These fountains are made use of as altars, and from the foot of each issues a brisk running rill, which, uniting with the water of the first wench, goes off at the east side in a stream, which, he conjectures, would fill a pipe of about two inches in diameter. The water of these fountains is extremely light and good, and intensely cold, though exposed to the scorching heat of the sun without any shelter, there being no trees nearer than the cliff of Geesh. The elevation of the ground where these fountains are situated, though in a valley, must be, according to Mr. B. very great: two miles above the level of the sea! A prodigious height indeed! with a sky perpetually clear, and a hot sun never overcast for a moment with clouds from rising to setting. The Nile, thus formed by the union of streams from these three fountains, runs eastward through the marsh for about thirty yards, with very little increase of its waters, but still distinctly visible, till it is met by the grassy brink of the land descending from Sacala. By this it is turned gradually north-east, and then due north; and in the two miles in which it flows in that direction, it receives many small streams from springs on each side; so that about this distance from the fountains, it becomes a stream capable of turning a common mill. "The Our traveller was inuch taken with the beanty of this spot. small rising hills about us (says he) were all thickly covered with verdure, especially with clover, the largest and finest I ever saw; the tops of the heights covered with trees of a prodigious size; the stream, at the banks of which we were sitting, was limpid, and pure as the finest chrystal; the sod covered with a kind of bushy tree, that seemed to affect to grow to no height, but, thick with foliage and young branches, rather to assist the surface of the water; whilst it bore, in prodigious quantities, a beautiflu yellow flower, not unlike a single rose of that colour, but without thorns; and, indeed, upon examination, we found that it was not a species of the rose, bnt of the hypericum." Here, Mr. B. tells us, that he stepped over the Nile above fifty times, indulging himself in a kind of triumph over the infancy of that river, which, when arrived to its maturity, is a majestic mighty flood, that rolls along its vast volume of water, and conveys plenty, commerce, and riches to the nations which it visits, From this ford the Nile turns to the westward, and, after running over loose stones in that direction about four miles further, there is a small cataract of about six feet in height; after which it leaves the mountainous country, and takes its course through the plains of Goutto. Here it flows so gently, that its motion can scarcely be perceived, but turns and winds in its direction more than any river he ever saw, forming more than twenty sharp angular peninsulas in the space of five miles. Here the soil is composed of a marshy clay, and its stream receives no considerable addition. Issuing out from thence, however, it is joined by several rivulets which fall from the mountains on each side, so that it becomes a considerable stream, with high and broken banks, covered with old timber and trees. It now inclines to the north-east, and winds very much till it receives first a small river named Diwa, and then the Dee-olha, or the River Dee. Turning then sharply to the east, it falls down another cataract, and about three miles below receives the Jemina, a pure and limpid stream, not inferior in size to itself. Proceeding stidl to the northward, it receives a number of others, and then crosses the great lake Dembea, preserving the colour of its stream during its passage, and issuing out at the west side of it in the territory of Dara. Soon after the Nile leaves this lake it enters the mountains of Begender, by which its current is much confined, and becomes very rapid till it reaches Alata, where is the third cataract. This, Mr. B. says, is the most magnificent sight he ever beheld. The height, he supposes, is about forty feet. At the time he visited it, the river had been pretty much swelled by rains, and fell in one sheet of water, without any break, for the space of half an English mile in breadth, with such a noise as stunned and made him giddy for some time. The river, for some space above and below the fall, was covered with a thick mist, owing to the small particles of water continually dashed up into the air by the violence of the shock. The river, though swelled beyond its usual size, retained its clearness, and fell into a natural bason of rock; the stream appearing to run back, with a great violence, against the foot of the rock over which it falls, forming innumerable waves, eddies, and whirlpools, and being in excessive commotion. The noise of this cataract is like the loudest thunder, and the whole appearance, Mr. B. says, struck him with a kind of stupor, and total oblivion of where he was, and of every other sublunary concern. No crocodiles are ever seen higher up the river than this cataract. Below this tremendous water-fall the Nile takes a south-east direction, along the western side of Begeinder and Amhara, inclosing" the province of Gojam. It receives a great number of streams on both sides, and after many turnings, takes a course almost due north, and approaches within sixty-two miles of its source. Notwithstanding the vast increase of its waters, it is still fordable at some seasons: and the Galla, a savage nation in that neighbourhood, cross it at any time, either by swimming, or on goat's skins blown up like bladders. They cross it likewise on small rafts placed on skins filled with air; or by twisting the tails of the horses round their hands, who swim over; a method always used by the women who follow the Abyssinian armies, and are obliged to cross unfordable rivers. In this part of the river crocodiles are met with in great numbers: but the superstitious people pretend they have charms sufficiently powerful to defend themselves against their voracity. The Nile then forces its passage through a gap in the mountains which bound the territory of the Gongas, and falls down a cataract two hundred and eighty feet high; and immediately below this it falls down two others, both of them of considerable height. These mountains are called Tegla, are of great extent, and are inhabited by pagan nations; but the country is very little known. There is plenty of gold washed down from the mountains by the torrents in the rainy season, which is the fine gold of Sennaar, named Tibbar. The Nile now, running close by Sennaar, in a direction nearly north, makes afterwards a sharp turn to the east, affording a pleasant view in the fair season, when it is brimful; and indeed it is the only ornament of that bare and inhospitable country. Leaving Sennaar, it passes by many large towns inhabited by Arabs, all of them of a white complexion: then passing Gerri, and turning to the north-east, it joins the Tacazze, passing, during its course through this country, a large and populous town named Chandi, probably the Candace of the ancients. Here Mr. Bruce supposes the ancient island or peninsula of Meroe to have been situated. Having at length received the great river Atbara, the Astaboras of the ancients, it turns directly north for about an hundred and forty miles, then making a very unexpected turn west by south, for about as many miles, it arrives at Korti, the first town in Barabra, or kingdom of Dongola. From Korti it runs almost south-west till it passes Dongola, called also Beja, the capital of Barabra; after which it comes to Moscho, a considerable town and place of refreshment to the caravans when they are allowed to pass from Egypt to Ethiopia. From thence turning to the north-east, it meets with a chain of mountains in about 22 deg. 15 min. north latitude, where is the seventh cataract, named Jan Adel. This is the famous fall of the Nile, which both ancient and modern travellers have spoken so much of. It is, doubtless, a grand spectacle, though not equal to that of Alata. It now enters Egypt, and continues its course nearly in the same direction till it falls into the Mediterranean: there is only one small cataract more in its passage, and that is in the Thebaiad, or Upper Egypt. We have been the more particular in our account of the Nile, because of its great fame both in ancient and modern days, and also because of the present state of Egypt. It is well known that the fruitfulness of that important country depends upon the regular overflowing of the Nile. The Niger is also an African river, the existence of which has often been counted fabulous. It is true we know but little of its rise and course, but its existence has been clearly demonstrated by the researches of the African Association. It is conjectured that its spring is in the Mountains of the Moon, near the confines of Upper Ethiopia, and not far from the fountains of the Nile. If so, it is of great length; for it has to cross the whole continent of Africa, from east to west, in its broadest part It receives the tribute of many very considerable rivers, but splits into different branches, which uniting again, form islands both large and fertile, well filled with towns and villages. It passes also through several lakes, and has many cataracts. After having run from east to west, during a prodigious long course, it turns at length short to the south, at only a league and a half distance from the Atlantic ocean, leaving but a very narrow tract betwixt it and the sea, into which it discharges itself, north latitude 15 deg. 55 min. after having run about twenty-five leagues close to the sea. At the mouth it is called the Senegal, and its navigation is obstructed by a bar of sand, so that only small vessels can enter it. It overflows periodically, like the Nile, and from the same cause, namely the great rains at certain seasons betwixt the tropics. Though the African continent has fewer rivers in it than any other quarter of the globe in proportion to its size; yet there are several great ones, east of the Cape of Good Hope, on the coast of Monomatapa, Sofala, and Melinda these, by their size at their mouths, appear equal to the Nile, and the Niger, and, like them, are subject to great inundations; but we are not sufficiently acquainted with the countries through which they run to say where they rise, or what is the length of their course. We only know that many of them are rich in gold, which is washed down from the hills, and the probability is that the Mountains of the Moon are the seat of their spring Notwithstanding the size of the rivers which we have already mentioned, they are by no means the largest on the face of the globe. The Ganges is superior both to the Nile and the Niger in size, and not inferior to them in length; but the Barampour, which rises in Thibet near the source of the Ganges, is said by Major Rennel, to be superior to any river in the old continent. This vast stream has a most circuitious course; it visits the confines of China; it turns and comes within thirty leagues of the Ganges; it receives innumerable currents into its bosom, many of which are larger than our boasted Thames; and at last discharges its vast contents into the Indian Ocean in the kingdom of Pegu. The New world exhibits rivers of still greater magnitude; there we have the St. Laurence, the Missisippi, the Amazons, and the river of Plate. In North America there is a singular series of fresh water lakes, or rather seas. The lake of the Woods is the most northern, then lake Superior, lake Michigan, lake Huron, lake Erie, lake Ontario: these are connected, and pour their superfluous waters into each other, each of them receiving many streams from neighbouring or distant mountains: the great river St. Laurence takes the final surplus. CONSIDERATIONS ON THE ABSOLUTE INFINITY OF HELL TORMENTS. Continued from p. 29. FIFTHLY, notwithstanding the advocates for eternal punishment ground their strongest arguments on the indiscriminate application of the term and phrase rendered in our translation, eternal, everlasting, for ever, and for ever and ever, to the future states both of happiness and misery, and from thence conclude, that, in both cases, it must signify an endless duration—yet I think, the contrary will clearly appear to every one who attentively and impartially considers that astonishing passage in St. Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians, eh. xv. 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. Death the last enemy shall be destroyed . For he hath put all things under his feet. But, when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted who did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him§, then * The last verse of chap. iii. of the Epistle to the Ephesians, the Greek text of which I never noticed till long after I first wrote these observations, (in my judgment) puts this matter beyond all doubt. "To him [God] be glory in the church εις πάσας τας γενεας το αιώνα των αιώνων, throughout all the generations of the age of ages"-as it literally ought to be, and actually is so translated in the Latin versions both of Beza and Montanus. †There is no word in the original answerable to cometh. Worsley translates it," Then will be the end." Mr. In our translation this passage is rendered, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." But the words that and is are not in the original Greek, neither in the Latin versions of Castalio, Beza, or Montanus. This is one among maný striking proofs of the care our translators took to reconcile every passage to what they had adopted as a fundamental tenet, in opposition to the wild and ridiculous notions of the Papists concerning purgatory. It is clearly evident to me, that this Scripture can never, with any propriety, be said to be fulfilled, while so many myriads of rebels are shut up in the prisons of the second death; for I cannot recollect one passage in Holy Writ where subjection does not imply obedience. Jesus went down to Nazareth, and was subject [obedient] to his parents." "Let every soul be subject [obedient] to the higher |