Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-11-08
DETECTING THE NILE.
Oan tho Mohdi En- fiI His Throat of Turn
ins fhst Rlvsr ana Ruining lowe,
EsVpo

: nominal ru.er OF the Scudsr, with the
center OF astiviss in and around Khar-
toum, has threatened to turn
the Nile out CT its course and
ruin Egypt, says the San Ftsrcisco
Bulletin. Tais TIRES. WAS made when
there wers good reasons to suppose thu,
Emin Bey and Stanley were marching
toward Khartoum for the purpose OF put
ting sn end 20 the Mshdi's rebel
lion. OF course, Il the lat.
ter could execute his threat he would ruin
lower Egypt; fer the prosperity OF that
country, Low IS i; is, depends upon agri-
culture, snd that depends upon the snnusl
rise Of the Me This rsu,lly begins
about the summer sols.ice, aud Is at the
greatest height in lower Egypt about
the vernel equinox. A. low water
the Nile discharges into the Medi
terranean, oy estimate, $1,000 cubic
feet Of water per miru.e. The dis
charge st high water must be dou Ole that
amount, for the White Nile at the high
est stsga ia estimsted TO send past Khsr
toum 220. 500 cubic feet per minute. The
Blue Nile does not begin to rise in that
vicinity until well slong in July. The
average rise is about forty feet at the
first cetsrsc', thirly.s'x feet at Thebes
snd twenty-six feet st Cairo,
The agriculture Of Esyp: does not de-
nend 30 much upon the overflow OF the
Nile IS upon rise nesriy to the top of
the banks, which boiGg higher than the
&C scent laut, smsll cress. chan
uels ere cut aud the water led
through aDd distributed upon the lsnd. A
failure to rise to this heieht "a disss-
tfoGs to agriculture, because there
beiug no rsin in lower Egyp!, or rex. t.
none, crops csu not be raised without
irrigation. This c&n DC dore on very
snail ecsle by the use IF native
oxen, hu. the agriculture which main.
tains Egypt be20nd the point OF actual
distress ig tEst which depends upon the
rice OF the Nile to full the banks,
with some overflow here ard there.
Now, If the msdhi could divert 80 much
OF this water ths3 there would be no es-
seriisl rise of the lower Nile, he would il
TIA. way substantially execute his Unrest,
and that without absolutely de f .ctirg the
entire course of the river. All things are
possible, with some qualifications,
TO the great engine efs OF. She world
with an unlimited amount OF
money and men to back them;
BILE 10 the madhi. Even De Lesseps In
his prime might hesitate to undertske
such jot, although he suggested that
the Gatarscls In the Nile might be blown
up and TIE gres. river cleared Of obstruc-
tons and made rsvigable to Khartoum.
Even tnat would be 8 more stupendous
than has ever been undertaken
0y shy engineer In modern tim3s.
b N tue S ope is go ersdu.l to the north,
or toward the mouth Of the Nile, that the
river falls in all tina. distance only about
800 feet Between G 2ndoro and Knsr-
tOum the river has gradually raised the
level OF the bed and it nas also built up
the banks. Hare crest overf3W takes
pisce, the water going eff into Ia
goors and side channels, for |
the banks break down unqer the |
pressure OF the w.tee. Here /. might be |
possible for the Mahai to divert vast |
body Ct water. Within the country ever
which he has nominal rule there is the |
crest plain through which the river flows |
with sluggish and slmos. impercep-
-ible current; there ere lsgooEs, tide chan
iels, vast amount OF water contin-
leiiY passing of and never returning to
he river. After receiving the wsters Of
he Atbars the Nile flows more than 500
niles through the Nabisn desert. The
for sll this distance is i'm
nense on account ct the dryness of the !!
I'm osphere where little or NO rtil
sns. Sir Samuel Baker ia 1874 de-
erred thss from the equator 10 tbs
mediterranean not dup Of water
cached the Nile from the wt stern side Of
he continent. 1t is we'll known that not
IS much wster ever passes Cairo as
he White Nile slone st the greatest
.eight sends n.st Khsrtoum, while the
,ther great fl tents, the B.ue Nile ard
he Attsrs send out immense volumes ct
heir hejghest stsges.
From these dats the Mahdi's threst
nay not tie al idle one His predecessor
Il one time had more people under his
nominal control in the Soudan thsn there
we're in lower Egypt. He might employ
not in DETECTING tie Nile, but
~ turning the surplus waters cut en-
he great plsins and on to the desert,
where the wsters would disappear IS
hey now Go in the side channels
md settling ponds, depositing
,ast bodies Of sill. between Con.
lore and Khartoum. In that district na-
ure has long been working to bring such
N exploit as the Mahdi threatens within
he bounds OF possibility. The river hslts
IS It runs, having so little current that
he bed Of the river has been gradually
'siset, and even the banks built up by
he annusl deposits. The arid plains and
he vast desert country, togetcer with the
,ry atmos phere, mieht be made to ex-
lsuss vast body Of water.
Without affi rming that 1t would be poss
ible with any means 81 the Mahdi's COM
nsnd to divert the waters Of the Nile SO
here would be no annual rise in Lower
Egypt, 1t appears that this fanatic
md and recel did not make
altogether sn idle threat. Whist be
nsy never do for lack OF resources,
n any modera engineer might undertake
o do with enough money and men at his
command. Fo. while new channel
,ouId not be m .de for the Nile, 80 that its
waters could be diverted into the Red Sea
II into the Mediterranean By any other
course than that past Thebes and
Jairo, more than one engineer
lss sfi:med th.. the waters OF
hat gr Eat river can be led CT to such an
xtent into the dry plains and the crest
lesert nominslly embraced In the Soudap,
hat the annual rise IN lower Egypt right
,e reduced to zsro. The E1phrates
vas once diverted SO that the
greatest city OF srcient times was
1