Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/468

 386 WEST AFEICA. Frencli and Spanish territories can be measured only hj the degrees of latitude and longitude. Broadly speaking, " Equatorial France " may be said to have an area of about 240^000 square miles, while the territory claimed by Spain varies from 10,000 to a very few square miles, according to the different national and foreign estimates. As far as can be judged from the conflicting statements of travellers the total population cannot be less than two millions, while according to De Brazza it is more probably five millions, including the lands draining the Congo. Physical Features. In the whole of this region between the sea and the Congo there are no lofty ranges, the highest summits falling below 5,000 feet, while very few exceed 3,500 feet. In the north the most conspicuous eminence is Mount Batta, rising like a tower above the neighbouring hills. Eastwards from this point stretch the parallel Siete Sierras, or " Seven Hidges," of the Spaniards, merging southwards in the range formerly known as the Sierra do Crystal, or " Crystal Mountains," with peaks said to exceed 4,600 feet. South of the Ogoway the culminating point. Mount Igumbi Kdele, in the Sette Kama basin, appears to be not much more than 3,500 feet high, while the hills about the Upper Kwilu rise little above 1,000 feet. Altogether the relief of the land presents a great uniformity, a series of ridges parallel with the coast following from west to east in the form of terraces skirted by chains of hills. The central terrace consists of gneiss flanked on the east by quartz, talcky and micaceous schists and elevated sandy plains as level as a lake. Westwards stretch chalk and Jurassic strata advancing with a few interruptions towards the coast, and in many places covered with laterite. Old lavas also occur overlying the terraces, and the early travellers even spoke of " burning mountains," such as the Onyiko and Otombi in the northern part of the Ogoway valley about 120 miles from the sea. But although recent exploration has shown that these " fetish mountains " are not volcanoes, there can be no doubt that great geological changes have taken place in this part of the continent, the very form of the coast attesting a considerable modification in the relative level of land and sea. The curve of the shore-line, tolerably regular north of Cape St. John and developed with almost geometrical symmetry south of Cape Lopez, is broken between these two points by the three deep inlets of Corisco Bay, the Gaboon estuary, and Nazareth Bay. Corisco island is itself a mere fragment of the old seaboard, while the numerous stagnant w^aters south of Cape Lopez represent old river beds that have shifted their channels. Possibly the great riverain lagoon of Banya may be nothing more than the remains of a former mouth of the Congo. PiVERS. Thanks to the copious rainfall, the region comprised between the Cameroons and the Congo is intersected by a large number of closely ramifying streams.