412 PLimr's natiteal histoey. 



meaning of " side\" It does not obtain the name of " Nile'* 

 until its waters have again met and are united in a single 

 stream; and even then, for some miles both above and 

 below the point of confluence, it has the name of Siris. 

 Homer has given to the whole of this river the name of 

 Mgj-ptus, while other writers again have called it Triton^. 

 Every now and then its course is interrupted by islands which 

 intervene, and which only serve as so many incentives to 

 add to the impetuosity of its torrent ; and though at last 

 it is hemmed in by mountains on either side, in no part is 

 the tide more rapid and precipitate. Its waters then hasten- 

 ing onwards, it is borne along to the spot in the country of 

 the -<iEthiopians which is known by the name of "Catadupi^ ;" 

 where, at the last Cataract^ the complaint is, not that it 

 flows, but that it rushes, with an immense noise between the 

 rocks that lie in its way: after which it becomes more 

 smooth, the violence of its waters is broken and subdued, 

 and, wearied out as it were by the length of the distance it 

 has travelled, it discharges itself, though by many mouths*, 

 into the Egyptian sea. During certain days of the year, how- 

 ever, the volume of its waters is greatly increased, and as it 

 traverses the whole of Egypt, it inundates the earth, and, 

 by so doing, greatly promotes its fertility. 



There have been various reasons suggested for this increase 

 of the river. Of these, however, the most probable are, 



hitherto satisfactorily ascertained. The Astapus is supposed to hare 

 been really the name of the Bahr-el-Azrek, or Blue River, the third 

 branch of the Nile, the sources of which are in the highlands of Abys- 

 sinia, in about 11° 40' north lat. and 39° 40' east long. 



1 Or " side of the water that issues from the shades." As Hardouin 

 says, this does not appear to be a very satisfactory explanation. 



2 Said by Tzetzes to have been derived from the Greek rptVos, '' the 

 third," because it had three times changed its name : having been called, 

 first, the Ocean ; secondly, Aetus, or the Eagle ; and thirdly, jEgyptus. 



3 Or the " Cataracts," for which it is the Greek name. The most 

 northerly of these cataracts, called the First Cataract, is, and always 

 has been, the southern boundary of Egypt. According to the most 

 recent accounts, these Cataracts are devoid of any stupendous features, 

 such as characterize the Falls of Niagara. 



* The one now called the First Cataract. 



5 Seven mouths in ancient times, which have now dwindled down to 

 two of any importance, the Damietta mouth on the east, and the Eosetta 

 on the west. 



