NILE 



5746 



NILGAI 



Haifa, Berber, Atbara, Khartum, 

 Omdurman, Kodok (Fashoda), 

 Lado, Gondokoro, and Wadelai, on 

 the main river. The length of the 

 Nile as far as the Victoria Nyanza is 

 3,526m. See Assuan; Dam; Egypt. 

 Bibliography. The Albert Nyanza 

 and Exploration of the Nile Sources, 

 S. W. Baker, 1866 ; The Nile Tri- 

 butaries of Abyssinia, S. W. Baker, 

 1867 ; The Nile Quest, Sir H. 

 Johnston, 1903 ; The Nile Reservoir 

 Dam at Assuan and After, Sir W. 

 Willcocks, 2nd ed. 1903 ; Report 

 upon the Basin of the Upper Nile, 

 W. E. Garstin, 1904; Physio- 

 graphy of the Nile and its Basin, 

 H. G. Lyons, 1906 ; Journal of the 

 Discovery of the Source of the Nile, 

 J. H. Speke, rev. ed. 1906 ; Egyptian 

 Irrigation, Sir W. Willcocks and 

 J. I. Craig, 3rd ed. 1913; Nile Con- 

 trol Works, Sir M. MaeDonald, 1920. 

 Nile, BATTLE OF THE. British 

 naval victory, Aug. 1, 1798. The 

 treaty of Campo Formio, Oct. 17, 

 1797, had practically made the 

 Mediterranean a French lake. 

 Mutiny had weakened the British 

 fleet, and when Spain entered the 

 war, the fleet had been compelled 

 to abandon the Mediterranean. 

 Bonaparte was instructed to seize 

 Malta, drive the English from all 

 their possessions, occupy Egypt, 

 make a channel through the Isth- 

 mus of Suez, and secure the Red 

 Sea for France. Lord St. Vincent, 

 who was blockading Cadiz, heard 

 of the armament preparing at 

 Toulon, and sent Nelson to look 

 into the ports and observe the 

 proceedings of the French. No 

 proper force could be given to him, 

 and his flagship, the Vanguard, 

 was dismasted in a gale which left 

 the French untouched. They put 

 to sea on May 19, took possession 

 of Malta, and were joined by con- 

 voys from Genoa, Ajaccio, and 

 Civita Vecchia. 



In England it was thought that 

 Bonaparte might aim at Naples or 

 Sicily, or land an army to invade 

 Portugal, or strike at Ireland. 

 Nelson, reinforced, sought the 

 enemy for many weeks, deploring 

 the want of frigates to scout for 

 him. On Aug. 1 he discovered the 

 French transports at Alexandria, 

 and their fleet of 13 sail of the line 

 and 4 frigates, commanded by 

 Brueys, anchored in a broken line, in 

 Abukir Bay. Nominally the French 

 fleet was far superior to his own. 



Nelson's plan was to attack the 

 French van and centre, and to 

 anchor, if it might be, inside and 

 outside the French line. If Brueya 

 was not surprised by Nelson's 

 attack, he was unprepared for the 

 English ships going between him 

 and the shore. The Goliath, Zeal- 

 ous, Orion, Theseus, and Audacious 

 all passed inside the enemy's line 

 at about? p.m., anchoring, and rak- 



**./ I NILE BASIN 



English Miles 



100 200 300 400 



Omdurman 

 Khartum 



ANGLO- 



Nile. 



Map oi the basin o the river from the Victoria 

 Nyanza to the Mediterranean 



ing with terrific fire the headmost 

 ships of the squadron Guerrier, 

 Conquerant, Serieuse, Peuple 

 Souverain, and Spartiate. The 

 Vanguard, flying Nelson's flag, 

 anchored by the stern outside and 

 abreast of the Spartiate, and the 

 Minotaur and De- r 

 fence followed, i 

 The Bellerophon, ; 

 Majestic, Swift- : 

 sure, and Alex- 

 ander successively 

 attacked the j 

 t hr ee-d ec k e r 

 Orient, which flew 

 the French ad- 

 miral's flag, the 

 first two named 

 suffering serious 

 loss. A tremen- 

 dously destruc- 

 tive fire was 

 poured into the 

 enemy. The head- 

 most ships of the 

 French line were 

 completely over- 

 come, and at 



about 10 o'clock 

 the Orient caught 

 fire, and wfi j oon 

 ablaze. The Guil- 

 laurne Tell and 

 Genereux were 

 fugitives. See 

 Egypt ; Nelson ; 

 Sea Power. 



Niles. City of 

 Ohio, U.S.A., hi 

 Trumbull co. It 

 stands on the 

 Mahoning river, 

 60 m. S.E. of 

 Cleveland, and is 

 served by the 

 Baltimore and 

 Ohio and other 

 rlys. Printing 

 presses, iron, 

 steel, and tin, 

 boilers,h're-bricks, 

 and electric cars 

 are made. Niles 

 was incorpor- 

 ated in 1864, and 

 became a city in 

 1895. Pop. 13,100. 

 Nilgai (Bos- 

 elaphus tragocam- 

 elus). Species of 

 antelope, found in 

 India. It stands 

 between 4 ft. and 

 5 ft. high at the 

 withers. The adult 

 male is brownish 

 grey, with white 

 markings on the 

 face and throat, 

 white rings at the 

 fetlocks, whitish 

 underparts, and 

 short, smooth, 



nearly straight horns. The females 

 are smaller, brown, and hornless. 

 The animal is remarkable for the 

 comparative shortness of the hind 

 limbs, and the rapid slope of the 

 back line. It is found among the 

 plains and low hills of India. 



Male specimen of the antelope which is found in 

 the plains and low hills of India 



