CHAP. I.] 
CAUSES OF NILE INUNDATIONS . 
9 
the stream disappears are forced to close quarters in 
these narrow asylums; thus, crocodiles, hippopotami, 
fish, and large turtle are crowded in extraordinary 
numbers, until the commencement of the rains in 
Abyssinia once more sets them at liberty by sending 
down a fresh volume to the river. The rainy season 
commences in Abyssinia in the middle of May, but the 
country being parched by the summer heat, the first 
rains are absorbed by the soil, and the torrents do not 
Jill until the middle of June. From June to the middle 
of September the storms are terrific ; every ravine be¬ 
comes a raging torrent; trees are rooted up by the 
mountain streams swollen above their banks, and the 
Atbara becomes a vast river, bringing down with an 
overwhelming current the total drainage of four large 
rivers—the Settite, Boyan, Salaam, and Angrab, in ad¬ 
dition to its own original volume. Its waters are dense 
with soil washed from most fertile lands far from its 
point of junction with the Nile ; masses of bamboo 
and driftwood, together with large trees, and frequently 
the dead bodies of elephants and buffaloes, are hurled 
along its muddy waters in wild confusion, bringing a 
rich harvest to the Arabs on its banks, who are ever on 
the look-out for the river s treasures of fuel and timber. 
The Blue Nile and the Atbara receiving the entire 
drainage of Abyssinia, at the same time pour their 
