The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-04-18
THE MIRACLE OF TIL NILE.
I Desert Transformed At Its Overflow into
Fruitful Paradise.

a Desert Transformed At It's Overflow into
Fruitful Paradise.
~ NO one. perhaps. have the impressions
produced BY the various phases Of the river
been 10 postlcally described ~ by Osburn,
who thus describes the low Nile:
1.-THE Nile has shrunk within It's banks
until the stream 10 contracted to half its
ordinary dimensions. and its turbid, Shiny.
a~tagnaut waters scarcely ssem to fiow In
D direction. Rfond fats or steep banks
OF blsck. sun baked Nile mud form both the
shores Of tho river. All beyond them IL
sand and sssrtlity. Tor tho HANSEN, or sand
YET CEASED to blow. The trunks and
branches Of trees may be seen hero md
there through the dusty, hazy. Burning
atmosphere, but so entirely are their leaves
coated with dust, that AT n distance they
arc not distinRuishable from the desert
sand that surrounds them. II IL only
by the most painful and laborious operation
OF watering that any tint Rpproximating to
greenness can bs preserved ut this season
even in the pleasure gardens of this pasha.
this most terrible season 10 the rising Of the
moth wind (the etesian wind of the
Greeksl blowing briskly, often fercely,
during the whole of the day. The foliage
OF the groves that cover Lower Egypt IL
sa:sssq IT, Ss.Sa.. BY Tho 4 q s., 81. ,s sr., :a % s rs
sun. then at his hiehest ascension. are also
most s%easonably mitioated by the same
powerful agency, which prevails for this and
the three following months Throughout the
entire land OF Egypt"
Then at last comes the inundation:
ssPerhaps there ia not In nature n more o.
hilaratino sight, or one moro strongly ex-
citing to confidence In God, than the rise OF
the Nile. Day by day and night by night
ito turbid tide sweeps a majess:cally
ruA0 khn nnrNno1 nrNda ff thu wOotn h1uul-
ing wilderness.' Almost hourly. as we
slowly assembled 1t before the etesinn wind.
We heard the laundering fall of some mud
bank and saw by the rush of all animated
nature to the spot that the Nile had over
ieapt another obstruction, aud that it's
through another desert. There are few i'm.
pressions l ever received upon tue remem-
brance Of which 1 dwell with more pleasure
than that of seeing tho first burst OF the
Nile into n of the great channels
shouts for joy. The mon. the children,
the buffnloes, gambol in its refreshing
waters. the broad waves sparkle with
shoals of fish, and fowl of every wing lut-
ter over them in clouds. Nor 10 this jubi-
Of creation. The moment tho sand be-
comes moistened by the approach of the
tertilizing waters, it is literally alive with
insects innumerable. 1t Is impossible to
stnnd by the aside OF one of these noble
at cams. to see it every moment sweeping
away some obstruction to its majestic
course, and widening as it flows. without
feeling the heart to expand with love and
joy and confidence in the great author of
this annual miracle of mercy"
The effects of the inundation. as Osburn
shows in another place, exhibit them
selves in a scene OF fertility and beauty
such "a will sea cely be found in another
country at any season of the year-the
vivid green Of the sprlnRing corn, the
groves of poInegranate trees ablaze with
che rich scarlet of their blossoms, the fresh
breeZes laden with the perfume of gardens
of roses and orange thickets, every tree and
every shrub covered with sweet scented
flowers. These are a few of tho natural
beauties which welcome the stranger to the
land of Ham. There is considerable same
serve little variety in the trees and plants.
whether he first entered Egypt by the gar
dens of Alexandria or the plain of Assouan.
Yet it is the same everywhere, only because
it would be impossible to make any nddi-
tion to the sweetness of the odors. the bril-
lianoy of the colors or the exquisite beauty
of the many forms of vegetable life. in the
midst of which he wnnders 1t is mo.
n%otonous, but 1t Is the monotony OF para
disc.
npproximating TO that of the summer SOL
stice. II attains its greatest height and
begins to decline near the autumnaI equi-
nox. BY the winter ~stolstioe the Nile has
again subsidized within its banks and re.
sumed its blue color. Seed time has
occurred in this intel val. The year in
Egypt divides itself into three Seasons
four months OF sowing and growth, cor
responding nearly with our November, De.
cember, January and February; four
months of harvest from March to June;
the four months of the inundation com.
plotting the ycle."-London Nature.