THE EATTF. 91 



tion. The river Senegal has likewise its inimr'ations, which cover 

 the whole flat country of Negroland, beginnhi? and ending mucb 

 about the same time with those of the Nile as, in fact, both rivers 

 rise from the same mountains. But the difference between the effects 

 of the inundations in each river is remarkable : in the one, it distributes 

 health and plenty : in the other, diseases, famine, and death. The 

 inhabitants along the torrid coasts of the Senegal, can receive no bene- 

 4t from any additional manure the river may carry down to their soil, 

 which is by nature more than sufficiently luxuriant; or, even if they 

 fould thev have not industry to turn it to any advantage. The banks, 

 therefore, of the river, lie uncultivated, overgrown with rank and 

 uoxious herbage, and infested with thousands of animals of various 

 malignity. Everv new flood only ttmds to increase the rankness oi 

 the soil, and to provide fresh shelter for the creatures that infest it. 

 if the flood continues but a few days longer than usual, the improvi- 

 dent inhabitants, who are driven up in the higher grounds, want pro- 

 visions, and a famine ensues. When the river begins to return into 

 its channel, the humidity and heat of the air are equally fatal ; and 

 the carcasses of infinite numbers of animals, swept away by the 

 inundation, putrefying in the sun, produce a stench that is almost 

 insupportable. But even the luxuriance of the vegetation becomes a 

 nuisance. I have been assured, by persons of veracity who have 

 been UD the river Senegal, that there are some plants growing along 

 the coast, the smell of which is so powerful, that it is hardly to be 

 endured. It is certain, that all the sailors and soldiers who have been 

 at any oi our factories there, ascribe the unwholesomeness of the 

 voyage up the stream, to the vegetable vapour. However this be, the 

 inundations of the rivers in this wretched part of the globe, contribute 

 scarce any advantage, if we except the beauty of the prospects which 

 they afford. These, indeed, are finished beyond the utmost reach of 

 art : a spacious glassy river, with its banks here and there fringed to 

 the very surface by the mangrove-tree, that grows down into the wa- 

 ter, presents itself to view ; lofty forests of various colours, with 

 openings between, carpeted with green plants, and the most gaudy 

 flowers ; beasts and animals, of various kinds, that stand upon the 

 banks of the river, and, with a sort of wild curiosity, survey the mari- 

 ners as they pass, contribute to heighten the scene. This is the 

 sketch of an African prospect ; which delights the eye, even while it 

 destroys the constitution. 



Besides these annually periodical inundations, there are many rivers 

 that overflow at much shorter intervals. Thus most of those in Peru and 

 Chili have scarce any motion by night ; but upon the appearance of the 

 morning sun, they resume their former rapidity; this proceeds from 

 the mountain snows', which melting with the heat, increase the stream, 

 and continue to drive on the current while the sun continues to dis- 

 solve them. Some rivers also flow with an even steady current, from 

 their source to the sea ; others flow with greater rapidity, their stream 

 being poured down in a cataract, or swallowed by the sands, before 

 they reach the sea. 



The rivers of those countries that have been least inhabited, are 

 usually more rocky, uneven, and broken into water-falls or cataracts* 



