The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1869-07-10
The Rising of the Nile.

To the annual phenomena of the rising
of the Nile, Egypt is entirely indebted for
its fertility, and even for its existence as
an inhabited and populous country. With
out it the land would always have been
desert, incapable of affording the means of
subsistence to man. Except occasionally
near the shores of the Mediterranean, no
rain falls throughout the land, and there
fore its parched and sandy soil would be
entirely unfruitful, were it not that regu-
larry, at a certain season of the year, the
river overflows the whole adjacent country.
Why it should do so was mystery in
ancient times, and many absurd theories
and conjectures were raised to account for
it. The Egyptians themselves believed the
river was god, who, in his beneficence,
spread himself annually over the land to
supply the wants of his people. If the
rising did not begin to make it's appearance
at the expected time-and it has hardly
varied single day throughout the course
of ages-they hastily prepared sacrifice
to this deity, usually beautiful girl, who
was richly adorned and then thrown into
the stream.
Some Of the ancient philosophers lighted
on the true reason of the rising of the wa
tiers, when they imagined it to be due to
heavy rains falling in the interior of Africa,
and swelling the sources of the river. What
those sources were, it had batfled the inves-
tigation of thousands of years to ascertain,
until recently our travellers, Spoke, Grant,
and Baker, discovered them in immense
lakes situated near the equator, more than
5000 miles, as the stream winds. from the
mouth of the Nile on the Mediterranean
coast. To these lakes the names of the
Victoria Nyanza and the Albert Nyanza
have been given by the successful explorers.
In the regions adjacent to these lakes,
rain falls throughout the greater part of
the year, and most heavily in March, at the
time of the spring equinox The lakes
form huge reservoirs for the water which
descends from the elevations known as the
Mountains of the Moon and as they be-
come swollen, the size of the streams which
emerge from them is proportionately in
creased. Several of these streams, uniting
in their course, form the Upper or White
Nile, and this river, flowing gradually on,
until it meets the Blue or Lower Nile, bears
irrigation to the thirsty lands below. Not
only this, but as these rivers come down
they bring with them a quantity of alluvial
soil of the richest kind and when the Nile
at last spreads itself over the flat and sandy
plains of Egypt it enriches them year by
year with this muddy but fertile deposit
The consequence is a gradually rising of
the land, to the extent, it is calculated, of
from five to six inches in century Owing
to this fact, many Of the remains of the
half buried in the soil.
Although in these days we know more
about natural phenomena than philosophers
of old, and can satisfactorily explain the
reason of the rising waters, there remains
one wonder connected with it which is as
great to us as to them, and that is its uni
formity. As we have said, throughout the
course of ages its commencement has scarce
ly varied by one day, and its extent is also
comprised, as rule, within narrow limit.
So equal, in the main, must be the quaint
ty of water which falls annually at the
equator, and so regular the commencement
and decline of the rainy season.
The rising commences in Lower Egypt
about the 25th of June, and steadily in
creases during the three months following.
In this time the valley of the Nile becomes
covered by its waters, and its villages stand
out from them like little islands, as for the
time they are. When the water has attain
ed its maximum hight, it remains stationary
for about ten days, and then declines as
steadily as it arose. On it's subsding, the |
land has been thoroughly fortified, and
vegetation becomes luxuriant.
The hight to which the river rises is |
matter of vital impornce. A few feet more
or less make the difference between starva-
ton and abul !lncc The average hight |
varies according to the distance traversed |
by the river from about forty feet where
it enters Eg...'5 to four feet only near the
Mediterranean. Taking as IL intermediate |
hight that observed at Carlo, if the rise is
less than twenty feet, there is scarcity, or
even famine: il it is three or four feet more. |
the crops viii be short; three or four feet |
more again, and they will be abundant; but |
if the water pes still higher, it becomes an
unhealthy food.
Contrivanccs for measuring the exact |
rise of the Nile were in use in ancient times. |
and i'll two instances the remains of these |
"Nilometers'' still exist. One, and the |
most ancient, supposed to have been erected |
in the time of the Roman dominion, is found |
in the island of Elephantine, in Upper |
Egypt and on the walls of the building
i'll which it is contained are inscrip-
tons recording the nights of the inun-
dation in various years. The other is sit
uated in the island of Rhoda, near Cairo.
and is believed to have been built in the
time of the Arabian caliphs. 1t consists of
a square well, into which the water is adj
mitted as it rises, while in the centre is a
column OF marble marked at frequent in
tervalS with the distance from the lowest
level. The Nilometers are supposed to
have been of chief utility in adjusting the
taxation of the country, as they would give
indications as to whether the season would
he plentiful or Otherwise World Of Won
defs.
70 If you want to be in good humor
all the week, get your washing nicely done
by 10 o'clock Monday morning and have
the clothes ironcd and put away before
night. Now if yon don't know how to do
this, just inquire at Moore Il Bro, who
manufacture that famous " Wilmington
City Soap" Ask your grocer for it,
That was a smart girl who consoled
herself with the thought that the same