Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/228

 182 WEST AFRICA. same side, but mucli lower down, lies Saint-Georges, in a fertile district exposed to the refreshing sea-breezes. But the largest place in the delta region is Carahane. at the northern extremity of the island of like name, which may be compared to Bathurst for its watery soil and insalubrious climate. Some six miles to the south-east of Carabane stands the old English factory of Lincoln, w^hich has become the wretched village of JElinkin, inhabited by the riff- raff of various populations, much dreaded by their neighbours. GuiNE — Portuguese Possessions in Senegambia. The geographical expression Gui:ie (Guinea) applied by the early Portuguese navigators to the whole of the West African seaboard, from the mouth of the Senegal to that of the Orange, has gradually lost this comprehensive signification. According as the coast-lands became better known they received more special designations, and in ordinary usage the term Guin^ is now restricted to the Portuguese possessions between the Casamanza and Componi basins. The recent convention with France has sharply delimitated these possessions, not by natural features such as rivers and mountains, but by degrees of latitude and longitude. The territory, if not already subjected to Portugal, at least assigned to her future sway, may be estimated at about 17,000 square miles, while in 1885 the portion really occupied did not exceed 30 square miles, with a total population of some 10,000. Even the inhabitants of the whole region cannot number much more than 150,000, notwithstanding the exaggerated statements of some Portuguese writers. At the same time there can be no doubt that millions might be supported in this fertile territory, which is abundantly watered by the rivers descending from the Futa-Jallon highlands. Portuguese Senegambia lies entirely wilhin the zone of fjord-like rivers and estuaries, carved out by the waves into numerous peninsulas and archipelagoes, still limited westwards by the ancient coastline. These various streams, rising on the uplands for the most part to the east of the Franco-Portuguese frontier, are very copious in proportion to the extent of their basins, and like the Casamanza and other northern arteries, may be ascended by shipping far into the interior. The Cacheo, northernmost of these streams, called also Rio de Farim and De Santo Domingos, runs nearly parallel with the Casamanza, from which it is separated by a gently undulating tract with a mean breadth of 24 miles. In their lower course the two estuaries intermingle their waters through an intricate system of channels and marshlands, beyond w^hich the Cacheo enters the sea through a wide mouth obstructed by a muddy sill. The Geba, south of the Cacheo, rises as the Ba-Diemba in the unexplored region limited eastward by the headwaters of the Gambia, flowing thence parallel with the Cacheo, but soon losing its fluvial aspect. For a space of over 60 miles it develops a wide estuary like a great arm of the sea, accessible to vessels of considerable draught and no less than 10 miles wide at its mouth. In front of this mouth are scattered the Bissagos islets and reefs, forming a vast labyrinth of