CHAPTER X. 

 RECEIVING TO GIVE AGAIN 



" O end to which our currents tend, 

 Inevitable Sea ! "A. H. CLOUGH. 



the rivers run into the sea ; yet the sea 

 is not full." 



So wrote the wisest of men, long centuries ago ; 

 and the words are true in a world-wide sense, 

 which the writer with all his wisdom could not 

 then have fully grasped. 



" All the rivers " meant to him a great many 

 streams, large and small, in southern Asia, and 

 in southern Europe, with some in northern Africa. 



44 All the rivers" of the world now Let us 



see what it means. 



The chief work of a river is to drain the 

 land ; to bear superfluous waters into the great 

 deep. Water lying stagnant on land becomes 

 harmful. Immense supplies are perpetually 

 needed ; but it must be fresh water, clear water, 

 running water, water newly fallen from the skies, 



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