Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/688

Rh 662 SENEGAMBIA Cassini, the Compony, the Rio Nunez, the Rio Pongo, the Dubreka or Konakry, the Forecareah, and the Mellacoree They all rise in the mountains of the interior or at th foot of the highlands and fall into the Atlantic. Thei general direction is from east to west with a south-wes. deflexion, which becomes always more pronounced as we advance southwards. Unlike these rivers, the Joliba or NIGER (q.v.), flowing north and north-east, soon passes beyond Senegambia. Lagoons and backwaters are com mon ; but there are no true lakes of any importance. Geology. The geological constitution of the country is as yet very imper fectly known, especially in the interior. The low region of the seaboard has a very uniform character. It consists of sandstones or clay rocks and loose beds of reddish soil containing marine shells. At certain points, such as Cape Verd and Cape Roxo, the sand- stones crop out ; it is the red colour of the sandstone in fact which has given Cape Roxo or Cap Rouge its name. Clay slates also occur, and at intervals these sedimentary strata are interrupted by basaltic amygdaloid and volcanic rocks. For instance, the island of Goree is basaltic ; the Bissagos (Bissao) Islands are composed ol scoria and other volcanic products ; and a great part of the coast to the north of Rio Nunez consists of basaltic and amygdaloid rocks. The base of the mountains is formed in certain places of clay slate, but more generally of granite, porphyry, syenite, or trachyte. In those districts mica schists and iron ores occur. Iron and gold are found in the mountains and the alluvial deposits. The streams also carry down gold dust. Many of the valleys are covered with fertile soils and there is generally a fertile belt along the river sides; but the rest of the country is rather arid and sterile. Climate. The climate is far from being so unhealthy as is frequently asserted. Except when yellow fever is raging, Europeans may live there as satisfactorily as at home. There are two seasons, the dry season and the rainy season or winter, the latter contemporaneous with our summer. Along the seaboard the dry season is cool and agreeable ; in the interior it is mild only for the three months which correspond to our winter, and then it becomes a time of in- tolerable heat. The annual temperature increases as we advance south and more rapidly as we advance east into the interior, except, of course, where an ascent is made to higher altitudes. To the south of Cape Verd the changes of temperature become less and less marked ; Bissao has a more equable climate than Goree. East- wards the monthly range of the thermometer becomes more exten- sive. The maximum readings, which are exceptional at St Louis, become almost the rule at Bakel on the upper Senegal and at MacCarthy on the Gambia. In the north, on the banks of the Senegal, the north-east trade-winds blow for eight months of the year, the daily land and sea breezes which cool the atmosphere along the seaboard not being felt far inland. During the other four months there prevails a gentle south-west monsoon accom- panied with frequent calms, storms, tornadoes, and rains. South- wards along the coast the trade-winds gradually decrease in both strength and duration, while the south-west monsoon becomes more powerful and persistent. The rainy season begins at Goree between 27th June and 13th July, on the Gambia about 20th June, on the Casamance about the end of May, at the Bissagos Archipelago about the middle of May, and on the Rio Nunez at the end of April. During this season Senegambia, drenched by heavy rains brought from the ocean, has everywhere one uniform appearance. The mean temperature is thioughout very close on 81 Fahr. and the range of the thermometer is extremely limited. The rivers overflow and flood the lowlands. Storms are frequent. Vegetation displays its fullest energy. The fever exhalations are unfortunately also at their worst. At St Louis, Goree, Dagana, and all along the Senegal there are 35 days of rain, a slight increase being apparent m the upper course of the river. At St Mary's, Bathurst there are 48 days, at Sedhiu 84, at Bissao 111, at Boke 137, a steady increase as we approach the equator. The number of storms follows almost the same ratio of increase, and showers which last two or three hours at St Louis give place to whole days of rain on the Casamance and the Rio Nunez. Flora. The king of the Senegambian trees is the baobab (Adansonia digitaUi), which sometimes at the height of 24 feet has a diameter of 34 feet and a circumference of 104. Acacias are very numerous one species, A. Adansonia,, being indeed the commonest of all Sene- gambian trees and valuable for its ship-timber. Among the palm- trees the ronier deserves to be mentioned, as the wood resists moisture and the attacks of insects ; in some places, as in Cayor it forms magnificent forests. The wood of the cailcedra (Khaya senegaknsis), a tall tree, is used in joiner's work and inlaying, and its bark furnishes a bitter tonic. The mampatas grows sometimes )0 feet high, its branches beginning only at a height of about 25 feet The tree producing the famous kola-nut l grows on the banks 1 A very complete account of this nut will be found in Nachtieal Sahara und Sudan. of the southern streams. It is almost needless to mention the m'bilor, the gonat, the mimosa, fig-trees, orange-trees, cocoa-palms, mango-trees, pomegranates, sycamores, and so on. The dimb, the neteru, the tiamanoi, the dimbguton, the gologne, the u'tabo yield edible fruits. The cultivated plants are millet, rice, tobacco, haricots, ground-nuts, indigo (wild indigo is also abun- dant), cotton (also found wild), maize, sugar-cane, and the butter- tree or karite. The Senegambian lion is quite different from the Barbary lion : Faun its colour is a deeper and brighter yellow, and its mane is neither so thick nor so long, Other beasts of prey are the leopard, the wild cat, the cheetah, the civet, and the hyaena. The wild boar is clumsier than the European variety. Antelopes and gazelles occur in large herds all through upper Senegambia ; the giraffe is common in the region of the upper Senegal ; the elephant is rare ; the hippopotamus is gradually disappearing. Crocodiles swarm both in the upper Senegal and the upper Niger. Monkeys and apes of different species (the chimpanzee, the colobus, the cynocepnalna, &c. ), the squirrel, rat, and mouse abound. The hedgehog, marmot, porcupine, hare, rabbit, &c., are also met with. Among the more noteworthy birds are the ostrich, which migrates to the Sahara ; the bustard, occurring in desert and uncultivated districts ; the marabout, a kind of stork, with its beak black in the middle and red at the point, which frequents the moist meadow-lands and the lagoons ; the brown partridge, the rock partridge, and the quail in the plains and on the mountain sides ; and the guinea-fowl in the thickets and brushwood. Along the coast are caught the sperm whale, the manatee, and the cod-fish. The domestic animals arc the horse, ass, ox, sheep, goat, dog, and camel. The population of Senegambia cannot be ascertained with any Popul approach to accuracy, but it may be roughly stated at from ten to tion. twelve millions. It comprises three distinct races, the Moor, the Negro, and the European. The Moors, or rather Berbers (Trarzas, Braknas, and Duaish), belong strictly to the right bank of the Senegal and appear in Senegambia only exceptionally. The Negroes form the bulk of the population. They are divided into Pouls (Peuls, Fulbe, Fulah, or Fellatah), Toucouleurs, Man- dingoes, Sarakoles, Wolofs, Sereres, Diolas, Bambaras, Balantes, Biafares, Papels, Nalus, Landumans, Bagas, and Susus. The Pouls inhabit Futa, Damga, Bondu, and Futa-Jallon ; they have a reddish complexion and almost straight hair, their body fairly stout, but their limbs slim. They are gentle and hospitable, but addicted to theft. The Toucouleurs, Poul half-breeds, belonging originally to Futa-Jallon, are similar to the Negro proper ; they are treacherous, warlike, fond of plunder, and fanatical in their Moham- medanism. The Mandingoes or Malinkes inhabit the basins of the upper Niger and the upper Senegal and the western slope of the mountains of Futa-Jallon. They comprise the Mandingo proper, occupying Manding, and the Alalinkes and Soninkes, scattered about Bambuk, Bure, and Fuladugu. Under the name of Wakore or Wangara they are also found in all the immense tract which extends to the north of the Kong Mountains. They are tall of stature and of great muscular strength. The Sarakoles are one of Pouls. Their character is mild and pacific. Scattered about in juoy, Kamera, and Guidimakha, they are fond of trade and engage .n it with activity. The Wolofs and the Sereres inhabit the sea- ward from St Louis to Cape Verd and the left bank of the Senegal from its mouth to Richard Toll and Dagana. They are tall and robust, with black and glossy skin. Most of them are fetishists. The Diolas have flat noses, thick lips, harsh features, and a promi- icnt belly ; the body is tattooed. The Bambaras, who have invaded vaarta and Khasso, have a coppery black complexion and frizzly lair; their cheeks are marked with deep scars. The Balantes nhabit the left bank of the Casamance ; they are as cruel and as "ond of pillage as the M andingoes, but are more generous towards ,he vanquished. The Biafares live on the banks of the Rio Grande and the Papels in the valley of the Cacheo and the Geba. The 'Talus and the Landumans are tributary to the French ports of the lio Nunez and the Rio Pongo. Islam is gradually detaching them rom fetishism. The Bagas occupy the coast between the Rio Nunez and the Rio Pongo. The Susus formerly dwelt on the upper Niger, but they were expelled by the invasion of the Moham- nedans and are at the present time settled in the valley of the Rio >ongo. The principal languages of Senegambia are Wolof, Poul, Sereres, Mandingo, and Arabic. Wolof is spoken in a large part f Senegambia, in Wolof, Walo, Cayor, Dakar, Baol, Sine, Salum, nd in the towns of St Louis and Goree. The river Senegal marks he line of separation between Wolof and Arabic. Poul is the lan- guage of the Pouls and the Toucouleurs ; Mandinyo rom prises everal dialects, Malinke, Soninke, Bambara. The few Europeans re mainly civil and military officials or traders. White planters re rare. The natives of Senegambia are generally divided into wo quite distinct classes, freemen and slaves. The griots are a ind of bards or trouveres who live at the expense of those whose raises they sing. Polygamy is generally practised. Circumcision f the adults of both sexes is a rite accompanied with superstitious
 * he branches of the Bainbara race produced by crossing with the