Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/293

Rh STATES.] AFRICA 271 rivers, but none of them attain a first-rate magnitude. The principal are the Rovuma, the Lttfiji, Ruvu, Pangani, and Dana ; the two latter rising in the snowy mountains of Kilima-njaro and Kenia. The climate is similar to that of other tropical coasts of Africa, hot and unhealthy in gene ral : in some portions, however, the elevated ground, and with it a more temperate and healthy climate, approaches the shores to within a short distance. The vegetation is luxuriant, and cocoa-nut, palms, maize, rice, and olives are the chief articles of cultivation. The fauna comprises all the more characteristic African species. The chief inhabitants are the Sawahili, of mixed Arab and Negro descent, but the coasts are under the Arab do minion of the Imaum of Muscat, by whose efforts commerce with the nations of the interior has greatly increased. The island of Zanzibar (Unguja of the Sawahili) is the residence of a Sultan, tributary to the Imaum of Muscat, and the seat of extensive commerce. Mombas, on a small island close to the main shore, possesses the finest harbour on that coast, and has recently become famous as the seat of an important missionary station. miali The Somali country comprises the eastern horn of Africa, untry. from the equator northward to the Bay of Tadjurra, near the entrance into the Red Sea. The coast is generally bold and rocky, in some places covered with sand ; and the ex tensive region it encloses presents a slightly ascending plain, traversed by large valleys of great fertility, among which the Wady Nogal is prominent. This country is not so well watered as the region to the south, and some of its rivers are periodical. The Somali country is famous for its aromatic produc tions and gums of various kinds ; and it is supposed that the spices and incense consumed in such large quantities by the ancient peoples of Egypt, Greece, Syria, and Eome, were derived from this part of Africa, and not from Arabia. Zeila and Berbera, on the northern coast, are the chief trading ports : the permanent population of the former is about 3000, while the latter may be said to exist only dur ing the winter, when no less than 20,000 strangers, at an average, arrive to pitch their tents, and thus create a great market-place. Harrar, in the Galla coimtry, is the chief place in the interior, with 8000 inhabitants, who are Mohammedans. One-third of the population is Somali, one-third Arab. jntral Central Africa comprises the regions which extend from frica. the southern borders of the Sahara in the north to Cape Colony in the south, and from Senegambia in the west to the territory of the Egyptian pashalic on the east. It com prehends the central basins of the great lakes from Lake Chad to the Nyassa, and the greater part of the basins of the Niger, Congo, Nile, and Zambeze. Even the Sahara may well be included in this general denomination. So little is yet known of this vast region that the general fea tures of some portions only can be indicated. The greater portion seems to be densely peopled with numerous tribes, and to possess inexhaustible natural resources. The portion north of the equator, under the name Soudan or Nigritia, comprises a great number of states, among which the prin cipal are Bambarra, Timbuktu, and Houssa, in the west ; Bornu, Baghermi, and Waday, around Lake Chad ; Darfur in the east ; and Adamaua in the south. The inhabitants are of Negro race, with many Arabs, Moors, and Berbers, ambarra. Bambarra occupies part of the basin of the Joliba, or upper source of the Quorra. The dominant inhabitants are the Mandingoes and Foulahs, who have embraced Islamism, and are much more advanced in civilisation than the other Negro tribes. The country comprise s extensive and excel lent pastures, with abundance of domestic animals, as horned cattle, sheep, goats, and horses of a fine breed. Among the vegetable products the most remarkable is the butter-tree, which furnishes an important article of agricultural industry and trade. . Sego, the capital, is situated on the Joliba, and contains 30,000 inhabitants. It was here that Mungo Park first caught sight of the long-sought river. Timbuktu, or Jennie, comprises the basin of the Joliba Timbul below Bambarra, and lies partly within the Great Sahara. Timbuktu, a few miles from the banks of the Joliba, and situated amid sands and deserts, is a celebrated centre of the North African caravan trade. It contains from 12,000 to 15,000 inhabitants. Houssa is an extensive country extending to the Sahara Houssa in the north, to the Joliba or Kawara on the west, to Bomu on the east, and to about 10 N. lat. on the south. The dominant race are the Foulahs, but the mass of the popu lation are Negroes. It is a very fertile and beautiful coun try, but the climate is insalubrious, and in many parts fatal to Europeans. The inhabitants are engaged in pastoral, as well as in agricultural and commercial pursuits. The capital, Sakatu, is one of the largest cities in Negro- land; it is situated in a fertile but marshy plain. Kano, another large town, containing 30,000 to 40,000 inhabitants, is the great emporium of trade in Houssa ; there the English merchandise coming from the north through the Sahara, meets with American goods coming from the Bight of Benin. The manufactures of Kano consist chiefly of cloth, for the dyeing of which that town is famed all over Central Africa. Bornu is one of the most powerful states of Negroland; Bornu. extending on the west to the 10th degree of long., on the east to Lake Chad and the kingdom of Baghermi, and on the south as far as Mandara and Adamaua, in about 11 N. lat. Kanem, on the northern side of Lake Chad, has recently been conquered and brought under Bornuese sovereignty. The general character of Bornu is that of a plain, subject to inundations, particularly near Lake Chad. It is very fertile, and cotton and indigo attain a high degree of excel lence. The original Boruuese are an agricultural people. Kuka, the capital and residence of the Sheik of Bornu. had in 1866 about 60,000 inhabitants. Baghermi, another powerful kingdom, is situated east of Bagliei Bornu. The boundaries, according to Dr Barth, who first visited this country and penetrated as far as MaseSa, the capital, are on the west the river Loggeme, a tributary of the Shary or Asu, by which it is divided from Bornu and Adamaua; on the north its limits are in about 12i N. lat., and on the east 19|- E. long., both lines dividing it from Waday; the southern boundary is in about 8 N. lat. Baghermi is an extensive plain or valley formed by the river Shary or Asu and its tributaries. The inhabitants are very warlike, and frequently engage in slave marauding expeditions into the neighbouring states to the south. MaseSa, the capital, lies in 11 40 N. lat., and 17 20 E. long. Waday, or Dar Saley, lies east of Baghermi, and reaches Wadaj as far as Darfur. It comprises an extensive region, stretching as far as the basin of the Nile. Lake Fittri, situated in the western portion, forms a basin, unconnected with that of Lake Chad, and by which the country as far as Darfur is drained. It has never been explored by Europeans. The population comprises a great variety of tribes and different lan guages. Wara, the capital, is placed by Dr Barth in 14 N. lat., and 22 E. long. Darfur, east of Waday, extends as far as Kordofan. The Darfur country rises towards the west into a range of hills called Jebel Marrah. It is drained into the Nile. A great portion of the country is Saharan in its character, while other parts are fertile and diversified. Browne, in 1703, estimated the whole population at 200,000. It has an extensive trade with Egypt.