Who said "Word has come from the Cataracts..." as the beginning of a
famous line, when was that, and what was the context?

---

Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 26 Jun 2003 13:29 PDT

It would be very helpful if you could provide additional details. Do
you remember where -- and approximately when -- you came across this
quote? Anything you can recall would be welcome; sometimes even a very
small clue can lead to an answer.

"Cataracts" (apart from its medical meaning) generally means
"waterfalls". Do you remember whether there may have been a
geographical reference to certain waterfalls?

---

Clarification of Question by kr1234-ga on 27 Jun 2003 15:47 PDT

sorry, don't have any further details.  this is a quiz question that
was asked of me.  i'm assuming "cataracts" means its non-medical
meaning.

It doesn't seem as though the quotation is as famous as you think; but
could it possibly have anything to do with the 1884/5 siege of
Khartoum in Sudan, in which Major-General Charles George Gordon lost
his life? The cataracts on the Nile were a major obstacle preventing a
relief force from Egypt reaching Khartoum - possibly the quote you're
thinking of is from the 1966 movie "Khartoum" or some other dramatised
account of the siege.