1896 



7 'HE A MKR I CA N BEE- KEEPER . 



li)7 



Seme cif the more recent explorers of 

 Alaska and British America claim that 

 the Mississippi can iio longer be regard- 

 ed as tJic lia-gest river nu the North 

 Ami^ricai) coutineut. This distiuction 

 is claimed for tlie great Yukon river. 

 According to Ivan Petroft", who spent 

 over two yetu's in Alaska, collecting 

 ruati-rials for the last census, the Yiikon 

 empties into Norton sound about one- 

 third mere water than the Mississippi 

 pours into the gulf of Mexico. The Yu- 

 kon basin Cv;mi)rises the larger part of 

 northei-u Alaska, and GOO miles from 

 its mouth the river is a mile in width. 

 Many centuries before it was discovered 

 by white men it very likely served as 

 the water highway into the interior, 

 for tribes that we believe to have crossed 

 from Asia to the x\merican continent. 

 The Yukon river is over 3,000 miles in 

 length. 



Travelers report that in Algeria there 

 exists a small stream which the chem- 

 istry of natui'e has turned into ink. It 

 is formed by the union of two rivulets, 

 one of which is very strongly impreg- 

 nated with iron, while the other, 

 meauderiijg through a peat marsh, im- 

 bibes lai'go (juantities of gallic acid. 

 Letters have been written with the nat- 

 ural compound of iron and gallic acid 

 which forms this small, yet wonderful, 

 stream. 



The Rio de Viuagre, in Colombia, is 

 a stream the waters of which, by ad- 

 mixture with sulphui'ic acid, become so 

 sour that the river has been appropri- 

 ately named the Rio de Viuagre, or 

 Vinegar river. 



The Orange or Garieh river, in south- 

 em Africa, ri.ses in the mountains which 

 separate Natal from the Orange River 

 Free State. The length of this stream is 

 1,000 miles. Its banks abound in vai'i- 

 ous valuable woods, and. lU'ound it are 

 found rich copper ores. In this stream 

 are many varieties of fish, which are 

 found until the river passes through a 

 rocky region containing copper, below 

 which the water is said to be poi.sonous, 

 almost instantly killing the fish that 

 ventiu-e neai- it. 



"China's Sorrow," a ctirious namo 

 for a river, is the title bestowed upon 

 the gi'eat Hoaug Ho, which rises in the 

 mountains of Tibet and follows a won- 

 derfully circuitous channel for 2,o00 

 miles to the Velhjw sea. The wayward- 



ne.ss of this mighty volume (f watvr 

 makes the river a constant source cf anx- 

 iety and danger to the 170,000,000 of 

 people inhabiting the central pli..:n 

 Asia. It is known to have suddenly 

 changed its course nine times. It has 

 movtd its mouth four degi-ees cf lati- 

 tude each time, emptying its va-^^t fiord-; 

 in ditfcirent directions, and findiiig a 

 new chauni-1 for itself where scons, i f 

 towns and villages have stocd. The 

 rivw has greatly chai:ged the physical 

 character cf a wide area, converting fer- 

 tile regions into a sandy desert or mak- 

 ing shalknvs of them. Whether it is 

 within the power of modern science to 

 save this gi'cat plain from disaBtr;i:< 

 overflow and clmnges of the river's bed 

 is a question which diiring late years 

 has been widely discusstd, espcciaily in 

 the scientific circles of Paris and Lon- 

 don. 



Another remarkable river is the In 

 dus. a rreat stream in Hindustan. I: 

 rises in Tibet, and its course is a won- 

 derful one. On reaching Sussi, its mrsf 

 northern point, it turns southward, Icsest 

 itself in the hills and reappears at Talict 

 in Kohistan. The Indus is 1,700 miles 

 in length. Afler receiving the waters cf 

 many tributaries its channel grows nar- 

 row, and here it is divided into many 

 channels, sor.ie (^f which never return (o 

 rhe parent .stream. It abounds in fish 

 and crocociii^s. 



That classical river, the G;:nge.s, is 

 erratic in its course, like the Hoang Ko. 

 It IS proininc ut both in the religion and 

 the geography of India. It varies not 

 '. nly from sca.scu to st ason, bat fmrn 

 year to jein, and frequently excl) 

 old passage 'J for new (.'i:. s. It ha.- 

 said that the Ganges (u livers ii::>i 

 sea every year 534,000,000 tons < f :...•'. 

 sand and other solid matter. — Philaae.1- 

 uhiu Press. 



Tlie Burglar's Bug-bears. 



A reformed burglar, who has no fur- 

 ther use for the knowledge himself, says 

 there are three things a night thief 

 dread.s. One is a baby, the second is a 

 little whiffet dog that can sleep with 

 both eyes open aud'barks when a needle 

 falls, and the third is a newspaper. Al- 

 most always the paper rattles or crackles 

 when u foottejuches it. Unless a bmgJar 

 is 60 desperate that he will risk his own 

 life, he will leave the moment he strikes 

 a house} strewn with uewsRapers. 



