654 Notice of the Ajaib-al- Mukhlukat. QNo. 152. 



He also mentions a volcano in Andalusia, and a hill in the same 

 country which emits inflammable air. Also the quicksilver and red 

 and yellow sulphur mines, and zunjafar of Al Baranis in Andalusia.* 



Origin of Streams, {Fi-tawallud-al-anhar , .LiJMjJfc.j^J) 



Streams originate in reservoirs formed in the caves and hollows of 

 mountains by rain, and the snow which melt in the spring. Those 

 that come from the tops of the hills continue to flow perennially : but 

 those that are situated in the lower parts of the mountains are soon ex- 

 hausted. Their length and direction are various : some have a course 

 a thousand parasangs long ; all have their sources among mountains, 

 and all terminate in the sea. Some of their water is raised in vapour by 

 the sun, moved by the wind, and again deposited on the mountain in 

 the form of rain and dew. 



The author gives a brief account of some of the principal known 

 rivers, and among them describes the Nile. The increase of this famous 

 river in the hot season, when all other rivers were drying up, rendered 

 it one of the world's wonders. 



The author attempts to explain the phenomenon by the supposition 

 of the winter rains which fall in Zanguebar, where the Nile he believes 

 rises, being so far distant from the embouchur, that summer arrived before 

 they could reach it. He calculates that the freshes are four months 

 in passing through the desolate tracts of the South ; two months in Abys- 

 sinia and Nubia ; and one month in the regions where Islam prevails. 

 He alludes to the absence of rain in Egypt ; the Mekyas, ^LaJ! 

 or Nilometer; the human sacrifice at the cutting of the Khaly ; and 

 the abolition of this abominable superstition by Amru and the Caliph 

 Omar. He mentions among the productions of the river the crocodiles, 

 and a species of fish that causes tremor to the person who seizes it. 



The theory of the inundations of the Nile being caused by the 

 pressure of the Mediterranean raised by the northerly winds, and forcing 

 back the waters of the river on the lands in the interior ; and of the Nile 



* Basalt occurs at Alinagro, and the Sierra de Caldeirao presents volcanic products ; 

 but I am not aware of the existence of any active volcanos in Andalusia. In the 

 Sierra Morena, are mines of quicksilver, gold, silver, lead and copper; sulphur and 

 vitriol are ulso found in some parts of Andalusia. 



