^^2 Thyfical and MifceUaneous 



Augmentation therefore of the Nile muft be owing to fuch 

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

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

 inalmuch 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 Miffionarks ' claim 

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

 fome oi tht Gracian as well as Arabian Philofophers ' , who 

 have embraced the fame Opinion. 

 The Gjuan- Yct how woudcrful foever this large Conflux of Water may 

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

 y the River. ^^^^ hath, frotti Tlmc to Time, been brought down along with 

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

 the Soil in j^thiopa (provided the Nile reacheth no further,) 

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

 upon Egypt 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. 

 7*^ S«^//Vy 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 "nn^^ (Sicbor) are fuppofed to have 



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

 of the real Caufe of the Inundations of the Nile, fo great and regular. Their Obfervations 

 inform us. that Abjffinia, where the Nile rifcs, and waters vaft Trads of Land, is full of 

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

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

 the Rivers, Brooks and Torrents which fail from thofe Mountains; thefe neceflariiy fwell 

 it above the Banks, and fill the Plains oi Egypt with the Inundations. This comes regu- 

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

 Ethiopia. Vid. Monthly Library for March, 173 f. P. Lobo'i Hillory of /Ibjffinia. 2 hya^^-^Jiit 

 oKvit/)®'f))(rixa]' iviajjjiv h tCis i(g,Ta jm Ai^OTnuif ofiai ^viS!^ nvf^^i o^Cpowf &r ^etvav ttoymv fti^et "^ i^iTVTmZint 

 KnuiZJKti. Diod.Sic.l. I. p.27. E'tth j •sfei ToStf®- Tii^ii^oZTai, ■mdavlv tiiaut ymtk Tuf awK^/^ivovf ti-mus -fjuva^ta 

 rts "/ufjiZvai, -iij TO Td^.in'ittZm 7ay ko)' tKeivouf ToZt n'Ttitt oj^-mv ci( Txr x«&' ifMf IrMfUvm ^Eff^Sw. Id. ibid. 

 p. 26. Ou/iv oun tivtu i^^Sb^av « 1^ ncfra tiiv h.i^'j'mtui iviv Knfiivm iynf Ai^vTrrs auny^i h To?f ofsjr/v 'hixC^jt 

 K«7ap*7lov7?f, h la Stf« ^i/pot^/ Ttf OTTOf/oi'. Irf.p.27. V.P/«?.dePlacit.Phil. I.4. c.i. Incrementum 

 Ntli fit e pluvijs qui in ilia Regione (fc. Abyjpnia) decidunt. Ebn Sina apud Abulf. Geogr. 

 ex tradud. V. CI. J. Gag^ier. Incrementum M/z oritur ex imbribus copiofis ; quod quidem 

 dignofcitur ex acc^u & receflii, feu ortu & occafu fiderum & pluviarum abundantia, 

 nubiumque confiftentia. AlKhodai apud Kalkafend. de incremento Nili, ex tradudl. ut fupra. 

 ^ Tw fil}v^i» h Tvi{ fjulAisa. /j^f^ciyyeiov v7iu^ uJ-wi^ to ^jJiKtiM tS cy^aA/!/S, 'i^ti^a xctKijiv. Plut. de J fid. 8c 

 Ofirid. p. 354. 4 To/ 3 Oa-iexv ah mhiv fjiiKJiy)(^uv yiyoyivcu jjjj^Koyijir, ov mr wAip x^ yM Kj 'i/MTHtiCf 

 viipx (Aihtum fuyvuiiivoy. Pint, ut fupra. j in'U? a ~\VW fc. niger fuit. So Jer. 2. 18. What hafl 

 thou to do In the way of Egypt, to drink^'wrvi} 'Q the Waters o/Sihor, or the blacky or muddy Wa- 

 ters. Iin'ti^, Sichor, fluvius i£gypti Nilus, Graecis /i^4A<«, niger, obturbidas limo aquas: Latinis 

 Melo, & Uteris M & N permutatis, Nilus. Schindl. Lex, been 



of the Mud, 



