66 



A HISTORY OF 



Of those rivers that lose themselves in the 

 sands, or are swallowed up by chasms in the 

 earth, we have various information. What 

 we are told by the ancients, of the river Al- 

 pheus, in Arcadia, that sinks into the ground, 

 and rises again near Syracuse, in Sicily, 

 where it takes the name of Arethusa, is ra- 

 ther more known than credited. But we 

 have better information with respect to the 

 river Tigris being lost in this manner under 

 Mount Taurus ; of the Guadilquiver in Spain, 

 being buried in the sands ; of the river 

 Greatah, in Yorkshire, running underground, 

 and rising again; and even of the great 

 Rhine itself, a part of which is no doubt lost 

 in the sands, a little above Leyden. But it 

 ought to be observed of this river, that by 

 much the greatest part arrives at the ocean : 

 for, although the ancient channel which fell 

 into the sea a little to the west of that city, 

 be now entirely choked up, yet there are 

 still a number of small canals, that carry a 

 great body of waters to the sea : and besides, 

 it has also two very large openings, the Lech, 

 and the Waal, below Rotterdam, by which it 

 empties itself abundantly. 



Be this as it will, nothing is more common 

 in sultry and sandy deserts, than rivers being 

 thus either lost in the sands, or entirely dried 

 up by the sun. And hence we see, that un- 

 der the Line, the small rivers are but few ; 

 for such little streams as are common in Eu- 

 rope, and which with us receive the name 

 of rivers, would quickly evaporate, in those 

 parching and extensive deserts. It is even 

 confidently asserted, that the great river 

 Niger is thus lost before it reaches the ocean; 



Krantz's History of Greenland, vol. i. p. 41. 



and that its supposed mouths, the Gambia, 

 and the Senegal, are distinct rivers, that 

 come a vast way from the interior parts of 

 the country. It appears that the rivers un- 

 der the Line are large ; but it is otherwise at 

 the Poles, 8 where they must necessarily be 

 small. In that desolate region, as the moun- 

 tains are covered with perpetual ice, which 

 melts but little, or not at all, the springs and 

 rivulets are furnished with a very small sup- 

 ply. Here, therefore, man and beast would 

 perish, and die for thirst, if Providence had 

 not ordered, that in the hardest winter, thaws 

 should intervene, which deposit a small quan- 

 tity of snow-water in pools under the ice ; 

 and from this source the wretched inhabi- 

 tants drain a scanty beverage. 



Thus, whatever quarter of the globe we 

 turn to, we shall find new reasons to be satis- 

 fied with that part of it in which we reside. 

 Our rivers furnish all the plenty of the Afri- 

 can stream, without its inundation; they have 

 all the coolness of the Polar rivulet, with a 

 more constant supply ; they may want the ter- 

 rible magnificence of huge cataracts, or ex- 

 tensive lakes, but they are more navigable, 

 and more transparent ; though less deep and 

 rapid than the rivers of the torrid zone, they 

 are more manageable, and only wait the will 

 of man to take their direction. The rivers 

 of the torrid zone, like the monarchs of the 

 country, rule with despotic tyranny, profuse 

 in their bounties, and ungovernable in their 

 rage. The rivers of Europe, like their kings, 

 are the friends, and not the oppressors of the 

 people ; bounded by known limits,and abridg- 

 ed in the power of doing ill, directed by hu- 

 man sagacity, and only at freedom to distri- 

 bute happiness and plenty. 



