NI'HON (1605-81). _\ patriarch of the Rus sian Church. He was born near Nizhni-Novgo rod, became a priest and monk, and in 1646 was appointed. by the Czar Alexis Mikhailovitch, Areliimandrife of the Novospasky :?lonastery at Moseow. lit 1648 he became of Novgorod, and in 1652 w':rs elevated to the patriarchate. In 1658, having lost the favor of the Czar, he ref ired to the „Ilonastery of the Resurrection of Christ, which he had himself built, and in 1666 was deposed by a (-outwit called to consider his ease, and banished ns a common monk to 9 monastery at Bielozersk. Czar Feodor Alexeyevitelt granted him permission to return to the Alonastery of the Resurrection of Christ. but he died on the journey thither. Nikon was an ardent upholder of morastieisnn. and was noted for his benevolent life and eharaeter, show ing inuch kindness to the pour ;Ind unfortu the whole becomes compressed into a dense and solid mass, us Ilia covers river surface from bank to bank, and underneath which the stream rushes as through a sluice gate. These blocks at times attain a thickness of 15 feet below the water and 4 or 5 feet above it. The surface in places i- so solid that hippopotami• and even elephants can cross it without danger. Naviga tion of the river is thus rendered impossible. In after the reconquest of the Sudan, the Go‘ernment attempted with much success to open navigation in the main channel by cutting down into the .add, tearing the sections away by steamboats, and setting the masses thus sepa rated afloat. This region is very unhealthful and the inhabitants are few. It is believed that the swamp and sudd region embraces an area of about 12.000 square miles. All the streams are reunited 62 miles below Lake No and receive un the right bank the Sobat River. emning from the southern (AtelNi()11 of the Abyssinian highlands, a navigable river for 212 miles from its mouth. Below the Sobat, the White Nile takes a definite northern course aml flows. a mighty, though slug gish stream, to Khartum. where the White and
the Blue Niles mingle their waters.
The Blue Nile is a very different river. It rises in the Alpine heights of Abyssinia, descends to the White Nile between its high banks with a very rapid current, and in the flood time it is reddened by the quantities of alluvia with which it is surcharged. Th, White Nile gives to Egypt the larger quantity of water: the Blue Nile spreads over the fields the fertile sediment that enriches them. Thus each had its distinctive function in creating Egypt out of the desert sands. Khartum, at the junction of these ricers, is at the heart of the great hygrographie system, and is naturally the metropolis of the Eastern Sudan. The Blue Nile. from its great reservoir. Lake 5840 feet above the sea, has a wind ing course of 830 miles down the plateau and over the plain to Khartum. Aluch land in its valley is suitable for agricultural development. The river cords scientific regulation so that it may best serve the interests of Egypt. Under the agreement with king 31enelek of Abyssinia (1902) for the delimitation of the boundary be tween his country and the Sudan, the Egyptian Government has authority to regulate the flow of water in the upper river. The Cape to Cairo Railroad will follow the Blue Nile for a consid erable distance above Khartum. to avoid the swamp region of the White Nile.
From a little Khartum to the ranean the river 'lows through one of the most arid deserts in the world. without receiving a sinole tributary excepting the below ti11111. whirl (trains tla• lands of Abyssinia. but is nearly dry in summer. this long course. the valley of the Nile is unruly a cleft in the desert plateau. the alluvial plain along the river being bounded by barren which here and them• rise to 1000 feet. The volume of the river is greatly depleted by evaporation in this part of its course. The second section of the river. the :Middle Nile.