Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/155

 SENEaAMBIA. 123 mass of the Futa-Jallon highlands, whence the waters flow east to the Niger, north to the Senegal, west and south to the Gambia, Rio- Grande, Scarcies, and Eokelle. Since this memorable journey the country has been repeatedly traversed, especially by French naturalists, military and naval jofficers. While Braouezec and other sailors were studying the estuaries on the coast, French or native officials, such as Panet, Aliun-Sal, Bu-el-Moghdad, Vincent, Soleillet, were surveying the steppes north of the Senegal, and connecting with the Saharian oases, and even with Marocco, the network of itineraries in Senegambia. About the same time Mage and Quintin were pushing eastwards to the Niger basin and advancing in the direction of Timbuktu, The Gallieni expedition of 1880 formed a fresh point of departure for the extensive geographical studies which went hand in hand with the work of conquest between the Senegal and the Niger. Throughout the whole region connecting Saint Louis on the coast with Bamaku on the Joliba, the preliminary explorations were followed by more accurate surveys for determining the relief of the land, and certain sections of the Senegal are now figured on our maps with the same fulness of detail as the European countries. As in Algeria, Egypt, the Cape, and at all points of the seaboard where busy European communities have been developed, science is slowly but surely prosecuting its work of conquest. The Futa-Jallon Highlands. A certain geographical unity is given to Senegambia by the massive Futa-Jallon highlands, where rise the headstreams of the Senegal, Gambia, Casamanza, Geba, E/io-Grande, Nunez, Pongo, Scarcies, which diverge thence in various directions coastwards. These uplands thus constitute one of the salient features in the formation of West Africa, and it is not perhaps surprising that their size and importance were exaggerated by the early explorers. Lambert, who visited them in 1860, assigned an elevation of 10,000 feet to the Sun-du-Mali (Sudumali), one of the loftiest summits near the centre of the range. He even supposed that the highest points, reported by the natives to be snow-clad during the wet season, might have an altitude of over 13,000 feet, nearly equal to that of the Abyssinian Simen on the opposite side of the continent. But Lambert had taken no accurate measurement, and ten years afterwards Hecquard took only five hours to ascend Mount Maminia, some 30 miles west of the Labe plateau, which had also been described as exposed to ^' white rains," but on which he found no trace of snow. If the Futa-Jallon hills approached the altitudes spoken of by Lambert their crests would be visible from the lower Faleme and middle Gambia, whence at a distance of 90 miles they cannot be detected. Nor do more recent travellers, such as Bayol, Noirot, and Ansaldi mention any such heights, while the loftiest pass crossed by Olivier near the source of the Kakrima was found to be only 3,370 feet high. At the village of Bogama, near the central Sudumali peak, Bayol and Noirot reached an altitude of 4,600 feet, above which rose other crests, which according to the extreme estimates of the Portuguese Simocs may possibly exceed 6,500 feet; but in any case the mean elevation cannot be more than 4,000 feet.