THE EARTH. 183 



unknown. They have both been ascertained by 

 the missionaries who have travelled into the in- 

 terior parts of ./Ethiopia. The Nile takes its 

 rise in the kingdom of Gojam,* from a small 

 aperture on the top of a mountain, which, though 

 not above a foot and a half over, yet was un- 

 fathomable. This fountain, when arrived at the 

 foot of the mountain, expands into a river ; and, 

 being joined by others, forms a lake thirty leagues 

 long, and as many broad : from this, its channel, 

 in some measure, winds back to the country 

 where it first began ; from thence, precipitating 

 by frightful cataracts, it travels through a variety 

 of desert regions, equally formidable, such as 

 Amhara, Olaca, Damot, and Xaoa. Upon its 

 arrival in the kingdom of Upper Egypt, it runs 

 through a rocky channel, which some Jate tra- 

 vellers have mistaken for its cataracts. In the 

 beginning of its course, it receives many lesser 

 rivers into it ; and Pliny was mistaken in saying 

 that it received none. In the beginning also of 

 its course, it has many windings ; but, for above 

 three hundred leagues from the sea, it runs in a 

 direct line. Its annual overflowings arise from 

 a very obvious cause, which is almost universal 

 with the great rivers that take their source near 

 the Line. The rainy season, which is periodical 

 in those climates, floods the rivers ; and as this 

 always happens in our summer, so the Nile is at 

 that time overflown. From these inundations, 

 the inhabitants of Egypt derive happiness and 



* Kircher, Mund. Subt. vol. ii. p. 72. 



