sink
boats. Wesaw many of these monsters stretched on
the banks in the hot sun. Captain Sem frequently fir
ed his musket at thembut whether they were too far
ufor their skins too hard and thick to be penetrated by
balls or OF them were killed or even apparently
wounded Frightenedby the report ofhe gpn they plum
ged into the river and we lost sight Of them However
the expedition continued ascend the river, passing
through dry and desolae country, sometimes brisng
with mountains and sometimes immense plains bound
less to ouryiew After great fatigue and numerous per-
lis we arrived among tribe whose custom it isto cast
all herdead into the waters the Nile instead Of burn
ing or burying them. For many miles along the front
ofthe villages which are quite popuous the river bore
along human bodies, some mutla ted and some in high
putrefaction A along the river edges and on the bot
tom where the water was shallow, we saw human re-
mains on some of which birds Of prey were eastingg,
while horrible stencil infected the air! Our boats Of
ten, while seeking passage over the sandy bottom,
struck against corpses being disturbed, dred further
down the stream. Nothing give an ideaof the nor
ror Of this spectacle and what added to it was whole
Aocks of birds OF prey lowering overth river and de-
vouring their frghtfu feast Gorged with their ood
some were unable to rise on the wing, and remained
stupid on the sandy shore, until the burning rays OF the
sun had hastened and completed the labor oil digestion
But this awful prey was disputed with them BY verynu
lnerous crocodles.f Captain Sem states that he saw
one ofthose terrible amphbious animals go out Of the
river bearing corpse between jaws, the weight Of
which did not seem to discompose him. The crocodile
carried his booty to the middle of small island covered
with reeds when he disappeared from view but we heard
the noise of his formidable jaws cutting and crushing
whce limbs. This expedition did not succeed in its
whole object 1t reachedthe mountains OF Abyssinnia
without being able to dscoverer the sources OF the Nile
particularly of that branch called White Nile. The
natives said that twoud require two years to reach
the source & 20 s& j8s8 @ f ,,Ics
I1.n