The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1886-01-20
TIE wosLO,s RENssKAaLs alvsss
Streams That Present Uslgpe and. cariopl
Feature, "A River OF Ilk
iNev yoFl en1

ifnW iVFA olh
Anumbct Of rivers that can Be found
10 almost any atlas possess remarkable
oharAcnristies which Ontitle them 10
rdnk among the natural euriosltles Of
the world. In Algeria, for instance
there Is asmal stream which the chem.
istry OF naturp has turned into tfu6l Ink
Il is fofmod BY the union OF two flTu,
lets one Of which y yery strongly I'm.
pregnAtgd with iron while tho other
.tneandcring through 4 peat nNrsh, i'm.
6iaes galiic acid. Letters hive beon writ.
tpnYith this compound OF iron aud gallio
acid Which unto 70 Eorm the lltt!ofiycr
In ololHbia there isA riyOr which, by
adml turO With sulphuric acid, bUComes
so sour that II is appropriately named
hio do inagre, or Vinegar river
Many varieties Of iish abound In the
largo range river OF South Africa until
tile river passes Though a rOeky region
containing copper orss, bclow which the
water Is said 10 . poisonous aud to Kill
tue iish that venture into II
"ChInhs Sorrow Is q name that has
b n given 70 ths great .Hoang 1lO,
Irshiclrls IN the Inoantpin ,ot 9hibot
mud tOllows o wphtlerfllly eIreuit0us
planns ior 91 miles 70 thd sei Tie
sayHatdles tol tbs mighty volume ot
water makes the rifet d constant source
OF anxiety and danger, instead of
wealth, to l70, ,0DN,OO0 Of people inhah.
ing,the central plain Of China. 1t Is
known 70 have suddenly changed its
course nine times. II has moved
It's mouth over degrees Of Let.
itnde each time, emptying It's vast
Hoods in different directions and dig.
ging new channel for itself where
scores of villages had stood, II has
greatly changed the physical character
Of wide area, turning fertile regions
into sandy waste or making shallow
lakes Of them, in which nothing grows,
and over which nothing can sail.
Whether ii is within the power Of west
ern science to save THIS great plain from
disastrous over ows and changes OF tho
river bod is question that has been
considerably discussed Ia inglaud Of
late years
EOmo recent explorers Of Alaska tell
us that lhe Mississippi can no longer bo
regarded os the largest river Of tho
orth American continent They claim
that distinction for tho great Yukon
river, which, according 10 Slr. Ivan
PctroG, who spent two years in Alaska
collecting materials for the last census,
Cmpties into Norton sound one.third
more water than the Mississippi pours
into the gulf Of Me leo. The Yukon
basin comprises tho most OF southern
Alaska, aud is a mile wido 600 miles
from its mouth. Many centuries before
it was visited by white men Il very
likely ser,ed as tho highway into the
interior Of tribes who ar6 believed 10
have crossed from Asia to this con.
tinent.
A very curious river Is the Weblie
Shebeyli Of east Africa, deep and rapid
stream, abOunding in llsh and Gro. odiies
Though It flows for hundreds Of miles
through fertile lands, the immense vol.
umO OF water never rcaChes the sea. A
little north Of the Q tuator tho river loses
itself in desert region a few miles
from tho Indian ocean.
Very fow great rivers have over boen.
thoroughly explored by going up stream
Travellers tried for 1000 years TO find
the source o. the NilO by ascending Tho
river, By the time they had reached
the difficult part Of the stream their
stores and energy were exhausted an
they could go no further 1t was only
by seeking tho fountain heads llrst by
overland routes that Schwatka was able
to lloat down the Yukon, that Stanley
mapped the ongO, and that Speke solved
thy secret Of tho Nile