DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14059#0022
12
Observations on Sculptured Marks on
found the river so shallow that loaded camels waded through it, and
his boat frequently struck the ground. In May, Burckhardt found
the river fordable at Kostainne, 53 miles above Philse ; and Parthey
states, that between Philas and the island of Bageh, to the west of
it, the river is so shallow before the commencement of the inunda-
tion, that it may be waded through.* Burckhardt says, that from
March to June the Nile-water, in Nubia, is quite limpid.t Miss
Martineau, who visited Nubia in December and January, speaking
of the river above Philte says, that it " was divided into streamlets
and ponds by the black islets. Where it was overshadowed it was
dark-gray or deep blue, but when the light caught it rushing between
a wooded island and the shore, it was of the clearest green."]; At
the second cataract she describes the river as " dashing and driving
among its thousand islets, and then gathering its thousand currents
into one, proceeds calmly in its course."§
Although we have no accurate measurements of the velocity of
the Nile in Nubia, we may arrive at an approximate estimate of it
by comparing its fall with that of a river well known to us.
I have stated the fall of the Nile in different parts of its course
to be 5-30, 9-00, 12-00, and 13-12 inches in a mile. The fall of
the Thames from Wallingford to Teddington Lock, where the influ-
ence of the tide ends, is as follows :—
Length of
course.
b'alL
Fall in
inches
per mile.
Miles. F.
Feet. in.
From Wallingford to Heading Bridge,
18-0
24-1
15-72
From Reading to Henley Bridge,
9-0
19-3
25-68
From Henley to Marlow Bridge,
90
12-2
1G-20
From Marlow to Maidenhead Bridge,
From Maidenhead to Windsor Bridge,
8-0
151
22-32
7-0
13-6
2316
From Windsor to Staines Bridge,
8-0
15-8
23-52
From Staines to Chertsey Bridge,
4-6
6T,
17-28
From Chertsey to Teddington Lock,
13-6
19 8
17-40
77-4
--
125-11
" In general, the velocity may be estimated at from half-a-mile
to two miles and three-quarters per hour ; but the mean velocity may
be reckoned at two miles per hour. In the year 1794, the late Mi-
llennia found the velocity of the Thames at Windsor two miles and
a half per hour."||
* Wanderungen duvch das Nilthal, von G. Parthey, Berlin 1840. 378.
i Travels, pp. 9 and 11. * Eastern Life, i. 10}. § lb., 144.
I| Rentue, Report on Hydraulics, in the Fourth Report of the British As-
sociation for the Advancement of Science, 1834, p. 487.
Observations on Sculptured Marks on
found the river so shallow that loaded camels waded through it, and
his boat frequently struck the ground. In May, Burckhardt found
the river fordable at Kostainne, 53 miles above Philse ; and Parthey
states, that between Philas and the island of Bageh, to the west of
it, the river is so shallow before the commencement of the inunda-
tion, that it may be waded through.* Burckhardt says, that from
March to June the Nile-water, in Nubia, is quite limpid.t Miss
Martineau, who visited Nubia in December and January, speaking
of the river above Philte says, that it " was divided into streamlets
and ponds by the black islets. Where it was overshadowed it was
dark-gray or deep blue, but when the light caught it rushing between
a wooded island and the shore, it was of the clearest green."]; At
the second cataract she describes the river as " dashing and driving
among its thousand islets, and then gathering its thousand currents
into one, proceeds calmly in its course."§
Although we have no accurate measurements of the velocity of
the Nile in Nubia, we may arrive at an approximate estimate of it
by comparing its fall with that of a river well known to us.
I have stated the fall of the Nile in different parts of its course
to be 5-30, 9-00, 12-00, and 13-12 inches in a mile. The fall of
the Thames from Wallingford to Teddington Lock, where the influ-
ence of the tide ends, is as follows :—
Length of
course.
b'alL
Fall in
inches
per mile.
Miles. F.
Feet. in.
From Wallingford to Heading Bridge,
18-0
24-1
15-72
From Reading to Henley Bridge,
9-0
19-3
25-68
From Henley to Marlow Bridge,
90
12-2
1G-20
From Marlow to Maidenhead Bridge,
From Maidenhead to Windsor Bridge,
8-0
151
22-32
7-0
13-6
2316
From Windsor to Staines Bridge,
8-0
15-8
23-52
From Staines to Chertsey Bridge,
4-6
6T,
17-28
From Chertsey to Teddington Lock,
13-6
19 8
17-40
77-4
--
125-11
" In general, the velocity may be estimated at from half-a-mile
to two miles and three-quarters per hour ; but the mean velocity may
be reckoned at two miles per hour. In the year 1794, the late Mi-
llennia found the velocity of the Thames at Windsor two miles and
a half per hour."||
* Wanderungen duvch das Nilthal, von G. Parthey, Berlin 1840. 378.
i Travels, pp. 9 and 11. * Eastern Life, i. 10}. § lb., 144.
I| Rentue, Report on Hydraulics, in the Fourth Report of the British As-
sociation for the Advancement of Science, 1834, p. 487.