90 
N I M 
remony. The land and the water are covered by upwards 
of 300,000 men. The boats are in general agreeably 
painted, well carved, and ornamented with canopies and 
flags of different colours. Thole of the women are dif- 
tinguilhed by their elegance, their richnefs, the gilded 
columns that fupport the canopy, and, above all, by the 
blinds let down over the windows. Everybody remains 
filent until the moment when the pacha gives the fignal. 
In an inftant the air is filled with fhouts of joy, the trum¬ 
pets found a flourifh, and the timbrels and other inftru- 
ments refound from every fide. When the dam is de- 
ftroyed, and the waters flow towards Grand Cairo, the 
viceroy throws into the canal pieces of gold and fllver, 
which are picked up by fkilful divers. During the amufe- 
ments of this day the inhabitants feem to be in a flate of 
intoxication. Mutual compliments and congratulations 
pafs, and on every fide are heard fongs of thankfgiving. 
A crowd of dancing-girls run along the banks of the 
Khalig, and enliven the fpeflators by their dances. The 
fucceeding nights, after the canal has filled the great 
fiquares of the capital, afford more agreeable fpeflacles. 
In the evening each family is collected in boats, orna¬ 
mented with carpets and rich cuftnons; the ftreets, the 
molques, and the minarets, are illuminated. The largeft 
fquare in the city, nearly half a league in circumference, 
forms an immenfe bafon, furrounded by the palaces of the 
beys, lighted with lamps of various colours. Several 
tlioufand boats, with mads from which lamps are fuf- 
pended, produce a moving illumination, the afpefls of 
which are continually varying. The coolnefs of the 
night, the ferenity of the Iky, and various other circum- 
ftances, concur to render the fcene interefting and de¬ 
lightful. 
NILEM'BI NEVR, a town of the ifland of Ceylon, in 
the dominions of Candy, about fix or feven miles fouth 
of Candy; whither the king occafionally retreats, and 
where he has a palace and ftore-houfes. 
NI'LEUS, a fon of Codrus, who conduced a colony of 
Ionians to Alia, where he built Ephefus, Miletus, Priene, 
Colophon, Myus, Teos, Lebedos, Clazomense, &c. Pau- 
Janias. 
To NILL, v. a. [from ne will; nillan, Sax.] Not to 
will ; to refufe ; to rejeft: 
Certes, faid he, I nill thine offer’d grace, 
Ne to be made fo happy to intend ; 
Another blifs before mine eyes I place. 
Another happinefs, another end. Spenfer. 
To NILL, v. n. To be unwilling ; not to agree : 
Your father hath confented 
That you fhall be my wife; your dowry ’greed on ; 
And, will you nill you, I will many you. Shakefpeare. 
NILL, f The Alining fparks of brafs in trying and 
melting the ore. 
NILL'ING,/! The aft of refufing, performed by the will. 
NILL'ING, adj. Unwilling. Bailey. 
NILOM'ETER, f. [from Nile, and the Gr. to 
meafure.] An inftrument by which the ancients meafured 
the height of the waters in the river Nile. 
NI'LUS, in ancient geography, an interior country of 
Arabia, which furniftied myrrh and incenfe, according to 
Strabo. 
To NIM, v. a. [niman, Sax.] To take. In cant, to fteal. 
The old pret. and part, ufed by Chaucer, is nome, fimply 
for took and taken. —To nim is ftill to take up Iw/lily, in 
the north of England, according to Grofe. Todd. —They 
could not keep themfelves honeft of their fingers, but 
would be nimming fomething or other for the love of 
thieving. L'Eftrange. 
They’ll queftion Mars, and by his look 
Dete.fl who ’twas that nimm'd a cloak. Htulibras. 
NIMBIF'EROUS, adj. [from the Lat. nimbus, a ftorm, 
and fero, to bring.] Producing florins. Bailey. 
NIM'BLE, adj. [from nim ; or numan, Sax. tractable.] 
NIM 
Quick ; aftive; ready; fpeedy; lively; expeditious.—-You 
have dancing-fhoes with nimble foies. Shakejpcare's Romeo 
and Juliet. 
Through the mid feas the nimble pinnace fails 
Aloof from Crete before the northern gales. Pope. 
NIM'BLE-FOOTED, adj. Scampering: 
Where’s his fon, 
The nimble-footed madcap Prince of Wales ? Shakefpeare. 
NIM'BLE-JOINTED, adj. Aftive ; handy at labour t 
They, being nimbler-jointed than the reft. 
And more induftrious, gathered more flore. Spenfer. 
NIM'BLE-WITTED, adj. Quick; eager to fpeak.— 
Sir Nicholas Bacon, when a certain nimble-ivitted coun¬ 
cillor at the bar, who was forward to fpeak, did interrupt 
him often, faid unto him, There is a great difference be¬ 
twixt you and me : a pain to me to fpeak, and a pain to 
you to hold your peace. Bacon. 
NIM'BLENESS, f. Quicknefs; a&ivity ; fpeed; agi¬ 
lity; readinefs ; dexterity; celerity; expedition; fwift- 
nefs.—Ovid ranged over all Parnaffus with great nimble - 
nej's and agility; but, as he did not much care for the toil 
requifite to climb the upper part of the hill, he was gene¬ 
rally roving about the bottom. Addijbn's Guardian. 
We, lying ftill, 
Are full of reft, defence, and nimblenefs. Shakefpeare. 
NIM'BLESS, f. Nimblenefs: 
Seemed thofe little angels did uphold 
The cloth of ftate, and on their purpled wings 
Did beare the pendants through their nimblejj'e bold. Spenf. 
NIM'BLY, adv. Quickly; fpeedily; actively.—The 
liquor we poured from the cryftals, and fet it in a digeft- 
ing furnace to evaporate more nimbly. Boyle. 
He capers nimbly in a lady’s chamber, 
To the lafeivious playing of a lute. Shakefpeare's Rich. III. 
NIM'BO ET'CHAUK, a town of Bengal : thirty-fix 
miles north-weft of Ramgur. 
NIM'BOSE, adj. \_nimbofus, Lat.] Tempeftuous, ftormy. 
Not in ufe. 
NIMBOS'ITY, f Storminefs. Bailey. 
NIM'BURG, or Ni'emburg, a town of Bohemia, in 
the circle of Bolefiaw, near the Elbe. In the year 1634. 
the Saxon troops took this town by aflault: fourteen 
miles fouth-fouth-eall of Jung Buntzel, feventy fiouth- 
eaft of Drefden, and twenty-fix eaft-north-eaft of Prague. 
Lat. 50. 8. N. Ion. 15. 6. E. 
NIM'BUS, f. in antiquity, a circle obferved on certain 
medals, around the heads of fome emperors ; anfwering 
to the areolae, or circles of light, drawn around the images 
of faints. The nimbus is feen on the medals of Maurice, 
Phocas, and others, of the upper empire. 
Nimbus, among the Romans, was a fcarf embroidered 
with gold, which women wore on their foreheads. Nim¬ 
bus was likewife ufed for the money thrown among the 
people on any public occafion. 
NIM'ECK. See Niemeck, p. 78. 
NIM'EGUEN, a very ancient, rich, ftrong, and populous, 
city of Holland, fituated on the fouth fide of the Waal. 
It is faid to have taken its name from Magus king of the 
Gauls. It is the capital of the Lower Guelderland, and 
was anciently the capital of the whole duchy ; it is alfo 
the chief town of Betuwe, or Batavia, the country of the 
ancient Batavi, fo frequently mentioned in the Roman 
hiftory. It has thirteen gates, and is defended by an 
ancient fortrefs called Vlack-Hof, fuppofed to have been 
built about the time of Julius Caefar; and feveral other 
fortifications. It was anciently a free city. The em¬ 
peror Charlemagne, having rebuilt the caftle in the year 
775, made it the fecond imperial city of Lower Ger¬ 
many; Aix-la-Chapelle being the firli, and Thionville 
the third. William III. king of the Romans, feparated it 
from the empire, and united it to the comte of Holland, 
