Great Rivers of the World
FAMOUS MARVELS AND MASTERPIECES OF THE WORLD
As Seen and Described by Great Writers
Collected and Edited by ESTHER SINGLETON
Famous Paintings Great Pictures Modern Paintings Great Portraits Wonders of the World Wonders of Nature Famous Women Romantic Castles and Palaces Turrets, Towers and Temples Historic Buildings of America Historic Landmarks of America Great Rivers of the World Famous Sculpture Famous Cathedrals
Fourteen volumes in all. Profusely illustrated. Each sold separately.
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[Illustration: THE RHINE]
Great Rivers of the World
As Seen and Described By Famous Writers
COLLECTED AND EDITED BY ESTHER SINGLETON
_With Numerous Illustrations_
[Illustration]
NEW YORK DODD, MEAD & COMPANY
Copyright, 1908, by DODD, MEAD & COMPANY
_Published, November, 1908_
Preface
Rivers possess so many varied attractions and have so many claims on the attention of the student of science and history, the pleasure-seeker, the traveller, the poet and the painter, that no apology need be offered for gathering into one volume selections from the works of those who have described some of the most famous streams of the world. Lyell says: “Rivers are the irrigators of the earth’s surface, adding alike to the beauty of the landscape and the fertility of the soil: they carry off impurities and every sort of waste _débris_; and when of sufficient volume, they form the most available of all channels of communication with the interior of continents. They have ever been things of vitality and beauty to the poet, silent monitors to the moralist, and agents of comfort and civilization to all mankind.”
Thoreau says: “The Mississippi, the Ganges and the Nile, those journeying atoms from the Rocky Mountains, the Himmaleh and Mountains of the Moon, have a kind of personal importance in the annals of the world--the heavens are not yet drained over their sources, but the Mountains of the Moon still send their annual tribute to the Pasha without fail, as they did to the Pharaohs, though he must collect the rest of his revenue at the point of the sword. Rivers must have been the guides which conducted the footsteps of the first travellers. They are the constant lure, when they flow by our doors, to distant enterprise and adventure, and, by a natural impulse, the dwellers on their banks will at length accompany their currents to the lowlands of the globe, or explore at their invitation the interior of continents. They are the natural highways of all nations, not only levelling the ground and removing obstacles from the path of the traveller, quenching his thirst, and bearing him on their bosoms, but conducting him through the most interesting scenery, the most populous portions of the globe, and where the animal and vegetable kingdoms attain their greatest perfection.”
In the following pages little will be found dealing with the material blessings bestowed on mankind by the agency of rivers. The average reader is more interested in the antiquarian and legendary lore of the sources, rapids, banks and islands of a famous stream. Length of course and volume of water are matters of no importance to lovers of the picturesque, the venerable, or the romantic. Therefore the literature of the Shannon is more fascinating than that of the Amazon, and the Jordan attracts more pilgrims than the Volga. Small streams like the Wye, the Yarrow, and the Oise consequently find a place among these celebrated rivers.
E. S.
_New York, October, 1908._
Contents
THE RHINE _Victor Hugo_ 1
THE SEINE _A. Bowman Blake_ 8
THE GANGES _Sir William Hunter_ 19
MORNING ON THE GANGES _Pierre Loti_ 24
THE COLORADO _Henry Gannett_ 28
THE AVON _John Wilson Croker_ 34
DOWN THE ST. LAWRENCE _Charles Dickens_ 46
THE TIGRIS _George Rawlinson_ 52
THE OISE _Robert Louis Stevenson_ 55
THE HUDSON _Esther Singleton_ 65
THE TIBER _Strother A. Smith_ 76
THE SHANNON _Arthur Shadwell Martin_ 87
THE DANUBE _I. Bowes_ 94
THE NIGER _J. Hampden Jackson_ 101
THE AMAZON _Joseph Jones_ 107
THE YANGTSE CHIANG _W. R. Carles_ 113
THE THAMES _Charles Dickens, Jr._ 122
THE CONNECTICUT _Timothy Dwight_ 131
MOSEL _F. Warre Cornish_ 138
THE IRRAWADDY _Emily A. Richings_ 144
THE CLYDE _Robert Walker_ 155
THE VOLGA _Elisée Reclus_ 162
THE CONGO _J. Howard Reed_ 169
THE MACKENZIE RIVER _William Ogilvie_ 177
THE LOIRE _I. Victor Hugo_ 185 _II. Honoré de Balzac_ 189
THE POTOMAC _Esther Singleton_ 191
THE EUPHRATES _George Rawlinson_ 197
THE WYE _A. R. Quinton_ 201
THE INDIAN RIVER _L. C. Bryan_ 208
THE NILE _I. J. Howard Reed_ 213 _II. Isaac Taylor_ 219
THE DON _Elisée Reclus_ 223
THE COLUMBIA _J. Boddam-Whetham_ 228
THE PO _George G. Chisholm_ 235
THE MENAM _Mrs. Unsworth_ 241
THE MERRIMACK _Henry D. Thoreau_ 249
THE YEN-E-SAY _Henry Seebohm_ 254
THE YARROW _John MacWhirter_ 263
THE MISSISSIPPI _Alexander D. Anderson_ 272
THE ZAMBESI _Henry Drummond_ 280
THE URUGUAY _Ernest William White_ 286
THE TWEED _Sir Thomas Dick Lauder_ 293
NIAGARA _John Tyndall_ 304
THE NIAGARA RIVER _G. K. Gilbert_ 312
THE MEUSE _Esther Singleton_ 316
THE RHONE _Angus B. Reach_ 321
THE YUKON _William Ogilvie_ 328
THE JORDAN _Andrew Robert Fausset_ 338
THE CONCORD _Henry D. Thoreau_ 343
THE TAGUS _Arthur Shadwell Martin_ 350
THE INDUS _Edward Balfour_ 354
Illustrations
THE RHINE _Frontispiece_
THE SEINE 8
THE GANGES 20
THE COLORADO 28
THE AVON 34
THE ST. LAWRENCE 46
THE HUDSON 66
THE TIBER 76
THE SHANNON 88
THE DANUBE 94
THE THAMES 122
THE CONNECTICUT 132
THE IRRAWADDY 144
THE CLYDE 156
THE VOLGA 162
THE CONGO 170
THE LOIRE 186
THE POTOMAC 192
THE WYE 202
THE INDIAN 208
THE NILE 214
THE DON 224
THE COLUMBIA 228
THE PO 236
THE MENAM 242
THE MERRIMACK 250
THE YARROW 264
THE MISSISSIPPI 272
THE ZAMBESI 280
THE TWEED 294
THE NIAGARA 304
THE MEUSE 316
THE RHONE 322