Λ ^2 Thyfical and Mifcellaneous 



Augmentation therefore of the Nile muft be owing to fuch 

 Torrents, as difcharge themfelves into it, in the Regions to 

 the Southward. Now yEthiopia is agreed upon to be the Place : 

 inaimuch as the Nile is here fuppofed to have it's Sources ; 

 where alfo the Sun, when it draws near the Northern Tropick, 

 brings on the rainy Seafon. The Tortnguefe Miffionaries ' claim 

 the Honour of this Difcovery ; though, among others, we find 

 fome of the Grecian as well as Arahian Philofophers % who 

 have embraced the fame Opinion. 

 The s^a,:- Yet how wondcrful foever this large Conflux of Water may 

 ΐΖφΙτρ» have been accounted, in all Ages, the great Qiiantity of Mud, 

 yt.e rjer. ^^^^ Jiath, frotti Tittic to Time, been brought down along with 

 it, will appear to be no lefs ftrange and furprizing. Surely 

 the Soil in ^Ethiopia (provided the Nile reacheth no furtherj 

 muft be of an extraordinary Depth, in having, not only beftowed 

 upon Eg)ipt fo many thoufand annual Strata, but laid the 

 Foundation likewife of a future Addition to it in the Sea, to 

 the Diftance of twenty Leagues. So far at leaft, by Sounding, 

 this Mud is found to extend. 

 The^giuaiity The Soil that is conveyed in this Manner, by being imbibed 

 and buoyed up by the River, is of an exceedingly light Nature, 

 and feels to the Touch like an impalpable Powder. Tlutarch^ 

 tells us, that the Colour of it is black ; fuch a black, fays he, 

 as is that of the Eye ; though, in another Place *, he makes every 

 Thing to be black, where Water is concerned. The Appel- 

 lations alfo of MEAAS and "imW (Sicbor) are fuppofed to have 



I To the immenfe Labours of the Portugucfe, Mankind is indtbted for the Knowledge 

 of the real Caufe of the Inundations of the Nile, fo great and rcgiiiar. Their Oblcrvations 

 inform us» that Abjffin't^, where the Nile riles, and waters vaft Tracts of Land, is full of 

 Mountains, and in it's natural Situation, much higher than Egypt ; that all the AVinter, 

 from June to September, no Day is without Rain ; that the N'Ue receives in it's Courfe all 

 the Rivers, Brooks and Torrents which fall from thofe Mountains ; thefe neccflarily fwell 

 it above the Banks, and fill the Plains of £o-j/)f with the Inundations. This comes regu- 

 larly about the Month of Jtdj, or three Weeks after the beginning ot the rainy Seafon in 

 Ethiopia. Vid. Monthly Library for March, 173 J. P. Lobo's Η'ή\θΐγ oi .^bjffin'ia. 2 A^aSa^^Jiif 

 Kvij)^ fmn καΤ htaxniv h Ίοΐί ngtia 7m\tbi<iTnM 'oft^i j/i/'iSt, αννίγΰί ομζ(θίΐί &j ^eevSv τξοττΰν fis^ei 'ί μίΤΌτηιΜ^ί 

 Krn^itiai. Diod.SieA. I. p.27. EteJ 3 ■sfiy τΐθίρ®' 7iKyii>nZrtu., -m^vlv tiviu κλιο. ηί ανπνΜμί'ΐουί TtOTvf •f/JvS.^wi 

 T6S "χιιμωναζ, ■^ tb τΑίονά/ον των κκ)' tKtivoui τοϊί TtV»? tiJa.iaiv ti! itiv καθ ijuaf Ιΐίί-ίμίΐ>ΐ'> ifEfitStu. Id. ibid, 

 p. 26. OuSiv οϋν tiytu <&^iit^m «' 1^ xara 7W Αίθιοττίαΐ' 7Uv γ.ΗμΛ\<νι irnf A/ji/Vra rjyiyjif iv toIs ocsy/v ομζζ^ι 

 κατκρΛτΙοντϊί-, iv Ίω ^ξeι T^ufoZffi ττν ηηταμίν. /rf.p.27. V. Plut.de Placit.Phil. I.4. CI. Incrementum 

 .Nili fit e pluvijs qui in ilia Rcgione (fc. Abyjpn'tii) decidunt. Ebn S'lna apud Abulf. Geogr. 

 ex traduot. Ν .C\. J. Gagnier. Incrementum ΛΓ/// oritur ex imbribus cnpioiis j quod i]uidem 

 dignofcitur ex acc&fl'u & receiTu, feu ortu & occafu fiderum & pluviarum abundantia, 

 nubiumque confiftcntia. AlKhodai Z}^\ia Kdkafend, ac\t\zvcmQx\\.o N'lli, ex tradudl. ut iupra. 

 5 Tw fiiyu^tf ill Τΐίί μά,Κίζα. μίλάγ^τπον vja»^ aJ-TTif tb μ,ίΚιΐ» η ό?θαλ//5) X»//>a v.Ahx7tY. Pltit. dc Ifid. & 

 Ofirid. p. 364. 4 Τον Οΐΐ&ιν ah τήλιν μΐίκά-^•χξρυν yiyovhcu μυ^Μ•^«ΐΐν, Ότι za.y JJJap κ^ ^ϋΐ' lij Ίμάνβϊ^ 

 ϊίφι μιλούν» μ»γΐιμίνον, Plut. Ut fupra. y ΊΠ'ϋ a "in^ fc. nigcr fuit. So Jer. 2. 18. What hafi 

 ibou to do in the way of Egypt, to ί/πκ^. "11 nti' *Ώ the Waters of Sihov, or the blad^ or muddy Wa- 

 ters. ΊΙΠ'ϋ, Sichor, fluvius /Egypti Nilus, Grscis μΐλα(, niger, ob turbidas limo aquas: Latinis 

 JHelo, & Uteris Μ & Ν permutatis, Nilus. Schindl. Lex. bCCn 



of the Mud. 



