The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1897-01-22
WATER OF STRANGE RIVERS,
One Stream Sour as Vinegar, Another
Black as Ink.


Black as Ink.
One Of the most curOus rivers that
daye come TO the knowledge Of men Is
the Wcbbe ShebeyI, Of Eastern AZ
r.cl, a deep anl rapid stream, abound
ing in strange fish and ferOciOus croc-
odiles says the Philadelphia Press.
Although II flows for hundreds Of miles
through fertile lands the immense vol
ume Of water never reaches the sea.
a short distance north Of the equator
the river is lost In a desert region
fCw miles from the Indian Ocean.
Some Of the more recent explorers
of Alaska and British America claim
that the Mississippi can no longer be
regarded as the largest river on the
North American continent This dis
tncriOn is claimed for the great Yukon
River. According to Ivan PetrOn, who
spent over two years in Alaska col
lecting material for the last census,
The Yukon emptics into Norton Sound
about one-thiri more water than the
Mississippi pours into the Gulf Of Mex
leo. The Yukon basin comprises the
larger portion OF Northern Alaska, and
GOO miles from its mouth the river is
a mile in width. Centuries before its
discovery by white men it very likely
served as the water highway into the
Interior for tribes whom we believe to
have crossed from Asia to the Amer
lean continent The Yukon River is
over 1000 miles in length.
Travellers report that in Algeria there
! exists a small stream which the chem
! isry of nature has turned into ink 1t
is formed by the union Of two rivulets,
one of which is very strongly impreg-
mated with iron, while the Other, mean
dering Through a peat marsh, imbibes
large quantities of gallic acid. Letters
have been written with the natural
compound of iron and gallo acid,
which forms this small yet wonderful
sTeaim.
The Rio de Vinagre in Columbia is
a sweam the waters Of which, by ad-
mixture with sulphurc acid, became
so sour that the river has been apprO-
pr.ately named the Rio de Vinagre or.
Vinegar River
The Orange or Garieh River in
Southern Africa, rises in the noun
tains which separate Natal from the
Orange Free State. The length of this
stream is LOCO miles. Its banks
abound in valuable woods, and around
it are found rich copper ores. In this.
stream are many varieties of fish
which are found until the river passes
through a rocky region containing cop
per, below which the water is said to
be poisonous, almost Instantly killing
the fish that venture near it.
Another remarkable river is tire In
dus, great stream in Hindustan 1t
rises in ThiDet and its course is a won
derful one On reaching the Sussi, its
most nOrrnern point. Ii turns south
ward losing itself in the hills, and re-
appears in TakOt in K0histan. The
Indus is LOO mnes in length After
receiving the waters of many tributa-
ries, its channel grows narrow. and
here 1T divides into many channels,
some of which never return to the par.
emit stream. 1t abounds in fish and
crOcOudles.
That classical river, the Ganges, is
erratic in its course, like the noane
HO. 1t is prominent both in the re
ligiOn and geography of India. 1t va.
ries not only from season to season
but from year to year, and frequently
exchanges old passages for new ones
1t has been said that the Gauges de
livers into the sea every year 543,
100000 tons of mud, sand and othel
solid matter.
AN electric light is never an orra