Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/193

 AFRICA 1G9 Innumerable flocks of guinea fowls haunt the underbrush on the river banks within the tropics and on the island of Madagascar. Among the smaller birds are the little honey bird of Cape Colony, several peculiar species of parrots, many magnificently colored kingfishers, and the indicator family, so called from the as- sertion of the natives that the birds belonging to it invariably lead the follower of their flight to bees' nests. In Egypt is found the sacred ibis of the ancients, and many other water birds frequent the streams and lake basins. Reptiles are everywhere abundant. The pro- portion of venomous serpents to those which are harmless is greater than elsewhere, and the enormous python of the tropics, corresponding to the American boa, is sometimes 25 ft. long. The true crocodile is found all along the Nile up to an elevation of 4,000 ft. above the sea; lizards and chameleons are also very plentiful. Africa is richer in tortoises than all the other regions of the globe combined. The celebrated tsetse fly of S. Africa, which fortunately is re- stricted to limited districts, is one of the most noxious of known insects, its bite being inevi- tably fatal to horses, cattle, and dogs, but, singularly enough, productive of no injury to the mule, the ass, wild animals, or man. The locust from time immemorial has been the scourge of the agricultural territories. The termites, commonly but erroneously called white ants, dwell in dome-like hills of clay, which they raise to a height of ten feet and upward, on the W. coast, being careful to build them above the high-water mark of the yearly floods. The flora of the northern part of the continent appears to differ essentially from that of the Niger, and the Cape may be regarded as a botanical province differing from them both. A considerable majority of the plants found in the territories bordering the Mediterranean are common to Europe. In all the green places of the desert grows the date palm, with its abun- dance of rich fruit and grateful shelter. Egypt produces the famous lotus, Senegal the mighty baobab and curious pandanus candelabrum, Guinea the valuable oil-yielding palm, and Cape Colony many species of finely colored aloes. Immense tracts of thorny thicket cover the E. frontier of the latter country, and from them is derived the name Bosjesmans or Bush- men, applied by the Dutch boers to the na- tives who dwell there. Nearly every attempt to introduce the cereals of other zones and re- gions into tropical Africa has been rewarded with success. Maize, coffee, indigo, rice, and tobacco flourish, and excellent cotton has.been raised on artificially irrigated soil in Egypt. The character of the vegetation varies of course with the elevation above the sea and the dis- tance from the equator. The entire absence of trustworthy statistics is a serious obstacle to a correct estimate of the aggregate popula- tion, which has been placed by some authori- ties as high as 200,000,000, and by others as low as 100,000,000. The ethnological classifi- cation of the native races also presents many difficulties, especially since the scientific accu- racy of the old division of the human family into the Caucasian, the Mongol Tartar, and kindred groups, has been impeached. Under that system the inhabitants of Africa N. of the 20th parallel of N. latitude were regarded as belonging to the Caucasian variety, which included therefore the Moors, the Arabs, the Berbers, the Copts, and the Egyptians. Ex- cept the Abyssinians, who are also said to be of Caucasian origin, all the nations and tribes S. of the same parallel belong to the Ethiopian stock, and exhibit the black color, high cheek bones, thick lips, and woolly hair which dis- tinguish it. They comprise the negroes proper, who occupy Soodan, Senegambia, the Guinea coast, and the interior ; the degraded Hotten- tots and Bushmen; and the tall and warlike Caffres and Gallas. There are many other sub- divisions. Of the political divisions of Africa, Egypt is certainly the oldest. It embraces an area of about 200,000 sq. m., situated on both sides of the Nile N. of lat. 24 N., and since 1517 has been a dependency of the Ottoman empire under the sway of a viceroy, now known as the khedive, who is virtually an in- dependent monarch. The population of the country, including the dominant Turks, is over 5,000,000 according to the Egyptian officials, but in reality is probably much smaller. Alex- andria is the chief seaport, and contains 238,000 inhabitants. The Suez ship canal, from Fort Said on the Mediterranean to the gulf of Suez on the Red sea, was opened in 1869. Cairo, the capital, has a population of 300,000. Mo- hammedanism is the prevailing religion. The whole northern coast W. of Egypt is denomi- nated Barbary, and comprehends Tripoli, Tu- nis, Algeria, and Morocco. Tripoli is a tribu- tary province to Turkey, under the rule of a governor general appointed by the sultan, and is situated between Egypt and Tunis, having an area variously estimated at from 61,760 to 105,000 sq. m., and a population of 1,500,000. The capital, bearing the same name, is a seaport town of 30, 000 inhabitants. Barca and the oasis of Fezzan are subject to the Tripolitan govern- ment. Tunis, the adjoining state on the west, is likewise a Turkish dependency, also with a capital of the same name. It covers 50,000 sq. m., and the population numbers 2,000,000. The city of Tunis is about 13 m. S. E. of the ruins of Carthage. The ruler bears the title of bey. Algeria, formerly called Algiers, is a French colonial province, having been con- quered from the Turks in 1830. There are 2,900,000 inhabitants, 200,000 of whom are Europeans. The estimated area is 170,000 sq. m. Morocco, the westernmost and largest of the Barbary states, is an empire under the in- dependent and absolute rule of a sultan, who resides sometimes in the city of Morocco and sometimes in Fez. His dominions extend over more than 200,000 sq. m., with a population of from 3,000,000 to 5,000,000, composed mainly