Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/83

 into seven navigable reaches; nor can vessels pass from one to the other except at high water, or without the aid of hundreds of hands to haul them over the rapids or check their downward course., Were the waters of the Nile not retained by these obstructions, and were the stream allowed to flow freely during the dry season, the question may be asked whether there would be sufficient water for the whole year; would a delta have ever been developed or an Egypt created?

Preceded, between Tamaniat and the Jebel Melekhat, by two steep rapids and

a gorge commanded by two basaltic columns, the sixth and most southern cataract between Khartum and the mouth of the Atbara would hardly be thought worthy of the name on such rivers as those of Canada and Scandinavia, where the still-undeveloped valleys have preserved their abrupt declivities notwithstanding the constant erosive action of the running waters. This cataract of Garri is rather a rapid caused by the presence of granite reefs at this point; still it suffices to interrupt the navigation for the greater part of the year. When the railway,