CHAPTER X. 

 RECEIVING— TO GIVE AGAIN 



" O end to which our currents tend, 

 Inevitable Sea ! "—A. H. Clough. 



'* ALL the rivers run into the sea ; yet the sea 

 -^ is not full." 



So wrote the wisest of men, long centuries ago; 

 and the words are true in a world-wide sense, 

 which the writer with all his wisdom could not 

 then have fully grasped. 



*' All the rivers " meant to him a great many 

 streams, large and small, in southern Asia, and 

 in southern Europe, with some in northern Africa. 



** All the rivers " of the world now Let us 



see what it means. 



The chief work of a river is to drain the 

 land ; to bear superfluous waters into the great 

 deep. Water lying stagnant on land becomes 

 harmful. Immense supplies are perpetually 

 needed ; but it must be fresh water, clear water, 

 running water, water newly fallen from the skies, 



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