The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1886-01-29

WONDERFUL RIVERS.
Streams thatlPrsssnt unique and CuraoaB
Featurss-A River a Ink.
A number Of rivers that can Be found
in almost any atlas possess remarkable
characteristics which entitle them to
rank among the natural curiosities Of
the world. In Algeria, for instance,
there is . small stream which the
chemistry of nature has turned into true
ink. It is formed by the union of two
rivulets, one Of which Is very strongly
impregnated with iron, while the other,
meandering through peat marsh, im-
bibes gallic acid. Letters have been
written with this compound of iron and
GALLO acid which unite to form the little
river. In Colombia there is river
which, by admixture with sulphate acid,
becomes SO sour that it is appropriately
named Rio de Vinagre, or Vinegar River.
Many varieties OF fish abound in the
large Orange River of South Africa un-
til the river passes through q rocky re-
gion containing copper ores, below
which the water is said to be poisonous
and to kill the fish that venture into it.
''China's Sorrow" is the name that
has been given to the great Hoang Ho.
which rises in the mountains of Thibet
and follows q wonderfully circuitous
channel for two thousand five hundred
miles 10 the sea. The waywardness Of
this mighty volume of water makes the
river q constant source of anxiety and
danger, instead of wealth, to 170, 0O0. 600
of people inhabiting the central plain of
China: It is known to have suddenly
changed its coursosnine times. 1t has
moved its mouth over four degrees Of
latitude each time, emptying its vast
floods in different directions and digging
new channel for itself where scores OF
villages had stood. It has greatly
changed the physical character of q
wide area. turning fertile regions into q
sandy waste or making shallow lakes of
them, in which nothing grows. and over
which nothing can sail. Whether it il
within the power of western science to
save this great plain from disastrous
overfows and changes of the river bed
is question that has been considerably
discussed in England of late years.
Some recent explorers of Alaska tell
us that the Mississippi can no longer be
regarded IS the largest river of the
North American continent. They claim
that distinction for the greatY ukon River
which, according to Mr.. Ivan Petroff.
who spent two years in Alaska collect
ing materials for the last census, empties
into Norton Sound one-third more water
than the Mississippi pours into the Gulf
of Mexico. The Yukon basin comprises
the most Of southern Alaska, and is .
mile wide 600 miles from its mouth.
Many centuries before it was visited by
white men it very likely served as tho
highway into the interior of tribes who
are believed to have crossed from Asia
to this continent.
A very curious river is the Webbe
Shebayli of East Africa, deep and
rapid stream, Astounding in fish and
crocodiles. Though it dows for hum
dreds of miles through fertile lands. the
immense volume of water never reaches
the sea. A little north of the Equator
the river loses itself in q desert region .
few miles from the Indian Ocean.
Very few great rivers have ever
been thoroughly explored by going up
stream Travellers tried for two thous-
and years to find the sources of the Nile
by ascending the river. By the time
they had reached the difficult part Of
the stream their stores and energy were
exhausted and they could go no further.
1t was only by seeking the fountain
heads first by overland routes that
Schwatka'was only able to float down
the Yukon, that Stanley mapped the
Congo. and that Spoke solved the secret
of the Nile.-M 7. Sun.