E1TH JOHNSTON y' •X yw' 111 THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID u CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIV. Regions of the Nile. PAGE From the Mediterranean to the Equator — The Nile Delta — Egyptian Culture — The country east of the Nile — The Atbara and the Blue Nile— The White Nile and its Tributaries . . .196 CHAPTER XV. Egypt. Political situation — Extent — Population — The Fellaheen — Kopts, Arabs, Europeans, Jews, and Gipsies — Social Progress — Spread of education — Commerce : the Suez Canal — Alexandria and Cairo — From Cairo to the Cataracts . . . . .202 CHAPTER XVI. Regions of the Upper Nile. The Nubian Desert — Khartum and neighbourhood — Senaar, between the Blue and White Nile— Valley of the Bahr-el-Abiad— The Nuehr Tribe— The Dinka Tribes— The Dyur and Bongo Tribes —The Bahr-el-Ghazal water system— The Mittu Tribes— The Nyamnyam Cannibals— The Monbuttu Country and its People — The Akka Pigmies — The Golo, Nduggo, and. Sehre Negroes — Gondokoro and Lado — The Victoria Nile . . . 220 CHAPTER XVII. The Red Sea Coast. From the Arabian Desert to Perim — Conformation of the land — Suakin and the Nubian Desert — Water system — The Beni-Amer and Habab Tribes — Massowah — Berberah — Political changes — Taka and Kedaref . . . . . . .246 CHAPTER XVIII. The Abyssinian Highlands. Physical aspect of the country — Lake Tzana, the Bahr-el-Azrek and other rivers — Population — The Abyssinian Races : Tigre, Lasta, Amhara — Languages of Abyssinia — The Agau, Danakal, Gonga, Shangalla, and other Tribes — Religion — The Abuna — The Moham- medans and Jews — Pursuits — Literature — Character — Govern- ment : the present Ruler — Chief Towns — Shoa— Countries south of Abyssinia . . . . . . .254 CONTENTS. xi CHAPTER XIX. Eastern Horn of Africa. PAGE Limits — The Somali Country — Harar— Berberah — Phj^sical aspect of the interior — Climate — The Somali tribes — Animals of Somali Land — Coast Towns — Island of Socotra — Mogdesho, Marka, Brava —Course of the Juba River — Bardera — The Gal la Country — The Galla Races — Region of the Kilima-Njaro — Dana and Rufu Rivers — Lands of the Wanika and Wateita — Mount Kilima-Njaro — Masai country ....... 273 CHAPTER XX. The Suaheli Coast. Extent — Commercial importance — Islands — The Suaheli Race — Island and town of Zanzibar— Trade of Zanzibar — The Slave Trade on the eastern seaboard — Products of the Zanzibar Coast — Bagamoyo ; the Lufiji ; Kilwa ..... 296 CHAPTER XXI. The Equatorial Lake Regions. General Survey — The Regions between the East Coast and the Tan- ganyika — The various routes inland from Bagamoyo — Cameron's route to Ugogo — Stanley's route to the Victoria Nyanza — The Leewumbu — The Equatorial lake system ; Uganda and Unyoro — King Mtesa and his People — Stanley's discoveries between the Victoria and Albert Nyanza — Gessi's circumnavigation of the Albert Nyanza — Ugogo to Unyanyembe and Tanganyika — Lake Tanganyika— Tanganyika to Nyangwe on the Lualaba — Man- yuema — Urua — Ulunda, the country of the Muata Yanvo — The countries of Lovale and Kibokwe — The Nyassa and Shirwa lake region — The Rufiji, Rufuma, and Mozambique Coast — Mr. Young's circumnavigation of Lake Nyassa — Livingstonia — The Matumboka and other Tribes— The Pelele— The River Shire or Shira — The Manganja Tribe — Lake Shirwa — Country west of the Nyassa — The basin of the Loangwa — The Chambese ; Lakes Bang- weolo and Moero — Lobemba ; Urunguand Itawa — The Cazembe's country — The Copper country of Katanga . . . 307 xii CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXII. South Africa — General Remarks. PA OR Extent and natural limits— Political divisions — Mountain ranges — Native Paces : Kafirs, Bushmen, and Hottentots . . 371 CHAPTER XXIII. The South African Colonies and Free States. Cape Colony — Physical Aspect — Hydrography — Scenery and vegeta- tion — Climate — History ; the Boers ; British Kafraria — Popula- tion — Industries : "Wool trade ; Ostrich-farming ; Mines — Table Bay, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth — Government of the Cape — The Diamond Fields — Natal — Maritzburg — The Drakenberg — The Orange Free State and the Transvaal — The gold-fields of the Trans- vaal — A sportsman's paradise — The plague of locusts — Natives of the Transvaal — Chief town — Climate — History ; native policy of the Boers ....... 375- CHAPTER XXIV. The Interior of South Africa. Course of the Limpopo — The Kafir Kingdoms ; Umzila's Territory — Land of the Matebele — Source of the Zambesi — The Victoria Falls — The lower course of the Zambesi — Portuguese possessions in East Africa : Mozambique ; Quelimane ; Sofala ; Delagoa Bay — Between the Zambesi and the Orange River — The Kalahari Desert — Bushmen — Lake Ngami and neighbourhood — Namaqua and Damara Land . . . . . .418 CHAPTER XXV. The South African Races. The Bantu family — The Ama-Khosa and Ama-Zulu Kafirs — The Bechuanas and Damara Tribes — The Hottentots . . . 447 CHAPTER XXVI. The Regions of Lower Guinea. Definition — Extent — The Portuguese possessions on the West Coast — Angola — Climate ; Native Tribes — Negro character — Slavery — Products and Trade of Angola — Government and chief towns — The Zaire or Congo — Loango and other Native states — Supersti- tious practices — Products — German Expeditions . . . 454 CONTENTS. xiii CHAPTER XXVII. Western Equatorial Africa. PAGE Region of the Ogoway and Gaboon Rivers— The home of the gorilla — The Ashira, Apingi, and other Tribes— The Mpongwe : their vices and vanities— The Fans : Grand Palavers, Ordeals— The Ogoway river system— the Bakales, Ivilis, and Okota Tribes — The Osyeba Cannibals ; the Obongo Pigmies . . .477 'CHAPTER XXVIII. The West African Archipelagoes. The Cape Verd Islands : Population, trade, produce — The Canary Group— The Peak of Teneriffe— The Guanchos— Trade and chief towns of the Canaries — Madeira : Funchal ; climate ; produce — The Azores : population ; exports .... 490 CHAPTER XXIX. African Islands in the Indian Ocean. Lemuria, a submerged Continent — Madagascar : Natural Features — Volcanic action — Mountain Systems — Soil, Rivers, Climate, Pro- duce — Inhabitants : various races ; their origin, pursuits — Go- vernment — Ruling race — Conversion to Christianity — The Comoro Group — French Settlements — Mohilla — The Seychelles and Amirante Isles — British Settlements — Reunion and Mauritius 499 APPENDIX. I. The African Races philologically classified. Language the best basis for the classification of Races — But not of itself an adequate basis — For the Negroes proper practically use- less — General Distribution of the African Races — Prehistoric Migrations— Dwarfish and other Primeval Races — The Seven great Linguistic Systems of Africa : I. The Semitic Family ; II. The Hamitic Family ; III. The Fulah and Xuba Groups ; IV. The Xegro Systems ; V. The Bantu Family ; VI. The Hottentot Group ; VII. The Malayo-Polynesian Family . . .509 Synoptical Table of all known African Tribes and Languages, alphabetically arranged ...... 533 XIV CONTEXTS. II. The Distribution of Rain in Africa. PAGE General considerations — Position of Africa with respect to the Trade Winds and westerly wind currents— "Winter rains of North Africa — Intertropical rains of single period — Intermitted or double rains of the West I 'oast — Monsoon rains of the East Coast-land — Winter rains of Cape Colony — Quantity of Rain — Time of day at which rain falls ........ 557 Index . . . . . . . .591 To face Contents. To face page 1 , ) 5 ) » ) >5 5 10 32 ? J ,, 48 >> J? 5 5 111 120 MAPS AND DIAGRAMS. Index Map to Chapters and Sections General Political Map of Africa Diagram illustrating the Seasons Physical Map of Africa .... Map of Marocco ..... ,, Algeria and Tunis .... ,, Senegal, Gambia, Sierra Leone, etc. . ,, Gold Coast, Lagos, Niger Delta ,, The Nile from Khartum to Lado, and the Bahr-el-Ghazal Water System . . ,, ,,220 ,, Zanzibar to the Tanganyika and Victoria Lakes . . . . . ,, ,, 296 , , The Nyassa and Shirwa Lake Region and the Mozambique Coast . . . ,, ,,353 ,, The Cape Colony . . . . ,, ,, 375 ,, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange Free State . ,, ,, 401 ,, Portuguese West Africa . . . ,, ,, 454 Ethnological and Philological Map of Africa . ,, ., 509 Diagrams showing Distribution of Rain in Africa . ,, ,, 555 LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. T ' Chuma,' Livingstone's servant : of the Wahiao tribe l . Frontispiece. Scene in Marocco ...... Page 34 Palms on the Tensift (from a Photograph bj t Dr. Leared) To face page 36 Moors .... „ 38 Marocco Dwar, or Tent Village Page 43 Bedouin Camp in Algeria „ 56 Scene in City of Tunis ,, 59 The Bardo of Tunis . ,, 63 Sand-storm in the Sahara ,, 72: Town of Metlili, Algerian Sahara „ 90 House Terraces in Tuggurt . „ 92 Tuareg Freemen „ 96 Oasis in the Libyan Desert . ,, 104 A Pul or Pullo (Fulah race) . „ 114 Timbo, in Futa-Jallon ,, 116 Free Town, Sierra Leone ,, 123 Ashantee Women „ 146 Scene in Dahomej^ „ 149' Say, on the Niger ,, 169 Ferry on the Niger . „ 170 The Hombori Mountains ,, 171 Kabara, the Port of Timbuktu „ 172 Timbuktu „ 173 The Nile near Assuan To face p>age 198 Street in Cairo Page 209 A Cairo Barber „ 211 Fruit Seller of Cairo To face page 212 Egyptian Female Costume . Page 213 A Pyramid To face page 214 Temple at Philse „ 216 Tombs of the Caliphs Page 217 Eock Temple of Abu Simbel To face page 218 In the Nubian Desert „ 220 Khartum Page 22a i From a Photograph lent by the Rev. Horace Waller. XVI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Dinka Farmstead . Page 231 Bongo AVoman . ,, 233 A Mittu . • „ 235 A Nyamnyam . . . . . „ 237 Akka Dwarf .... „ 241 The Sycamore, Eastern Abyssinia „ 257 Palace of Gondar . . . . . „ 269 Slave-Driving . „ 307 Hippopotamus Hunting . „ 311 Native of Ugogo .... „ 313 ' Kalulu,' Stanley's faithful companion To face page 316 Victoria Nyanza .... Page 318 King Mtesa's Daughter „ 324 Uganda Boy . „ 325 The Pelele — lip-ring . . . „ 358 Table Mountain, Cape of Good Hope „ 394 Waggon Boad over the Drakenberg . ,, 405 Lion Hunting .... To face page 409 Victoria Falls : from the "West End . Page 426 Victoria Falls : from the Garden Island ,, 428 Camping on the Borders of the Kalahari Desert To face r page 438 A Bushman ..... Page 440 Makato's Village, near Lake Xgami „ 443 Beach Hottentots at Walfisch Bay . „ 445 Walfisch Bay, with Sandhills in distance To face page 445 A Namaqua Kraal .... ,, „ 446 A Bechuana "Warrior ,, „ 448 Bechuana "Women preparing "Winter Stores Page 450 Toilet of a Bechuana Belle . To face page 450 Street in a Bechuana Village Page 451 Korana Pack Oxen .... To face page 452 Hottentots ..... Page 453 Head-dress of the Ishogo, "West Africa „ 482 Peak of Teneriffe '. „ 493 / GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 1 . Position and Revolutions of the Earth. The Earth, which forms the subject of this work, may be described as a round and opaque body balanced in space. In company with a friendly satellite, the Moon, it com- pletes, in somewhat more than 365 days, one revolution round a centre, the Sun, a light and heat giving body, itself probably but one of countless similar bodies scattered throughout the boundless regions of the universe. The Earth is technically spoken of as a planet, by which name we understand all such heavenly bodies as are dark in themselves, shining only in the borrowed light of the Sun. The period of 365 days required to complete its orbit is called a year, and is divided into twelve months, the months into weeks, and the weeks into days, one day thus forming a standard unit for the measurement of time. By a day is strictly understood the time required by the Earth to complete one revolution round its own axis in the direction from west to east. It thus appears that the Earth revolves round itself while completing its orbit round the Sun, and from this twofold motion there arises a series of phenomena, whose regular recurrence no longer causes any surprise, but which may still be here briefly described. 2. Meridians of Longitude and Parallels of Latitude. Every revolving globe necessarily possesses two oppo- B ; ;\ GENERAL INTRODUCTION". 1 . Position and Revolutions of the Earth. The Earth, which forms the subject of this work, may be described as a round and opaque body balanced in space. In company with a friendly satellite, the Moon, it com- pletes, in somewhat more than 365 days, one revolution round a centre, the Sun, a light and heat giving body, itself probably but one of countless similar bodies scattered throughout the boundless regions of the universe. The Earth is technically spoken of as a planet, by which name we understand all such heavenly bodies as are dark in themselves, shining only in the borrowed light of the Sun. The period of 365 days required to complete its orbit is called a year, and is divided into twelve months, the months into weeks, and the weeks into days, one day thus forming a standard unit for the measurement of time. By a day is strictly understood the time required by the Earth to complete one revolution round its own axis in the direction from west to east. It thus appears that the Earth revolves round itself while completing its orbit round the Sun, and from this twofold motion there arises a series of phenomena, whose regular recurrence no longer causes any surprise, but which may still be here briefly described. 2. Meridians of Longitude and Parallels of Latitude. Every revolving globe necessarily possesses two oppo- B ; 2 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. site points which are at rest, and which, in the case of the Earth, are called the Poles. These are again connected together by the Axis, an imaginary line round which the globe itself rotates. They are known as the Arctic or North Pole, and the Antarctic or South Pole. The circle described round the middle of the Earth, at all points equally distant from either pole, and thus dividing it into two halves, is called the Equator, while the two equal portions so divided are known as the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Now, in order accurately to fix the position of the various places on the surface of the globe, we must imagine an indefinite num- ber of other circles intersecting each other in such a way that some are described as passing through both poles, and others as drawn parallel with the equator. The first series, intersecting at the poles and perpen- dicular to the equator, are all naturally of equal size, and are called the Meridians — that is, mid-day circles, all places through which any one of them passes having mid- day at the same hour. The distances between these meri- dians constitute the degrees of longitude, which thus determine the position of any given place east or west of any given meridian. The other set of circles parallel to the equator, and diminishing according as they recede towards either pole, in the same way determine the position of all places north and south of the equator, and are called parallels of lati- tude. Since, therefore, these imaginary meridian and parallel circles intersect each other, given the latitude and longitude of any place on the surface of the Earth, its position is at once accurately determined. The Earth, however, is not a perfectly round globe, but rather of an oblate form — that is, slightly compressed at the poles, and bulging out at the equator. Hence, not being a true sphere, it is known as a spheroid, a sphere- DAY AND NIGHT. 3 like body, the exact proportions of which have not yet been fully ascertained, though at present it is believed that the diameter at the equator exceeds that from pole to pole by 27 miles. But, owing to its flattening at the poles, and corresponding expansion at the equator, the imaginary set of curves above spoken of are not true circles, but rather ellipses closely resembling circles. The parallels of latitude are much less affected by this circum- stance than are the meridians, which become sensibly depressed towards the poles ; but it follows that the dis- tance between two parallels becomes greater the nearer we approach the poles. The shortest degrees of latitude and the longest of longitude are accordingly found on and about the equator ; the longest of latitude and the shortest of longitude at and about the poles. The globe revolves, as stated, round the sun, which can of course shed its light only on the side turned towards it. If the Earth did not rotate on its own axis, the hemi- sphere facing the sun would be always light, and the opposite buried in eternal darkness. But in consequence of the Earth's rotation round its axis every place on its surface becomes lit up and plunged in darkness — that is, has its own day and night — alternately. Like all other true stars, the sun appears on the eastern horizon for all places on the Earth's surface, describing an apparent circuit across the sky during the day, and then disappearing again below the western horizon. When a star reaches the highest point above the horizon it is said to culminate or attain its zenith, and the sun's culminating point or zenith is called mid-day or noon. It has then reached the meridian of all places lying in the same degree of longitude — that is, crossed by any given meridian of longitude. As, moreover, every point of a parallel of latitude has a corresponding meri- dian of its own, it follows that for all places situated in 4 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. different meridians the time of mid-day is also different, varying according as the sun in its apparent course passes successively from one meridian to another. Hence, at any given moment all times of day are found on the Earth — that is to say, the time of day must continually vary from place to place as we go from west to east, or from east to west, the hour of noon being in all cases later the more to the west the place is situated. Thus mid-day is later at London than at Vienna, at Vienna than at Constan- tinople, and in New Zealand it is about midnight when it is noon in London. It follows that from place to place differences may occur not only of hours but even of a whole day. Tins explains the curious circumstance that any one travelling round the earth from west to east loses a day — that is, on his return he finds himself a day out in his reckoning ; while, if he retraces Ms steps from east to west, he finds himself conversely a day in advance. 3. The Seasons, Equinoxes, and Solstices. In its revolution round the sun the Earth's axis is not perpendicular to the plane of its orbit. It has been ascer- tained that the Earth's axis is inclined to the plane of its orbit round the sun at an angle of nearly 2 3 J . The course of the Earth round the sun is called the Ecfyrtic, because solar and lunar eclipses occur only when the sun and moon are on the same line with the earth on the plane of its orbit. The orbit of the Earth, again, is itself not quite a perfect circle but a nearly circular ellipse, the sun being situated in one of its two foci. Erom this it follows that the Earth is not at all times equidistant from the sun ; but, since the equator and the ecliptic are inclined at an angle to one another, and must therefore intersect each other somewhere, both must necessarily have two points in common. These points are situated at the extremities of the shorter axis * 1 1 1 s= THE SEASONS. 5 of the ellipse. Hence, when the Earth reaches these points in its annual course, the sun is vertically over the equator, and day and night are equal everywhere on the surface of the globe. This takes place once in spring and once in autumn, hence we speak of the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, which occur about the 20th of March and the 2 2d of September. The accompanying diagram represents four positions of the Earth in its orbit, each 9 0° apart. Since the sun can only enlighten one half of the surface at once, viz. that which is turned towards it, the shaded portions of the globe here represent the dark, and the bright the enlightened halves of the Earth. In the positions A and C the sun is vertically over the inter- section of the equator and ecliptic. In these positions the poles of the Earth are on the extreme borders of the enlightened hemispheres, and it is day over half the northern and half the southern hemisphere at once. Every point of the Earth's surface describes half its daily course in light and half in darkness, and day and night are equal all over the globe ; hence the term equinox. The former represents the position of the vernal, the latter of the autumnal equinox of the northern hemisphere. Since the axis of the Earth is carried round parallel to itself and always pointing to the same direction in the sphere of the fixed stars, when the Earth has moved round to the position B, its North Pole and all the portion round it to a distance of 2 3 J degrees from it, or within what is named the Arctic Circle, remams constantly enlightened. The sun is vertical over the northern tropic or turning point, the Tropic of Cancer (from the sign of the zodiac Cancer, which is crossed by the sun in its apparent path at the summer solstice), 23-J- degrees north of the equator; and all the region comprised within 23^ degrees from the South Pole, or within the Antarctic Circle, is in darkness during the entire rotation, or has continual night. 6 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. This is called the position of the Summer Solstice of the northern hemisphere, because at this point the sun appears to be, for the time, arrested in its course before entering on its retrograde movement, and occurs about the 21st of June. At this time every point north of the equator has a day of more and a night of less than twelve hours' dura- tion, and days in the northern hemisphere are at their longest. When the earth has passed round to D, the phenomena of the position B occur again, but in exactly inverted order. The sun is then vertical over the southern turning point, called the Tropic of Capricorn (from the sign of Capricorn, or the he-goat, then crossed by the sun) ; all within the Arctic Circle revolves in continuous night, all within the Antarctic, or about the South Pole, is in continuous daylight. This is the position of the southern summer or northern Winter Solstice, and takes place about the 21st of December. All points within the northern hemisphere have then a day of less than twelve hours' duration and a longer night ; the days are then at their shortest in the northern, and at their longest in the southern hemisphere. 4. The Five Zones. The portions of the globe limited by these various parallels are called the Five Zones — the Torrid lying be- tween the tropics, two Frigid zones within the polar circles, and two Temperate between the polar circles and the tropics. 5. Varying Length of Day and Night. From the diverse relations above described of the Earth to the sun, it follows that for the different places on the Earth's surface the duration of day and night varies continually and considerably according to the time of year. LENGTH OF DAY AND NIGHT. 7 On the equator, however, day and night are always equal throughout the year. Here, in fact, there is a perpetual equinox, the equator being the only imaginary circle on the globe, one half of which is always in darkness and the other always in light. The poles, on the contrary, and their immediate vicinity have alternately six months of continuous light and six of continuous darkness. In other words, at the poles the year is made up of only one day and one night, each half-a-year long. But the dura- tion of day and night varies within the polar circles, out- ward from the actual pole, according to the latitude of each place. Hence the number of days during which the sun neither rises nor sets is here different, the longest day lasting six, five, four, three, two, or one month, as the case may be. During the rest of the time the sun remains below the horizon during nights of gradually increasing length, till at midwinter they reach periods of one, two, three, four, or five months, corresponding to the duration of the midsummer daylight. Within the temperate zones there is a constant inter- change of day and night, each place enjoying longer days and shorter nights in summer, and enduring longer nights and shorter days in winter, in proportion to its distance from the equator. A similar discrepancy attends the commencement of the various seasons, as will be more fully explained when we come to the detailed description of the various regions of the Earth. VOLUME I.— AFRICA. CHAPTEE I. GENERAL REMARKS. 1. Configuration of the Land. As seen on the map Africa presents a less shapely appearance than any other of the great divisions of the earth, Australia alone excepted. In fact its form vividly recalls both that of Australia and of South America, its contour being far less elegant than that either of Europe, Asia, or even North America. It has absolutely no pen- insulas, for the solitary eastern projection of Somali, confronted by the island of Socotra, can scarcely be regarded as anything more than an abortive attempt at such. From this circumstance it necessarily follows that the various bights and bays are themselves but little developed. We have doubtless on the north coast the OUTLINE OF AFRICA. 9 classic Syrtes, or Gulfs of Cabes and Sidra, and on the west coast the Gulf of Guinea. But these penetrate so little into the land that it seems almost a flattery to speak of them as gulfs. The Eed Sea alone forms a true gulf, in appearance not unlike that of California in North America ; but even here the east coast belongs to the Asiatic peninsula of Arabia. 2. Islands. Africa also lacks the charm imparted by the numerous islands surrounding the shores of other continents. There are some few in the Gulf of Guinea, and the north-west coast is fringed by the Cape Verd> Canary, and Azore groups, the latter, however, so far removed from the mainland as scarcely to be entitled to be credited to this continent. The east coast is more richly endowed in this respect, and here as elsewhere the general rule is verified that the larger islands occur to the east only of the main divisions of the globe. Here it is that we accordingly meet with the vast island of Madagascar, almost a little continent in itself, and in all probability an actual rem- nant of Lemuria, that immense continent and home of the lemur and the loris, which may have formerly stretched across the Indian Ocean as far as Ceylon and even to the Keeling isles, if not still farther eastwards. However that may be, the coral reefs between Mozambique and Mombas indicate that the east coast of Africa is rising at the present time, and the same is true of Madagascar and the Seychelles, together with the sugar-producing islands of Mauritius and Eeunion. The African shore of the Eed Sea also, no less than the opposite coast of Arabia, seems to be advancing into the water, this inland sea possessing no more than an average depth of about 100 fathoms. 1 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. 3. Physical Aspect of the Interior. The monotony of its coast lines seems also to be repeated in the uniform disposition of the land in the interior of this continent. The whole of Africa might strictly speaking be described as nothing but one vast table-land, varied here and there by a few more or less precipitous slopes. There are certainly some low-lying regions, and even depressions below the level of the sea, but all of them very limited in extent. The great masses of the hilly regions seem to be confined to the east coast, where an alpine range, be- ginning with the Abyssinian highlands, and rising in one or two isolated points above the level of perpetual snow, stretches southwards several degrees below the equator. A certain grandeur is also doubtless presented by the Mauritanian mountain system, while some iso- lated peaks towards the Eed Sea and at the sources of the Niger and Orange rivers attain respectable eleva- tions. But on the whole in this vast continent, nearly two thirds the size of Asia, by far the most prominent feature is a moderately elevated table-land, and even the mountain ranges themselves by which it is broken present as a rule everywhere the same uniform appearance of sheer walls, with truncated summits, as follows from the nature of the sandstone of which tins continent is mainly composed. This monotony of its general outlines is of course true only of its great geographical features, and not of parti- cular regions. Here we find tracts of tropical vegetation and luxuriance succeeded by wildernesses and barren wastes, hilly landscapes of varied beauty interchanging with uniform table-lands, and now and then mountain groups rivalling the sublimest aspects of Alpine scenery. PHYSICAL FEATURES. 11 4. Rivers and Lakes. These African highlands are furrowed by great streams, in number, however, by no means proportionate to the extent of the continent, which here again exhibits a striking poverty of natural endowments. Of these the most important are the Nile, the Congo, and the Zambesi, which, though partly rivalling in length the mightiest rivers of the earth, are far inferior to them in wealth of water. All three taken together contain a smaller body of water than the Amazon alone. On the other hand, Central Africa proper harbours a considerable number of fresh-water lakes, some of them, such as the Victoria Nyanza, the Albert Nyanza, the Tan- ganyika, and Nyassa, presenting water surfaces of imposing grandeur. 5. Tropical Position. Of all the divisions of the globe Africa is justly con- sidered as the most thorough representative of the tropical world, for it alone is situated mainly within the tropics, comparatively but small portions of it stretching beyond these limits into the temperate zones north and south. It is further to be noted that, of these two sections, the northern belongs entirely to the sub-tropical regions ; Tunis, which is about the most northern city in Africa, being situated nearly in the same parallel of latitude as St. Louis and San Francisco in America, Yedo in Japan, and Tsi-nan in China. Hence it is that in the elevated plateaux of Africa alone real cold is felt, and even here only in a moderate degree, for the latitude of Cape Town itself corresponds with that of Monte Video, Buenos Ayres, and Santiago, in South America, and of Sydney in Australia. PHYSICAL FEATURES. 11 4. Rivers and Lakes. These African highlands are furrowed by great streams, in number, however, by no means proportionate to the extent of the continent, which here again exhibits a striking poverty of natural endowments. Of these the most important are the Nile, the Congo, and the Zambesi, which, though partly rivalling in length the mightiest rivers of the earth, are far inferior to them in wealth of water. All three taken together contain a smaller body of water than the Amazon alone. On the other hand, Central Africa proper harbours a considerable number of fresh-water lakes, some of them, such as the Victoria Nyanza, the Albert Nyanza, the Tan- ganyika, and Nyassa, presenting water surfaces of imposing grandeur. 5. Tropical Position. Of all the divisions of the globe Africa is justly con- sidered as the most thorough representative of the tropical world, for it alone is situated mainly within the tropics, comparatively but small portions of it stretching beyond these limits into the temperate zones north and south. It is further to be noted that, of these two sections, the northern belongs entirely to the sub-tropical regions ; Tunis, which is about the most northern city in Africa, being situated nearly in the same parallel of latitude as St. Louis and San Francisco in America, Yedo in Japan, and Tsi-nan in China. Hence it is that in the elevated plateaux of Africa alone real cold is felt, and even here only in a moderate degree, for the latitude of Cape Town itself corresponds with that of Monte Video, Buenos Ayres, and Santiago, in South America, and of Sydney in Australia. 12 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. 6. Inhabitants — Independent Races. The African races are in fully as backward a state of development as are the natural features of the regions occupied by them. At the mention of the word Africa we involuntarily think exclusively of the pure negro type, which, in consequence of long-established opinions, we are apt to look upon as the only occupant of this continent. And, in truth, a certain uniformity unmistakably charac- terises its inhabitants, sufficiently accounting for, if not justifying, the fact that earlier and less thorough research was satisfied with comprising all of them under the one general denomination of negroes. It remained for more recent and more accurate inves- tigations to show that the pure negro type occupies com- paratively but a small portion of Africa, scarcely spreading anywhere south of the equator. The whole country south of the negroes is mainly peopled by the Bantu tribes, differing in speech altogether from them, and including such races as the Kafirs, the Bechuanas, Basutos, etc., but not the Hottentots and Bushmen, The Hottentots form a division of their own, though now^ little more than the last survivors of a ruined race and people ; while the Bushmen belong to a group whose classification still remains to be satisfactorily determined. In West Africa we meet with the Fulah tribes, and north of the negroes some Hamitic and Shemitic peoples, who have migrated hither from the east. To the same Hamitic stock belong also the Gallas and the Somalis of the extreme eastern corner of Africa. Eecent investigation has thus succeeded in grouping all the inhabitants of this continent under six great divisions : four indigenous — the Eulahs, Xegroes proper, Bantus, and Hottentots ; and two foreign — the Hamitic and Shemitic families. PEOPLES OF AFRICA. 13 In the islands, especially on the east coast, other races are met with, the most important of which are the Hovas or Malagashes of Madagascar, who are unquestion- ably members of the widespread Malay family. 7. Culture — European and Mohammedan Influences. The uninhabited wastes that were long supposed to occupy the interior seem in reality to be more or less fully peopled, in some places even overcrowded. Nor do these teeming populations roam about lawlessly in unsettled regions, or hi search of a precarious sustenance in temporary resting-places. Here also there are kingdoms and states jealous of each other's power and limits ; here also wars are waged for land and possessions, for dominion and influence ; for the coloured no less than the white races have developed statecraft, and can boast of a poli- tical system. They appeal to arms whenever the funda- mental principle that " might is right " finds favour in their eyes. They conclude peace and form treaties, the occasional non-observance of which certainly constitutes no radical distinction between them and the white races. Nay, more; in the very heart of the country those political revolutions are occasionally brought about that we would gladly describe as "rectifications of the frontier" were we in possession of accurate charts of those regions, or of sufficient knowledge of the events occurring in them. Here many a dark genius well knows how to turn to the best account the character and superior qualities of his race. He at times succeeds in widening the limits of his sway to an incredible extent, founding for the time being a sort of imperial rule, ever fated to be again de- stroyed by sanguinary civil strife after the strong arm has withered by which it was built up. At the same time, however, all this movement of the 14 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. African races possesses but little if any interest for us, resting as it does on a moral and intellectual basis of an extremely low order, which has achieved but feeble tri- umphs in the arts of life. Without overlooking or at all undervaluing the primitive and special culture of such negro kingdoms as Bornu and Baghirmi, it must still be confessed that there are no traces of a higher culture in Africa, except in those places alone that have felt the influence of Europeans, or at least of the Arabs. In fact, the influence of the latter is in many respects the most powerful, because the difference between their culture and that of the natives is less marked than in the case of Europeans. Herein, also, is doubtless to be sought the explanation of the astonishing spread of Mohammedanism in Africa. It has already reached the equator, and penetrated into the very heart of the country, a result that has been brought about silently and without the co-operation of special teachers ; whereas Christianity, notwithstanding the zeal of the missionaries of various sects, has been en- abled to secure the adherence of but few proselytes. And although the teachings of Islamism occupy the lowest place amongst the civilised religions of the present day, they nevertheless produce a relatively civilising effect when contrasted with the cruel fetichism of the natives. At the same time, the spread of Mohammedanism should inspire us with no exaggerated hopes for the future, as it appears that, so far, contact with foreign influences has in many respects been attended with strikingly deleterious effects on the African races. According to the various degrees of culture of its inhabitants, the learned traveller George Schweinfurth divides Africa into three domains, whose limits correspond with the movements of commerce working on the masses in the interior from its most advanced outposts all along the CULTURE AND INDUSTRIES. 15 coast. There is first of all the domain of firearms, nearest the coast, especially in the northern half of the continent, penetrating far inwards, and maintaining with Europe more or less important commercial relations. Farther inland we meet with a region which the European markets have so far been enabled to provide with cotton goods by means of native traders. Lastly, in the very heart of central Africa, and hitherto totally cut off from all contact with the European world, there is a wide- spread tract of country, in which the scanty raiment of the natives is limited to skins and hides rudely prepared on the spot. Between the two last might be formed a sort of transition territory, in which copper and glass beads con- stitute the principal articles of trade amongst the inhabit- ants. This is at the same time the chief centre of the slave trade. To these three degrees of culture correspond also the various stages of art and industry of the present African races, only here the reverse has taken place of what usually occurs elsewhere, as shown, for instance, in the pro- gress of development amongst the leading historical nations. International intercourse of every sort, commercial relations, peaceful and even warlike migrations, have a tendency to promote a higher degree of culture amongst many peoples. Others again become crushed and extinguished by contact with a civilisation of a higher order. But neither of these results do we see brought about in the Africa of the present day. European influences, instead of a fructifying and vivifying, produce nothing but a disturbing effect, as is shown in the indigenous arts of the Africans. The greater the progress at present made here and there by any African race in the path of outward culture, the less developed become their own productive powers and all the greater their dependence for the wants of a 1 6 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. refined existence on European arts. The restless enter- prise and industry of the white races naturally defies all native competition, and stifles all attempts at imitation on the part of the indigenous populations. A still more striking illustration of tins truth is afforded by the Mohammedan peoples, who are in posses- sion of a great portion of the northern half of the con- tinent. Yet from year to year they show themselves less productive in their own arts and industries, whilst in their turn exercising on the inhabitants of the second above- mentioned domain a similar influence to that exercised by the Europeans over the Mohammedans themselves. This is best seen in the negro states of central Soudan, where, since their subjection to the yoke of Islam, a gradual fall- ing off in the progress of outward culture has clearly manifested itself, and where the last traces of all indi- genous industry threaten ere long to disappear. PLATEAU OF BARBARY. 17 CHAPTEE II. THE REGIONS OF THE ATLAS. 1 . Physical Aspect — Soil — Cultivation. Africa is roughly distributed into a series of partially independent physical sections. If we look at a map, we cannot fail to notice how sharply defined and cut off from the southern regions is the mountainous district occupying the western half of the north coast washed by the Medi- terranean Sea. It stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Cabes, or Syrtis Minor, in the Mediterranean, being inclosed southwards by a hilly range sloping off to- wards the great desert of Sahara. It comprises the main portions of the empire of Marocco, the French colony of Algeria, and the regency of Tunis, though all three of these political divisions extend southwards to some distance over the northern Sahara. The highland in question runs westwards parallel with the north coast, and long figured on the maps under the name of Mount Atlas. But in reality the Atlas is a lofty mountain chain, situated entirely within the limits of Marocco, and crossing it in a north-easterly direction. Hence it would be a mistake to include the Algerian heights in the Atlas system. Though the range running parallel with the Mediterranean coast is also described by French geographers as the Great and the Little Atlas, whoever visits both countries will find, as Gerhard Eohlfs remarks, that Algeria possesses nothing but outstretching uplands skirted by a hilly range, and that the Great Atlas is confined c IS COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. altogether to Marocco. This was also the opinion of the ancients, who made the Great Atlas begin at Cape Ghlr in tliu Atlantic, and end at the present el Delr in the Mediterranean. In general the Atlas range may he said to present the form of a horse-shoe. Opening towards the north-west, one of its extremities is formed by the Eas el Deir, the other by the headland of the Ghlr. The whole range gradually descends by wide terraces to the lowlands. Its highest point seems to lie a little to the south of the city of Marocco, where we meet with the Jebel Miltsin, attaining an elevation of 11,400 feet. From the northern spur of the Atlas, as far as the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, the whole country in Marocco is capable of cultivation. The arable land in Algeria is called " Tell," a term unknown in Marocco, where, in fact, no such distinction is made, though neces- sitated in Algeria by the varying nature of the soil. The only unfertile tract in noxthern Marocco, that is on the slopes descending towards the Mediterranean, is the so- called Angacl, lying south of Mount Beni-Snassen, and crossed by the Muluya. But this district is no more barren or void of vegetation than are the uplands of Algeria south of Sebdu, Saida, or Tiaret. Whenever the dew and moisture are sufficiently abundant, and occur at the right season, the whole land is at once laid under cul- tivation. 2. Natural Features of Algeria. Still more simple than in Marocco is the distribution of the land in Algeria, where three belts may be clearly distinguished — the Tell, the region of uplands or steppes, and the Algerian Sahara. The Tell begins on the Medi- terranean coast, stretching up along the whole length of the land to the foot of the Middle Atlas of French MOUNTAINS OF ALGERIA. 19 geographers. This is the most fertile portion of Algeria, producing cereals, leguminous plants such as beans and peas, vegetables, rice, tobacco, cotton, and even wine, in abundance ; in a word, in every way suited for perma- nent settlement. Here, also, we find numerous forests, planted especi- ally with noble oaks and cedars, together with luxuriant pasture lands. Many streams also (the so-called Wady or Wad), swamps, and hills, everywhere cross the Tell, which has altogether an area of about 54,000 square miles, with an average breadth of not more than 47 miles, — wider, however, towards the west than the east of the country. In this Tell, and more particularly on the coast, are naturally situated the most important cities of Algeria. As the land rises rapidly from the sea-level to a con- siderable elevation, the approach to the interior is ren- dered more than usually arduous. Parallel and close to the coast there runs a somewhat broken range of hills similar to those met with in Venezuela and California. It is tins range that the French call the Lesser Atlas, or the coast mountains (les montagnes du littoral), though in reality rather a series of isolated chains, such as the Jebel Ujda, the Tessala, the Jebel Dahra (5184 feet), and the mountains of Algiers ; the Little Atlas, or mountains of Blidah (5381 feet), the Jurjura, with the summit peak of Leila Khedija 1 (7572 feet), and the Great Babor (6463 feet). This last, lying east of the city of Algiers, between the mouths of the Isser and the Kebir, is distin- guished by the name of the " Great" and " Little Kabyle." These clusters of hills are here and there varied by wide and extremely fertile plains, such as those of Metija near Algiers, and Mleta near Oran. 1 So named from the tomb of the venerated female Marabut Lella- Khedija on its summit. 20 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. Immediately to the south of this coast range, and mostly in direct connection with it, there rises the not less elevated parallel chain, forming the proper southern limits of the Tell, and described by many French writers as the " Atlas Moyen," but which we should prefer to call the Algerian Middle Eange, and of which the mountains of Tlemcen (6017 feet), the Saida range, the mass of Uarensenis, surrounded by the Sheliff on three sides (5952 feet), the mountains of Dira-Uennugha (6109 feet), and the mountains of Setif, are the chief masses from west to east. The second belt of land, behind the middle range of the Tell, consists of monotonous table-lands (region des plateaux) producing a scanty vegetation, rising to a height of 3800 feet, interspersed with a long series of brackish lakes, or salt marshes, here called Sebkha or Shott (plural sbaJehi, " marshes," and shtoot, " shores "). This region begins in the eastern part of Marocco, on the slopes of the spur of the Great Atlas, facing northwards, and reaches almost without interruption as far as Tunis. Proceeding from the frontier of Marocco we meet with the plain in which are situated the Shott-el-Rharbi (or western shott), and the long Shott-esh-Shergwi (or eastern shott), at the south- ern foot of Mount Saida ; the Saghes plateau ; that of Hodna, with the Shott-es- Saida (the happy lake), and the table-land of the Sbach, separated from the preceding one by the low heights of the Bu-Thaleb. These rocky steppes possess but few streams, and even these become dry as soon as the rainy season is over. Corn grows in some favoured spots only, but after winter has passed the land is covered with dwarf aromatic herbs and high grasses, supplying fodder for the cattle reared by the inhabitants of these regions. The herds are watered at the stagnant pools that remain in the hollows of the rocks after the wet season is over, which are named glwdir MOUNTAINS OF ALGERIA. 21 (traitor) by the Arabs, since no dependence is to be placed on their supply. In the western portion of this wilderness nothing is met with except sand-drifts. This table-land is bordered on the south by a third parallel chain, reckoning from the shores of the Mediter- ranean. It is called the Great Atlas by some French writers, by others the Chaine Saharienne. The former name, as above stated, being strictly reserved for the highlands of Marocco, we would prefer to describe the chain in question as the Sahara Border Bange. A glance at any good map will show at once that this range stretches east and west parallel with the chief spur of the Marocco Atlas, advancing across Algeria as the southern limit of the steppes, and reaching even as far as Tunis, the configuration of which country is entirely determined by the eastern offshoots of the Algerian highlands. Throughout the whole of its extent, from the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Bon in Tunis, which might perhaps be regarded as its eastern limit, this long tract of highland forms the boundary of those districts which, geographi- cally speaking, belong to the Great Sahara, and which may be looked on as its northern portion. Hence the expression Sahara Border Bange seems fully justified. In its general aspect it resembles the Algerian coast and middle ranges, not forming a continuous unbroken line, but rather a series of detached elevations, some 40 or 45 miles broad, rising here and there to considerable heights, which are usually covered with snow till the end of March. Amongst them may be more particularly men- tioned the mountains of Ksel, the highest part of the western province of Oran, having one summit rising to 6595 feet above the sea ; the Jebel Amur, farther east, and of nearly the same elevation ; and the Aures moun- tains, towards the east of the range — the Mons Aurasius of Procopius, and having the summits of Mahmel and 22 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. Sheliah, or Chellia, the highest points of Algeria. Sheliah, somewhat higher than Mahmet, attains 7585 feet, or is not much less than half the height of Mont Blanc. Its northern face is deeply cut into ravines, in which torrents flow down to join the Wady Essora, and woods of holm oak cover the base of the mountain. From the summit, says M. Niel (Gcographie de I'Alge'rie, 1876), there opens out one of the grandest panoramas which the eye of man could behold. To the south are seen the pale, bare, and broken declivities which descend to the Wady el Abiad, and in the dis- tance the plains of the Sahara ; to the west the tops of many mountains, among which those of Jebel Tugur and of the chain of Ouled- Sultan are prominent ; to the north, beyond the wooded base of the mountain, extend the wide plateaux with their glistening shotts ; and towards Tunis the eastern Aures and Um Debben mountains are seen, cut into by deep valleys. Southwards the Sahara border range descends some- what abruptly from an average elevation of 5900 feet, while at its eastern extremity the fall is still more pre- cipitous. Here are situated the gorge of El Kantara, at the foot of the lofty Aures range, only 1697 feet, and the town of Biskra, a day's journey farther south, only 410 feet above the sea level. 3. The Algerian Sahara. The third great division of the country is that of the Algerian Sahara, which, sloping southward from the border range of the high plateaus to the extreme limits of Africa claimed by France, embraces an extent not far short of that of the two former divisions taken together. The line which separates the high plateaus from the Sahara is marked along the bordering range by a number THE ALGERIAN SAHARA. 23 of points called by the Arabs " Foum-es-Sahara," or mouths of the Sahara, and follows an irregular parallel inland corresponding to the Mediterranean coast line. The fantastic descriptions of old writers, who represented the Sahara as uniformly a vast ocean of bare sand, with- out variation of level or of character, without vegetation or water, a wilderness on which one was certain to die of thirst if he escaped from the hands of savages or from the teeth of wild animals, have long been known to be inaccurate; and expeditions and journeys, undertaken either in putting down revolts of the natives, or in the cause of commerce or of science, have given us a tolerably com- plete notion of its true character. Certain points of the Sahara which are inhabited, says General Daumas, are termed Fiafi ; other habitable districts take the name Kifar, a word which signifies " abandoned ; " uninhabit- able portions are called Falat. These three names each represent one of the characteristics of the Sahara. Fiafi is the oasis round a cluster of springs or wells, to which all living things are drawn under the palms or fruit trees for shelter from the sun and the " simoum." Kifar is the plain country, generally sandy and bare, but which, after it is moistened by the winter rains, is covered with spring herbs ; hither, at that season, the nomad tribes, who are generally encamped round the oases, come to pasture their' flocks. Falat, lastly, is the vast sterile and naked country, the sea of sand, the waves of which, agitated to-day by the simoum, are to-morrow rigid and still, and are easily traversed by those desert fleets called caravans. The Sahara presents now a stretch of sand, then hills and ravines, marshes and dunes ; here it has villages and populous centres, there it is inhabited only by nomads. From the bordering chain of mountains there descend to it during the rainy season numberless torrents, the channels of which, quickly dried 24 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. up by the sun's heat, form a network of ravines. The centres of population are sometimes separated by perfectly barren and waste lands of some days' inarch across, but in many directions lines of wells at intervals serve as camping stations, and mark out the lines of traffic. Masses of rock called gours (singular, gar a), standing sometimes in an open plain swept by the winds, in a torrent bed, or in the basin of a " sebkha," diversify the surface of the Sahara. In some places these gours are disposed in long, nearly regular, and parallel chains, though their indi- vidual form may be conical, triangular, or rudely cubical. These chains of varying height have between them sandy valleys, often filled up with heaps of sand which increase, in height little by little. All the winds, says M. Largeau, help to form dunes in the Sahara, but that from the east is the most powerful in drifting the sands. The dunes, however, have no proper movement, the surface only is changed, and its contour modified by the action of the winds. Besides the ravines and torrent beds which descend southward into the Algerian Sahara from the border range of the plateaus, two great wadis, or dry channels, enter the territory from far south, and form very marked features of the region. These are the Wady Igharghar, a word which in Berber means " running water," which has its origin in the country of the Tuaregs, on the plateau of Ahaggar, between 23° and 24° S. This great dry channel descends, in an almost due northerly course, for upwards of 750 miles, to where it terminates in the Shott Melgigh, or Melrhir, one of a chain of marshes which extend along the base of the Sahara border range, eastward through Tunis to near the Gulf of Cabes, and each of which lies to some extent beneath the level of the Mediterranean. The other great dry channel, which passes through the Algerian Sahara from the south, is that RIVERS OF ALGERIA AND MAROCCO. 25 of the Wady Mia, which may be considered as a large south-western tributary of the Igharghar, joining it about 60 miles before it opens into the Melrhir. 4. Rivers. The nature of the whole of this northern portion of Africa is evidently little favourable to the formation of large streams, and along the whole length of the coast in question there is scarcely a single river possessing any special importance for the interior of the country. In Tunis and Algeria the more considerable streams mostly make their way down from the region of the steppes ; hence before reaching the Mediterranean they are obliged to find an outlet through the passes of the Algerian middle and coast ranges. The consequence is that the course of many of them, such as the Sheliff, often lies for a considerable distance parallel with the sea coast. All the Algerian streams, though large and swollen during the winter rains, shrink down to a small thread of water in summer, or disappear altogether for a time. In Marocco, with the exception of the Muluya, which also flows clown from the steppes, the rivers take their rise on the north- west slopes of the Atlas, thence, of course, running into the Atlantic. Such are the Wad Kiis, the Sebu, Bu- Eegreg, the Um-el-Khea (mother of herbs), and the great Tensift. Beyond this range, however, we come upon the Sus, which has a westerly course. Still farther south the maps show a Wad Nun, which however means nothing but an open plain or district ; the true name of the river here is Wad Asaka or Aksabi. Lastly, to the extreme south and beyond the Sahara border range, we have the Wad Draa, a true desert stream, one-sixth longer than the Rhine. From its source in the Atlas down to the point where its southern course is changed to a westerly one, 26 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. the upper Praa is never dry even in the season of the greatest heats, though below this its waters fill the channel and reach the sea only once in the year, when the snows melt on the mountains. 5. Climate of Marocco. As a rule the climate of Xorth Africa, though warm is healthy, more particularly in Marocco. This is partly due to the elevation of the land, the cool breezes from the Ocean and Mediterranean, and the absence of low-lying morasses, such as were so frequently met with in Algeria when the French first began to settle there. Other causes of the salubrious climate of Marocco are the rich forest lands of the Atlas slopes, which equalise the temperature, and, jointly with the snows of the mountain tops, keep the streams supplied with a constant flow of water through- out the summer ; lastly, the absence of those shotts, or shallow salt marshes and swamps, which stretch across Algeria and Tunis in an easterly direction. 6. Rainfall. There is naturally a marked difference in the mois- ture supply north and south of the Atlas. While the rainy season begins hi the country north of that range in October, lasting to the end of February, it does not set in on the south side till January, ceasing during the first half of February, and extending inwards only to about 7° 40' longitude west of Greenwich. Hence it does not affect the southern part of the district watered by the Draa. In the Oasis of Tafilet rain seldom falls, and in that of Tuat scarcely once every twenty years. The rain limit south of the Atlas thus passes from 7° 40' west lon- gitude and 2 9° north latitude obliquely in a north-easterly CLIMATE OF MAROCCO AND ALGERIA. 27 direction, and parallel with the Atlas as far as the Figig Oasis near the Algerian frontier. The dews also are very abundant in the districts north of the Atlas and on the Atlas itself, but slight on its southern side. 7. Winds. From October to February north-westerly winds pre- vail almost exclusively, shifting most in the latter month, wdien as many as six or seven opposing currents succeed each other in the course of the day. In March northerly breezes prevail, after which to the end of September south- westerly and southern winds. On the Atlantic coast a very refreshing sea breeze blows inland during the sum- mer from nine in the morning till the afternoon, when the south-west wind acquires the ascendant. These south-western and southern winds often bring with them clouds of locusts, as in the years 1778 and 1780. The Atlas, however, seems to present a barrier to these voracious insects, which are met with north of that range in small and detached swarms only. 8. Temperature and Seasons of Algeria. In Algiers and Tunis the climate is exceedingly uni- form, much resembling that of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Provence, and Greece. But in the Sahara, that is south of the great Border Eange, the temperature is quite tro- pical, the heat, even in Biskra, being very oppressive and fatal to many Europeans. On the uplands of the Tell, as in central Europe, there are distinguished four seasons, succeeding each other very gently. The greatest heat lasts from the middle of June till about the middle of September, during which period not a drop of rain falls anywhere in Algeria. Then begin the beneficent autumn 28 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. and winter rains, the sun shining out very warmly at intervals, so that by the beginning of October the whole land is again clothed in the richest vegetation. The rainy season lasts till March. On the whole the climate of Algeria is healthy, always excepting the marshy districts on the coast and the low- lying oases in the south. Europeans arriving at the proper time, that is in January and February, and acclimatising themselves by habits of temperance and other precautions, may succeed in adapting themselves to a climate which, however, as a rule, does not act beneficially on European constitutions. Still there are isolated spots that can be well recommended to invalids, and the city of Algiers itself is a favourable residence for the consumptive. 9. Natural Products of North Africa. North Africa is unusually rich in natural products of various kinds. The land is at once recognised as forming part of the great African continent by the presence of such beasts of prey as the lion, the panther, the jackal, and the hyena. The last two are very numerous, but as devourers of carrion so useful, that in Algeria it is forbidden to kill them. Among other larger wild animals, antelopes, gazelles, and the mouflon, are the most important. Side by side with these are the more serviceable domestic animals — the horse, the mule, the camel, the dromedary, oxen, sheep, and goats. Ichneumons, lizards, tortoises, and leeches, are met with in great numbers, the chameleon less frequently. Among the birds are the eagle, falcon, and vulture, the thrush, the swallow which frees the country from myriads of mosquitoes, and the starling, flocks of which at some periods of the year are so large as to obscure the sun in passing. The cuckoo spends the winter in north Africa; pigeons, partridges, and quails PEOPLES OF NORTH AFRICA. 29 are abundant ; as are also the heron, pelican, and swan, besides ducks and grebe, the plumage of the latter forming an article of commerce of considerable value. The stork, which arrives about the middle of January in the Tell country and leaves in the beginning of August, builds on the terraces of the houses, the belfries of the churches, or in the minarets of the mosques, and is everywhere pro- tected and almost reverenced, as the ibis of Egypt formerly was, for the service it renders in destroying the grasshop- pers, frogs, lizards, and snakes. The vegetation bears the most striking resemblance to that of Languedoc and Provence. Here, as there, nourish the olive, laurel, orange, citron, almond, and fig-tree, myr- tle, pine, white poplar, aloe, and oleander. But the Mediterranean districts in Africa bear an unmistakably tropical character, and the climate is here warmer, the atmosphere softer, than on the opposite shores of southern Europe. Hence also, besides the European plants, there are here found many other kinds, either coming originally from the East or indigenous to this African region. The special vegetation of the tropics flourishes in the oases of the south. The mineral kingdom yields iron, lead, copper, cinna- bar, rock salt rarely, but neither coal nor any of the precious metals. 10. Inhabitants, A rapid glance at the history of this region may enable us to understand more clearly the present relations of its inhabitants. The aboriginal people of north Africa appear to have been a branch of the Hamitic stock, and though they were conquered at various times by the Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, and Arabs, they seem to have retained to a great extent their distinctive peculiar- ities. The descendants of these aborigines are the Berbers, 30 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. who still occupy the greater part of this area. Up to about the seventh century the Berbers appear to have formed the greater portion of the population inhabiting the shores of the Mediterranean from Egypt westward to the Atlantic, but on the great Arab immigrations which then took place they were driven from these shores to the fastnesses of the Atlas, and to the deserts of the Sahara, in some parts of which they in turn pressed back the negro inhabitants toward the Soudan. At one time the Berbers professed the Christian religion, but after the Arabs had chased them from the fertile plains, they appear to have degenerated in every way, and adopting the religion of their conquerors became bigoted adherents of Mohammedanism. About the end of the fifteenth century Marocco was formed into a monarchy, which, notwith- standing internal dissensions, attained great prosperity, and before the end of the next hundred years had ex- tended its supremacy not only over a large portion of what is now known as Algeria, but southward over the desert to Timbuktu and the Niger, and even as far as the Guinea coast, where it came into collision with the Portu- guese settlements. But in the middle of the seventeenth century this empire fell to pieces, and was succeeded by that of the Sherifs of Tafilet, who conquered both Marocco proper and Fez, and uniting the whole country under one government, founded the dynasty which rules at the present time. Till 1148 Arabian princes ruled at Al- jezirah, " the island," the present Algiers, after which up to 1269 this part of north Africa as well as Spain was governed by the Almohades, at first a religious sect of Mohammedans, afterwards a warlike political power. About the beginning of the sixteenth century the Arabs, or Moors, who were driven out of Spain, settled in north Africa, and began to revenge themselves by piracy, draw- ing down an attack from the Spanish monarch Ferdinand, POLITICAL CHANGES IN NORTH AFRICA. 31 who took Algiers in 1509. One of the Algerian princes, whose territories were threatened by the Spaniards, now called in the assistance of the Greek renegade Barbarossa, who had made himself famous as a Turkish pirate chief. Barbarossa on arriving turned his bands of corsairs against his allies, and ultimately made himself sultan of Algiers. The successor of Barbarossa put himself under the pro- tection of the Ottoman court, and by the aid of the Turks drove the Spaniards out of north Africa, afterwards estab- lishing the system of military despotism and systematic piracy in the Mediterranean, which, during three centuries, sank Algeria in degradation, and drew down upon it frequent chastisements from Christian powers, ending in the French taking possession of it in 1830. 32 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGEAPHY AND TRAVEL. CHAPTEE III. THE EMPIRE OF MAROCCO AND ITS INHABITANTS. 1. Extent, Population, and Government. Of the four north African states, whose natural features we have above described, Marocco is the most westerly and the largest in extent. The frontier line is seldom clearly defined in Africa, so that it is scarcely ever pos- sible to give the limits of a state with any accuracy. For the most part we must rest satisfied with approxi- mate estimates, both for the area of the country and the number of its inhabitants. The area of Marocco is given by Eohlfs as 256,000 square miles, or a fourth part larger than France, and its population at 6,500,000. It forms a Mohammedan sul- tanate, the Arabic name of which is Maghreb-el- Aksa, " the far west," and the sultan, to whom we usually assign the title of emperor, would seem to be about the most absolute of reigning sovereigns. Little is known of the internal political relations, nor do they seem to possess any great interest for strangers. The country is divided into a number of governments, of which some, however, are never visited by the sultan. In fact the river Sebu forms the northern limit, beyond which he never passes except in time of war. The three cities of Fez, Marocco, and Mequinez, where he keeps court alternately, as well as the double city of Saleh- Eabat, by which he passes on his way from Fez to Marocco, are all situated south of that river. braltj fa ..:, ^, \lWoranI. ^ :/;//.v,,7i; WWJ8& W«Mju}st& 5t& p i 'hiutrriiffih/ii- ' \ i/'-i' 7 "'/', •'"",''', *''*' mi ; is$r y/q/erotV^Tulat { I " MtiJiSr- $a^ -jWZ. W A Zawia Foqani \\ ; K}.. AlffiT.U/LEF Zcavia Tatani •aya < Ussa Ifil6-!i (hi ni/>, ■!!.,_, Hasi Ben nanjv£& FILKT/ % ^ jM^ei Senaga v / V ** ■ 3 Sehka 4>oin .Ha \ \| SjldiMans !u Mrinrth Kejbesrtm ^£n> ^_ -■-•-•' Stanford^ Qeoy l Esaii t MAROCCO. C.Spartef ^W^ '(ffi N "H ,; 5 'W fiu,,,,, . h ■ Ear«.uih MAROCCO CHIEF CITIES. 33 2. The Imperial Cities of Fez, Mequincz, and Marocco. The Italian traveller Edmondo de Amicis, one of the latest by whom it has been visited, describes the situation of Fez as very beautiful. It stretches out between two hills crowned by the ruins of ancient fortresses. Beyond these hills the horizon is confined by a range of mountains. Through the centre of the city flows the river Pearl, dividing it into two parts — the old town on the right and the new on the left bank. The whole is enclosed by a turreted wall, which, though very old and partly in ruins, is still supported by numerous strongly- built towers. From the above-mentioned heights the eye commands the whole city, with its countless white houses, flat roofs, cupolas, and graceful minarets, interspersed with lofty palms and patches of vegetation, presenting alto- gether an extremely varied and attractive prospect. From the neighbourhood of the gates and the nearest hills the whole country round about is covered with ruined build- ings of every sort — cells of recluses, broken arches of ancient aqueducts, tombs, forts, and the like. The smaller of the two hills flanking the town is covered with thousands of aloes, many of which attain a height of eleven or twelve feet. Less favourable is the account given by de Amicis of the interior of the city, which was yet at one time known as the Mecca of the west. " To right and left are high dead walls, like those of a fortress, succeeded by lofty houses without windows, but disclosing frequent rents and fissures ; streets now ascending precipitous steeps, now leading down abrupt inclines, but always encumbered with rubbish and refuse ; numerous long covered passages, through which the wayfarer is obliged to grope his way in the dark, occasionally running into blind alleys or narrow dripping corners, strewn with the bones of ani- D MAROCCO CHIEF CITIES. 33 2. The Imperial Cities of Fez, Mequinez, and Marocco. The Italian traveller Edmondo de Amicis, one of the latest by whom it has been visited, describes the situation of Fez as very beautiful. It stretches out between two hills crowned by the ruins of ancient fortresses. Beyond these hills the horizon is confined by a range of mountains. Through the centre of the city flows the river Pearl, dividing it into two parts — the old town on the right and the new on the left bank. The whole is enclosed by a turreted wall, which, though very old and partly in ruins, is still supported by numerous strongly- built towers. From the above-mentioned heights the eye commands the whole city, with its countless white houses, flat roofs, cupolas, and graceful minarets, interspersed with lofty palms and patches of vegetation, presenting alto- gether an extremely varied and attractive prospect. From the neighbourhood of the gates and the nearest hills the whole country round about is covered with ruined build- ings of every sort — cells of recluses, broken arches of ancient aqueducts, tombs, forts, and the like. The smaller of the two hills flanking the town is covered with thousands of aloes, many of which attain a height of eleven or twelve feet. Less favourable is the account given by de Amicis of the interior of the city, which was yet at one time known as the Mecca of the west. " To right and left are high dead walls, like those of a fortress, succeeded by lofty houses without windows, but disclosing frequent rents and fissures ; streets now ascending precipitous steeps, now leading down abrupt inclines, but always encumbered with rubbish and refuse ; numerous long covered passages, through which the wayfarer is obliged to grope his way in the dark, occasionally running into blind alleys or narrow dripping corners, strewn with the bones of ani- D 34 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. mals and all sorts of garbage — the whole veiled in a dim light, producing a most depressing effect on the spirits. In some places the ground is so broken up, the dust so thick, the stench so intolerable, the air so swarm- ing with buzzing mosquitoes, that one is fain to stop and draw breath. From time to time we hear the rumbling of a windmill, the splashing of water, the hum of the spindle, A MA110CCO FUNDUK OH INN. a chorus of shrill voices, presumedly from some neighbour- ing children's school ; but to the eye nothing of all this is anywhere visible. We approach the centre of the city ; the streets become more thronged, men gazing at us in amazement, women turning aside or concealing themselves, children shouting and running away, or shaking their fists at us from a safe distance. We come upon detached fountains richly ornamented with mosaics, noble archways and courts encircled with graceful arcades. At last we turn into one of the main streets, about two yards wide. CITY OF FEZ. 6 We become the object of general attraction, every one pressing round us, so that the soldiers, under whose escort we have been placed, find it difficult to keep us clear of the menacing crowds. Every moment we are obliged to step aside in order to make room for some Moorish cava- lier, or for an ass laden with gory sheep's heads, or it may be a camel bearing along some closely veiled Mahom- medan lady. To the right and the left are the open bazaars thronged with men, gateways and courts filled with all sorts of wares, mosques with open doors through which are visible the believers prostrate at their devotions. Here the atmosphere is heavy with a strong fragrance of aloes, aromatic spices, incense, and resin. Swarms of children pass by with scald-heads and all manner of cuts and scars ; repulsive old hags bareheaded and with ex- posed breasts ; idiots nearly stark naked crowned with garlands, with branches in their hands and incessantly laughing, singing, and dancing about. At a street corner we meet a ' saint,' an exceedingly fat man, naked from top to toe, resting with one hand on a spear covered with a red cloth and dragging himself along with much labour. He scowls at us and mutters a few unintelligible words as he passes. Soon after chance brings in our way four soldiers carrying off an unlucky wretch, hacked and covered with blood — evidently some thief caught in the act, for the crowd of children at his heels keep incessantly shouting : ' His hand, his hand, off with his hand ! ' In another street we meet two men with an open bier, on which is exposed a corpse withered up to a mummy, in a white linen sack and bound round at its neck, waist, and knees. I involuntarily ask myself, Am I awake or dreaming ? whether the cities of Fez and Paris can possibly be situated on the same planet ! " Mequinez, the third imperial city, is described by the same traveller, in contrast to Fez, as a very pleasant 36 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AXD TRAVEL. cheerful place, with wide though crooked streets. The houses are not immoderately high, and as the garden walls are also low, one everywhere gets a view of the lovely hills by which the place is encircled. A grateful shade is here also given by the many trees and bowers planted not only in the courts and gardens, but even in the streets and public places. Altogether, though evi- dently fallen from its former greatness, Mequinez still breathes an air of comfort and repose, and may still boast of at least one noble building, the governor's palace, richly ornamented with mosaics, and standing by itself on a spacious though somewhat deserted site. In point of population, which however does not exceed 50,000, Marocco or Marrakesh is the second city of the empire. It is situated far to the south of Fez and Mequinez, on the Wad Tensift, and so to say at the foot of the Great Atlas. Surrounded by immense gardens, Marocco has fallen into a state of complete decay, and is now but seldom visited by Europeans. Gerhard Eohlfs passed two days here, leaving his funcluk or inn only in the evening in order to escape detection. Since then the place was visited in 1872 by Dr. von Fritsch and Dr. J. J. Eein, and in the same year by Dr. Arthur Leared, not without considerable risk. " Entering the city," says Dr. Leared, " our way led through waste places and narrow winding streets, in parts much crowded. With the exception of some spitting and hissing noises from the mob, and their generally sullen looks and muttered curses, there was little to mark my first impressions of Marocco except its likeness to the Oriental cities I had already visited. Most things, however, wore a more African tinge. The black race was more numerous here, and there were many indications that the western Arab is several degrees lower in the scale of civilisation than his eastern co-religionists." ..." Xothing can be finer than CITY OF MAROCCO. 37 the scenery which surrounds Marocco. Situated in an immense plain, it is flanked on the north, and for some distance towards the east and west, by a splendid wood of date-palms, to which the citizens constantly resort for the sake of enjoying the pleasant shade. It is bordered on the east by gardens, and beyond these the country is open to the foot of the Atlas mountains, portions of which grand chain reach a height, of 10,000 feet. The lustre of the snow on their summits has a singularly fine effect against the deep blue background of a cloudless sky." Eound the city are walls of an average height of twenty- three feet, flanked by square turrets many of which are in a ruinous state. About two-thirds of the large area within these is taken up with gardens or covered with rubbish. The gates are placed in massive archways, and the streets leading directly from these are of good breadth, but in other parts of the town they are narrow, and, particularly in the wet season, very filthy. The houses of the superior classes are almost all built on the same plan — that of a central courtyard surrounded by long narrow rooms, the lower stories being almost always built of tabia, or mud and. straw, the upper often of bricks. The mosques are numerous, and the pride of the city is that one called El Koutoubia, or the mosque of the book- sellers, which has a minaret of 220 feet in height, the only stone building in the city. Adjoining the city on the south and facing the Atlas mountains is the walled palace enclosure of the Sultan, covering a space of about three quarters of a mile in length by half a mile in width, divided into gardens with attached pavilions, and the apartments of the ministers, secretaries, and guards, as well as the treasury. " Marocco, as regards Africa, is a cosmopolitan city. Its inhabitants include Moors, Algerians, Tunisians, Egyptians, natives of the Sahara, negroes from Sudan, and occasionally negroes from 38 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. Senegal are met with. Three languages are commonly spoken : Arabic, which is most general ; Shluh, the language of the inhabitants of the Atlas and of the south ; and Guennaoui, the speech of the negroes." {Morocco and the Moors: Leared, 1876.) 3. Coast Towns. Besides these three chief towns there are some few noteworthy places on the sea coast, of which, however, the most important on the Mediterranean belong to Spain. Of these the most considerable are Mlila (Melitta), Tetiian, and Ceuta, the last situated at the eastern entrance to the Straits of Gibraltar, which here divide Europe from Africa. On the Atlantic are Tangier (Tanja) with 20,000 inhabit- ants, El Arish, Rabat, Asamor, and Mogador. 4. Inhabitants. — Indigenous and Foreign Races. All these towns are inhabited by Arabs, Berbers, Jews, and Negroes, races winch constitute the main elements of the population in Marocco. The basis or lowest stratification is formed by the Berbers, direct descendants of the old Numidians, who till about the year 650 were almost the sole inhabitants of the whole of north Africa. But about this time began those immigra- tions of the Arabs, which by means of the Mohanunedan religion gave a new and special character to the social and political relations of these regions. In Marocco, however, the Berbers proper still far outnumber the Arabs, and are much more widely diffused throughout the country. The only purely Arab region is that of the coast plain which extends from Tangier to the mouth of the Wacly Tensift ; elsewhere only isolated PEOPLES OF MAROCCO. 39 colonies of Arabs are met with, excepting in the large towns, in which they always predominate. Two-thirds of the people of Marocco are Berbers, and they possess almost four-fifths of the land, living chiefly in tents and supporting themselves by husbandry. Eohlfs points out that the distinctions which most travellers make between Arabs and Moors are worthless. The Moors are the de- generate descendants of the Arabs who in the eighth century, after establishing the kingdom of Fez, overran a large part of Spain, whence they were expelled in the fifteenth century, and differ from the Arabs, sprung from the same race, only in being essentially townsmen and traders, as distinguished from agriculturists of the plains. The Jews of Marocco are descended from those of their race who were driven at various periods from European countries, but chiefly from those who were expelled from Spain and Portugal between 1492 and 1496 ; they form a large and important section of the population, but are " browbeaten, despised, and treated with habitual harsh- ness." 5. Language of the Berbers. In Marocco the aboriginal Berber tribes have kept themselves apart, as a rule avoiding alliances with the Arabs, though in the chief towns and centres of popula- tion intermarriages between the two races are not of rare occurrence. The language of the Berbers is the Tamasirht and Shellah or Shluh, the same that the Tuareg of the Sahara call Temahag in the north, and Ta-Masheg in the south, and which is again met with to the extreme east in the Oasis of Jupiter Amnion. Doubtless the various dia- lects differ greatly from each other, and this could scarcely be otherwise with a language spread over a region occupy- ing about one-fourth of the whole of Africa. Still the 40 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. discrepancies are not sufficiently great to prevent the various Berber tribes from understanding each other. The Berbers of Marocco, unlike their kinsmen the Tuareg of Algeria, have no special writing system, though Berber characters are met with in Tuat, derived probably from the Tuareg, which alphabet may have formerly extended farther northwards. 6. Physical Appearance of Arab and Berber. It is their language that constitutes the most marked difference between the Berbers and the Arabs, though even here the Berbers have borrowed many Arabic words, just as the Arabs of Marocco have adopted a number of Berber terms. In all other respects the difference is but slight between the two races. The same physical build both in the lowlands and the highlands — slim, sinewy, and muscular bodies, brown sunburnt complexion, Cau- casian features, strongly curved nose, black fiery eyes, black lank hair, pointed chin, somewhat prominent cheek- bones, thin beard, — all these traits are common to both. It is remarkable, however, that, as a rule, the Arab women are smaller than the Berber, though otherwise scarcely to be distinguished externally from them. Of both it may be said that they are developed at a very early period, have full handsome forms in youth, mostly regular features, but soon change, becoming lean for want of sufficient nourish- ment, and in old age positively repulsive. 7. Social Condition of the Women. Amongst the Berbers the women take a much higher social position than with the Arabs, though the repeated statements of travellers that the Arab female is nothing PEOPLES OF MAROCCO. 41 but a maid-servant rest altogether on superficial observa- tion. In Marocco monogamy is the rule both amongst the Arabs and the Berbers. The instances of wealthy or dis- tinguished Arabs keeping up a harem are extremely rare ; while no Berber, whatever his position in society, ever marries more than one wife. Matrimonial alliances are generally settled by the parents or relatives on both sides, though marriages for love are by no means rare. This is due to the fact that all women and girls go about un- veiled, giving the wooer ample opportunity of becoming personally acquainted with his future spouse. It is also to be noticed that these love matches generally last to the end, whereas the conventional engagements are usually of but short duration. If the cause of separation lies with the wife, or if she seeks a divorce, the money must be returned that the husband may have paid his father- in-law for the wedding outfit, but not when she is put away without reason. 8. Habits and Customs. Circumcision is not practised by some Berber tribes, nor is it in Marocco looked upon as an indispensable religious rite. The wild boar also is eaten by all the in- habitants of the Eif, the mountain slopes between Tetuan and El Deir, notwithstanding the injunction of the Koran to the contrary. All the Berbers reckon by solar months, for which they have retained the names derived from the early Christians. This method of calculating time has even been adopted by the Arabs dwelling south of the Atlas. Domestic life is quite patriarchal, and extraordinary importance is attached to the various degrees of relation- ship in the family and the clan. Neither the Arabs nor 42 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. the Berbers, however, possess special family names in the modern European sense, a common name being borne only by the whole sept or tribe. To this generic name every one adds for himself that of his father, often even that of his grandfather or great-grandfather. Amongst the Arabs both male and female names are taken almost exclusively from the Bible or the Koran ; but the Berbers still con- tinue to use old heathen names, such as Buko, Rokho, Atta, and the like, though of course Arabic names occur most frequently. The children receive no particular education, though every Char (village built of houses), every Divar (village formed of tents), and every Ksor (village by an oasis), has its Thaleb or else its Faki, who conducts the school-work. The majority, however, scarcely succeed in learning by heart the chapters from the Koran required for devotional purposes, to say nothing of reading and writing. Tobacco and hashish (the tops of the hemp plant) are universally used, though in moderation ; while, with the exception of the towns and the oases of Tuat, opium has not acquired the rights of citizenship. But all the more universal is the use of wine during the vintage, and for a short time afterwards. For the vine flourishes vigorously in Marocco, and Eohlfs draws a by no means flattering picture of the excesses that prevail during the season when wine is most freely indulged in. Altogether the people of Marocco are distinguished by a lack of noble sentiments, and a degree of coarseness, amongst the Ber- bers especially of the northern slopes of the Atlas, sinking to downright brutality. 9. The Marocco Dwars. De Amicis gives us an interesting account of the Maroccan Dwars, or tent villages. They consist generally PEOPLES OF MAROCCO. 43 of ten, fifteen, or at most twenty, families, as a rule con- nected by the ties of kindred, but each with its own tent. These tents are disposed in two parallel rows at intervals of about thirty paces, in such a way as to form in the centre a sort of square open on two sides. They all closely resemble each other, consisting of a large piece of black or chocolate-coloured stuff, woven either of camel's ^smg^~^am A MAROCCO DWAK OK TENT VILLAGE. hair or of the fibre of the dwarf palm, and supported by two strong stakes, with a cross-piece to form the roof. Their shape still closely resembles that of the dwellings of Jugurtha's Numidians, compared by Sallust to a boat turned upside down. In winter they are pegged quite down to the ground to keep out wind and rain ; but in summer a tolerably wide open space is left to admit the air, in which case there is an outer enclosure formed of rushes, reeds, and bramble-bushes. None of them exceed 44 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. 8 feet in height, or 3 3 feet in length. A partition of rushes divides the interior into two chambers, in one of which sleep the parents, in the other the children and other members of the family. The fittings are of the simplest, mostly, however, including a round Venetian mirror, a reed tripod for washing, two heavy stones for grinding the corn, and an antiquated spinning wheel. A brood hen is generally enthroned in a corner all to herself. 10. Food and Hospitality. Knives and forks are still unknown luxuries, nor is even the spoon yet universally adopted. The men eat apart from the rest of the family. The general drink is water, and flesh is eaten on special occasions only, and even then but sparingly. But hospitality is everywhere observed throughout Marocco, without ostentation or cere- mony, but rather as a matter of course. In most Dwars, and almost every Char, there are some houses or tents called Dar and Gitim el Diaf, set apart for the exclusive use of travellers, who are, of course, freely " interviewed " by their entertainers, the natives knowing no delicacy or reserve in this respect. It should be remarked that the Arab tribes are far more liberal to strangers than the Berber. 11. The Shirfa, or Privileged Classes. In Marocco there is no aristocracy in our sense of the word. The most distinguished classes are the Shirfa, that is, descendants of Mohammed, and these are of course all of Arab race. They are entitled to the addition of Sidi, or Midey, to their names, terms answering to our Mr. or Esquire. The present Marocco dynasty belongs to this class. The rank of Sherif is not inherited through the female line, but whatever be the position of the wife PEOPLES OF MAROCCO. 45 of a Sherif, the issue are all Shirfa. This is true even of Christians and Jewesses, who may retain their faith, and of negresses, who, however, are obliged to embrace Islamism. The Shirfa are in Marocco everywhere a privileged class, enjoying the right of insulting others with impu- nity, for a retort would be an offence against a descendant of the Prophet, which is always looked on as an outrage against religion. Even the so-called Marabuts, or "saints," and their issue, are in Marocco held in much less con- sideration than the Shirfa. 12. Morality, Vice, and Crime. Though the tone of morality, especially in the towns, is of a low order, still crimes, such as adultery and de- bauchery, are rarely heard of. Thieving, lying, and cheating are, on the other hand, common enough, especi- ally in the case of one tribe against another, which is indeed scarcely looked on as a moral delinquency at all. Lying comes altogether so natural to the Arabs and Ber- bers, that it would be difficult to find a single individual addicted to the practice of truthfulness. The law of the strongest also, involving constant robbery and plunder, is accepted as a matter of course wherever the Sultan's forces do not penetrate. That the guest is here a sacred person is a popular delusion, for there are many places where the natives show no respect even to the Shirfa themselves. 13. Jews and Negroes in Marocco. The Jews, in the towns confined to the Milha, or special Jewish quarter, have either migrated hither directly from Palestine, or else have been driven out of Europe into this country. They are generally finer and 46 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. stronger men than the Arabs, but so filthy in outward appearance that they look to much less advantage than might otherwise be the case. The Palestine Jews speak no Spanish, but Arabic only, or else Shellah and Tama- sirht in the purely Berber districts. They may be esti- mated without exaggeration at about 200,000 in number. Of the black races Eohlfs tells us that those most usually met with in Marocco belong to the Houssa, Sonrhai, and Bambarra Negro tribes. They have contri- buted much to strengthening the Arab blood, though the two races contract alliances much less frequently in the towns than the country. There are in Marocco altogether probably about 50,000 negroes, this element of the popu- lation being constantly renewed by fresh importations from Central Africa. 14. Trade and Commerce. ~No native industry, properly so called, can be said to exist in Marocco. Some branches of trade, however, have retained their former excellence ; and this is especially true of the leather trade. In Fez there are also important manufactures of the red oriental caps, which take their name from this place, of the strong red woollen scarves. and costly sashes. Fez is the chief emporium, besides its important commercial relations with England, France, and Spain, keeping up an extremely active intercourse with the interior of Africa. Thither, every year, vast caravans set out, laden with the fabrics of Fez, English cloth, Venetian glass, Italian coral, gunpowder, arms, tobacco, sugar, German looking-glasses, Tyrolese boxes, English and French hardware goods, and salt, which last is col- lected on the route in the oases of the Sahara. Such a procession is a sort of movable market, where the various articles are bartered for the products of the country, such TRADE OF MAROCCO. 47 as gold dust, ostrich feathers, white Senegal gum, gold jewellery from Nigritia, all sorts of spices, and, lastly, for the negro slaves themselves. This lively trade with the interior is not only the most important but the oldest branch of commerce in Marocco. 48 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. CHAPTER IV. THE FRENCH ALGERIAN POSSESSIONS. 1. Population — European Settlers. On the eastern frontier of Marocco lies Algeria, since 1830 in the possession of the French, who in that year com- pleted the vengeance of the Christian powers against the " nation of corsairs," and dispossessed the former Dey of Algiers. In extent bnt little inferior to Marocco, Algeria is far less populous ; the arable land being restricted to the Tell, which forms comparatively but a small portion of the whole country. The population may be estimated at about 2,500,000, consisting, apart from the European settlers, of the same ethnological elements as in Marocco. Of relatively subordinate importance are the Jews, met with in all the towns, and the negroes, emancipated since 1848. The Berbers here again form the basis of the population, though far inferior in numbers to the Arabs. Both, however, unite in their common hostility to the European colonists, who have settled not only in the towns, but also in the Tell. This European element may amount to about 250,000, of whom one-half are French, and the rest principally Italians, Spaniards, and Anglo-Maltese. The Germans now number about 5000, which is less than in previous years, the tables of births and deaths showing that the climate is much less favourable to them than to the more southern European nations. The project undertaken by the French Government after the late war, to induce a number of emigrants from or. % ^ *0 v y~sai~r r ... i Zembni If ~' rJ ClUm -:of Sandhills ) \ \ (J 1 SCares ^.IfUJKtl .'■-. GHADAMMfcj'^'' "' ' .; COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. give up their roaming propensities would be to induce the native chieftains to erect fixed residences, for the Arab has a great respect for authority, and readily follows the example of his superiors. These, on their part, were willing enough to allow the French to build settled abodes for them. So on one occasion, the sheikh being asked by the officer of engineers what he thought of a house thus constructed for him, replied, " I am enraptured. The French are in truth A BEDOUIN ENCAMPMENT. an extraordinary people ; they have done me a service for which I shall be everlastingly grateful. Since my house has been finished I have not lost a single sheep. I lock them up every evening in the house, and next morning none of them are ever missing." " How, what !" asked the officer in amazement ; " and where then do you pass the night yourself ? " " Oh, I," answered the sheikh with an air of aristocratic superiority, " you understand a man like me, a man of blood, can dwell nowhere but in a tent." (F. Hugonnet, Souvenir d\m Chef de Bureau Ardbe: Paris, 1858, page 123.) PEOPLES OF ALGERIA. 57 These wandering Bedouins are the one great obstacle to the development of Algeria, and the only remedy seems to be to drive them by force back to the desert to which they belong. The policy hitherto adopted of endeavouring to win them over by gentle means has completely failed. The children of the wilderness are incapable of culture in our sense of the term, consequently can never become members of a civilised state as we understand it. Their whole nature rebels against it, and there is no choice left between exterminating or renouncing altogether the at- tempt to civilise them. The case is different with the Berbers, or, as they are more usually called in Algeria, the Kabyles. Although long exposed to the influence of the Arabs, hence, like them, Mohammedans and hostile to Europeans, they still possess qualities adapting them for a civilised existence. The Kabyle, though dwelling almost exclusively on the higher table-lands, driven back to these regions by the Arab invaders of the country, still leads a settled life, and is passionately attached to his native land, which he care- fully and laboriously cultivates. He grows corn and potatoes, rears fruit-trees, and plants the vine. Neither is he inexperienced in the arts of life, enjoying a thoroughly worked out political and social organisation resting on a democratic basis. In their villages (Thad- ders) private and individual property is recognised, herein contrasting favourably with the Bedouins, with whom all is held in common. The name itself (from K'bila - union) means strictly speaking a man of social habits. Their religion is void of fanaticism, and, brave warriors them- selves, they have ever remained the irreconcileable foes of the Arabs. (Henri Aucapitaine, Les Kabyles et la Coloni- sation ale V Alger ie: Paris et Algier, 1864, pp. 7-32.) In Algeria they number probably some 500,000, and there can be no doubt that the future of north Africa is 58 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. in their hands. The European colonisers will before all things have to gain over this hitherto neglected Berber element of the population by again reinstating them" in their rightful possession of the plains, whence they were originally expelled by the Arab invaders of the country. TUNIS. CHAPTER V. THE REGENCY OF TUNIS. 1. Government — Population — Arabs, Berbers, Jews. Tunis, the smallest of the three states in TUX IS JEWS. 60 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AXD TRAVEL. the western part of North Africa, presents no material difference from the neighbouring Algeria either in its physical aspect or the . elements of which its population is composed. Politically acknowledging a loose and almost nominal dependence on the Porte, the country is governed by the so-called Bey, who administers it with great com- placency entirely to his own personal advantage. From 1575 onward Tunis has been under the sove- reignty of Turkey ; but by a firman of October 1871 the Sultan relinquished the ancient right of tribute over it. According to this edict the present situation of Tunis is as follows : — The Bey receives investiture from Constanti- nople, and may neither make war, nor conclude treaties of peace, nor cede any portion of his territory, without the authorisation of the Sultan. He is obliged to coin money with the name of the Sultan, and to place his troops at the disposal of the Porte in case of war. But in the interior of his country the Bey reigns supreme. The reigning family, which has held its place since 1691 in Tunis, is descended from Ben-ali-Tourki, originally from the island of Candia. The regency comprises forty-one tribes, and is divided into eighteen districts, the special government of which is administered by officials nominated by the Bey. In an area of about 45,700 square miles there are some 2,000,000 of inhabitants — Berbers or Kabyles, Arabs, Kulugli (the offspring of Turks and Moors), Jews, and a few Negroes. All these various races despise and hate each other mutually, and live as far as possible apart one from the other. Thus the Moors, or town Arabs, here called Hadars, intermarry exclusively amongst themselves, never contracting alliances with the nomad Arabs, whom they thoroughly detest, but who are not numerous in Tunis. The same antipathy exists between the Arabs and Kabyles, the latter of whom are here sorely oppressed. PEOPLE OF TUNIS. 61 In the same way the Jews live all to themselves, holding exclusively interested and commercial relations with the rest of the people. In their dress the Tunisian Jews differ entirely from those of Algeria and Marocco. The plumpness especially of the women, the most violently contrasted colours of their dress, the assurance based on tradition that the ancient Jews wore exactly the same garb, all combine to produce the greatest astonishment and curiosity in the stranger at first sight of this costume. In point of morals, however, the Jews of Tunis occupy a very low position, lower even than that of the Franks (as Europeans are called in Mohammedan countries), who certainly cannot be recommended as models of honesty, propriety, and righteousness. But they have on the whole much improved both materially and in numbers, especially since they have been allowed to reside beyond the limits of their Ghetto, or Kara, as it is here called. 2. Industry and Commerce. The inhabitants of Tunis are little devoted to agri- cultural pursuits, though the land is for the most part capable of tillage. They occupy themselves mostly with horticulture arid the rearing of trees, which here yield but slight returns. The olive is cultivated in the northern districts, and in Susa and Gafsa, the date (Phcenix dacty- lifera) in the southern plains, the so-called Belad-el-Jerid or " land of the date." Cattle are also bred in large numbers ; nor are the 1 industrial arts neglected, especially in the neighbourhood of the coast, though they stand as a rule on a low Level. There are manufactured silk fabrics, burnous (mantles), red caps (fez), fine and coarse woollen goods, exquisitely dyed Marocco leather, and the far-famed Tunis pottery. 62 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. 3. Tunis and its Citadel — the Bar do and Kairwan. The centre of the important trade carried on especially with Marseilles, Genoa, Leghorn, and the Levant, is Tunis, the chief town, situated in the neighbourhood of the ruins of Carthage, and the only city in the country challenging special attention. Tunis, the walls of which are nearly five miles in cir- cuit, has retained the character of an oriental city almost intact. The population numbers from 100,000 to 150,000, but the prejudice of Mohammedans against the census and domiciliary inquiries of every sort renders it impossible to give the figures more accurately. They include 30,000 Jews and 11,000 Europeans. The city stretches in a north-westerly direction along the shallow inlet of Bahira, and on the land side is completely inclosed by a strong wall pierced with nine gateways. Between this and the inner town, also encircled by a wall with seven gates, lie the suburbs of Bab Suyga to the south, Bab Jezirah to the north, and on the east the new quarter in which are to be found the custom-house, arsenal, and fashionable resorts. The streets, thronged from dawn to night with the most varied and picturesque crowds, are narrow and crooked, without signposts, names, or directions of any sort. The houses are unnumbered, nor are the streets themselves lit up by gas, oil, or other lights after sun- set. Yet they are considered perfectly safe from the attacks of thieves or marauders. But, being unpaved and otherwise neglected, they become almost impassable with mud and filth, especially after wet weather. When the houses are pierced with windows towards the street, these are always protected by gratings, the only exceptions being the two European hotels, some consulates, and a few other houses occupied by the Franks. The suburb of Jezirah is occupied by Moors exclusively. The CITY OF TUNIS. 63 kasbah, or citadel, on the west of the town, in spite of the rents in the walls of the great square central building-, presents a somewhat imposing appearance from without. This impression, however, vanishes when we set foot in the interior, which offers to the eye little more than the spectacle of a vast heap of ruins, amid which the graceful minaret alone has been preserved in a good condition. THE BAEEO NEAR TUKIS. About two miles to the north-west of Tunis is the Bardo, or residence of the Bey, forming a little town in itself, including palaces, guardhouses, dwellings, workshops, and bazaars, with about 2000 inhabitants. Amongst these are not only the numerous families of the nobility, but also those of the officials, about 100 in number, besides the military schools, out of which nearly all the higher government officers are taken. Tunis is connected by rail with the little port of Goletta and with Barclo, and a French company lias a 64 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. concession from the Bey for the construction of a line westward to Beja. Though Tunis is the political centre and seat of government, the city of Kairwan, which lies in a barren plain near the inland lake Sidi-el-Heni, about seventy-five miles due south of Tunis, is the religious capital of the regency, and is one of the sacred cities of Islam, possess- ing one of the finest mosques in northern Africa. Neither Jew nor Christian has ever been allowed to take up his residence within its walls. It is the centre of a large caravan trade, but of the famous traffic which at one time passed between this city and the Sudan across the Sahara little or nothing is left, the trade having passed east and west to Fezzan, Ghadames, Tafilet, or Tarudant. Besides Goletta, the chief ports of Tunis are Biserta on the north coast, and Susa, Monastir, Mehdia, and Sfax, on the eastern coast. 4. The Towns of Susa and Sfax. Of the coast towns it may be sufficient to mention those of Susa and Sfax. Susa, with its walls, gates, and ramparts all in good preservation, produces a decidedly favourable impression. It boasts of several new buildings of imposing appearance, while its by no means inconsi- derable trade attracts a large number of vessels to the roads, all producing a very civilised aspect. It reckons 8000 inhabitants, amongst whom are 1000 Jews and from 500 to 600 Maltese and Sicilians. Its commercial relations are mainly carried on with Italy. Sfax, the chief town in southern Tunis, is said to have a population of 40,000, including 12,000 in the Arab quarter, amongst whom are 2000 Jews. Its trade is important, and the place is connected with Tunis by a telegraph 217 miles long, and thence with the Algerian CORAL FISHERIES OF TUNIS. 65 system and Europe. The staple products are the excel- lent dates from Jerid, the " burnous " cloth made in the Oasis of Gafsa in the south, olive oil from Sahel (the high country inland from Sfax), esparto grass from the sur- rounding wilderness, sponges from the Syrtes, and lastly the jessamine and rose oil, so highly prized in Tunis and Constantinople, from the gardens of the town itself. 5. Tunisian Fisheries. Coral is found more or less abundantly all along the coasts of Tunis, Algeria, and Marocco, as well as on the opposite Mediterranean coasts of Italy, France, and Spain; but the banks which furnish the best quality of coral are those which lie off the islet of Galita, which belongs to Tunis, and is situated about thirty miles from its north coast. In 1832, after many disputes as to the right of fishery, a treaty was concluded between France and Tunis, by winch the former power obtained the perpetual and ex- clusive privilege over the coral fishery in Tunisian waters on the condition of an annual payment to the Bey. About ninety coral-fishing boats, chiefly owned by Italians who are permanently resident in Algeria, make their head- quarters at Bona and La Calle. From eighty to one hun- dred vessels are also equipped in the Bay of Naples, and arrive annually, at the proper season, on the fishing- ground, some making Biserta their station, and paying dues to the French Government. The coral of the Bar- bary coasts is principally red, but white and black, as well as the much-valued pink, are also found. A dredge, formed of two pieces of olive wood each about 6 -J- feet long, lashed crosswise and hung with unravelled bunches of hempen ropes, is dragged over the banks to entangle the pieces of coral. The produce of the coral-fishery on these coasts varies from £200,000 to £600,000 a year. F 66 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. Hound the coast of Tunis are a number of lakes, which are partially separated from the sea by narrow strips of sand, and to these large quantities of fish resort for breed- ing purposes. The Biserta lake is the most important of these, and it is affirmed that every month of the year furnishes it with a different species of fish. Tunny fish, in their annual migration in May and June from the ocean to the archipelago and the Black Sea, follow either the southern or northern shores of the Mediterranean in all their windings, and advantage is taken of this cir- cumstance for their capture. A " '■ tonnara" or series of barriers of nets, is placed off a promontory so as to pre- sent an obstruction to the advancing shoals, and their migratory instincts are so strong that they never retrace their course, but always endeavour to find a way to the east ; thus they pass from one inclosure of nets to another, till as many as 700 fish are occasionally secured in a single catch, and in a single season the chief Tunisian fishery furnishes from 10,000 to 14,000 tunny. " Sca- beccio," or tunny flesh preserved in oil, is largely used in the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, and the oil extracted from the heads and refuse of the fish is much used by curriers and tanners. Sponges are found along the whole length of the coasts of Tunis, but are not of fine quality. They are fished for chiefly in the winter months, when the dense marine vegetation has been swept away by the storms of November and December, and are either obtained by spearing with a trident, by diving, or by dredging. (Report by Vice-Consul Green on the Tuni- sian Fisheries, 1872.) 6. Projected Inland Lake of Tunis. In recent years much attention has been drawn to the low-lying region of marshes which extends inwards along PROJECTED INLAND LAKE OF TUNIS. 67 the Jerid country from the shores of the Gulf of Cabes in Tunis to the eastern part of the Algerian Sahara, through the publication of a project for submerging this district by means of a canal to be cut through the narrow belt which separates it from the Mediterranean, a scheme which has led to the examination of the marshes by several French and Italian scientific commissions, and, later, to their accurate survey by Captain Eoudaire for the French Government. The most easterly of these large " sebkhas," or marshes, is that of Fejij (meaning " dread," from its quicksands which are apt to engulf caravans deviating from the beaten track), the eastern corner of which approaches to within about ten miles from the Mediterranean. This sebkha is a branch of the extensive Faroun Jerid, or Kebir marsh, the ancient Palus Triton is. Next to this, westward, is the Gharnis, crossing the frontier of Algeria, and beyond that in Algeria the Mel- ghir " shott," the terminal marsh of the great Wady Ighar- ghar, the level of which is about forty-five feet below that of the Mediterranean. There appears to be little doubt that these marshy depressions, which extend across a dis- tance of 240 miles, represent the relics either of a once much more extensive series of lakes or of a large gulf of the Mediterranean, which, through the operation of a gra- dual process of drying up, have been reduced to their present state. There are many evidences in support of the Arab legends which tell of former running waters and fertile lands in this part of the Sahara, and the change may in part be due to the clearing away of the forests by the Arabs on the plains and high lands subsequent to their conquest of the land ; the consequence being that the periodical rains which in earlier times fertilised the coun- try are now replaced by heavier but rarer showers, the waters of which rush down the slopes and disappear in the sands, or mix with the noxious waters of the lagoons. 68 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. The admission of the Mediterranean waters over the de- pressed area of the marshes would, by affording a large evaporating surface, in the form of a great shallow lagoon, perhaps as long as Lakes Ontario or Erie, tend to give a permanent moisture supply and restore fertility to the lands round its borders. Tins project for submerging a comparatively small area of the interior of Tunis and Algeria, which is based on examination of the ground and known conditions, must be distinguished from an ignorant scheme recently projected in England for the inundation of the whole western Sahara, the practica- bility of which is not only not supported by any known facts, but is shown to be futile by the most superficial acquaintance with them. TRIPOLI. 69 CHAPTEE VI. TRIPOLI. 1. Extent and General Features of the Country. The eastern half of the north coast of Africa, averaging from four to five degrees of latitude in width, is divided between the two states of Tripoli and Egypt. Tripoli, which is a Turkish dependency, stretches along the whole extent of both Syrtes (gulfs of Cabes and Siclra), and reaches far inland into the domain of the Great Sahara, though its southern limits are far from being clearly defined. Here we shall deal with the coast-line alone, reserving the regions adjoining the Sahara for another chapter. From the Tunisian frontier there stretches eastwards a vast plain bordering the sea, and extending inland for 50 to 100 miles. The eastern portion of the country becomes steep and rocky, forming the plateau, of Barca, the old Cyrenaica, with its numerous ruined cities, and projecting in a solid compact mass into the Mediterranean. But this plateau gradually descends towards the Egyptian frontier. South of the plain just mentioned there rises an intervening bare and stony plateau or Hammada, on the south side of which the ranges of the Black Mountains, or Jebel es Soda, and Harutsh, attain an elevation of 2800 feet ; thence the country descends southwards to the oasis- land of Fezzan. 70 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AXD TRAVEL. 2. Climate and Natural Products. The coast plain, with a few trifling interruptions, is a barren arid waste of sands, as is also the southern plateau. Barca alone is rich in springs and woodlands on its northern border, elsewhere presenting nothing but bare rocks and treeless pastures. With this generally dreary aspect of the land, the hot dry climate fully harmonises. During the prevalence of the sultry south wind the temperature is intolerable, but the milder sea breezes occasionally temper the glowing heat. In the more elevated districts the climate is healthy, though dangerous fevers are prevalent in the south. The country is little suited for tillage, but produces fruits of southern growth, and the other vegetable pro- duce common to the whole north coast of Africa. Nor does the animal kingdom present any special features. 3. Population and Chief Towns. The population, estimated at the utmost at 1,200,000, is composed of the same elements as in the western states, but the indigenous Berber tribes are here more fused together. In the towns Turks reside, holding government offices, and in the country there are several free tribes. The only important town is Tripoli, or Tarabiiliis, on the coast. Like Tunis, it is a natural mart for the pro- duce of Soudan, at the same time supplying the interior of Africa with European goods. Its population is said to be about 18,000, but the local manufactures are quite insignificant. Ostrich feathers, esparto grass, and wheat, are by far the most important items of export from Tripoli. The feather trade, as we are informed by Consul Drummond Hay in his Eeport for 1875, supplying London COMMERCE OF TRIPOLI. 71 and Paris, appears to be steadily assuming larger propor- tions. Ostrich feathers are brought to market at this port from Timbuktu, Houssa, Bornu, and Wadai, those from Timbuktu being considered the finest. The feathers from the three former regions are brought by caravans over the desert by way of Ghadames, by Ghadamese merchants, and thence to Tripoli; those from Wadai by way of Fezzan, and sometimes by Benghazi, by Tripoli merchants. Those from Houssa are brought here and sold in the skin, the others in bulk. British cloth manufactures are by far the most important article of import. Benghazi, the ancient Berenice, on the north-west coast of the plateau land of Barca, is the most important town of that part of the province, and the second port of Tripoli. The recently opened feather trade from Wadai in central Sudan to this port is becoming a large and valuable one. The export of sheep to Egypt and the sponge fishery on the coast are the other principal occupations of the place, which has about 5000 inhabitants. 72 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. A SANDSTOltM IN THE SAHA11A. CHAPTEE VII. THE GREAT AFRICAN DESERT, THE SAHARA. 1. Extent. According to the best and most recent geographical works the area of the Sahara is about 2,500,000 square miles, that is to say thrice the size of the Mediterranean, and ten times that of Germany. But this area will be considerably reduced if, with Eohlfs, we deduct from it the portions which are subject to a regular rainfall — a broad belt along the Atlantic coast and certain promon- tories of the fertile country in the south, usually included within its limits, but really forming no part of its domain. We should, first of all, form a correct idea of what is THE GREAT SAHARA. 73 meant by the Sahara, the best definition of which is the whole region which has no regular rainfall, and which is all but totally destitute of vegetation requiring moisture, and in which large beasts of prey cannot exist. 2. Its Marine Origin. There would seem to be no longer any doubt that this "waterless ocean" was at one time really covered with water. However, it by no means corresponds with former accounts that represented it as a wide low-lying plain; for it is, on the contrary, an elevated sandstone expanse, varied by deep depressions with a clay soil. The abundant fossils and molluscs, some of the same species as are still found alive in the neighbouring seas, are sufficient proof that this region was formerly under water. The sand heaps, or "dunes," are so universal along its northern border, that till recently the Sahara was generally pictured as one huge sea of sand. 3. The Sandhills or Dunes. The present outward form of the dunes is due entirely to the wind, and though at first sight these sands suggest the idea of their having been gathered on the bed or on the shores of a former sea, it soon becomes evident that they are nothing more than the particles of the soil which have been disintegrated by excessive and long-con- tinued drought, and which have been driven before the pre- vailing winds to accumulate in mounds over certain districts. The excessive fertility of these sandy plains wherever mois- ture reaches them by natural or artificial means alone shows that they possess all the characteristics of productive soil. They generally take the appearance of waves, as if the ocean billows had suddenly assumed a solid shape. A 74 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. bird's-eye view especially of the districts covered with sand must necessarily present tins outward aspect. The dunes generally range from south to north, but the great sandy wastes extend from east to west or the reverse. So far as has been hitherto ascertained, none of these run in a northerly or southerly direction. 4. Character of the Rock Formations and Mountain Ranges. As the Great Desert is distinguished by the generally dark tone of the surrounding objects, a tone produced by outward causes, so the masses of hills and rocks invariably assume a somewhat blackish hue. But it would be a mistake on this account in all cases to attribute the stone formations to a volcanic origin. As far as our present knowledge goes, the volcanic nature of the mountains is doubtless the most general, but there are also everywhere met with lime, sandstone, and granite formations. Though, so far as has been hitherto ascertained, the Sahara ranges are much lower than those of Europe, they are by no means inferior to them in extent. The Jebel es Soda and Harutsh ranges in Tripoli, for instance, would seem to be nearly as long as the Apennines, and the plateaux of Ahaggar, closely connected with those of Adrar, Tasili, and Muydir, are as extensive as the Alps. The highest known point is the Tusside in the broad-backed Tarso range of mountains in central Tu or Tibesti, which Dr. Kachtigal estimates at about 7900 feet at least. Nothing can be imagined more utterly dreary and awe-inspiring than a mountain in the Great Desert. The bare rocks absolutely void of vegetation, the dark gloomy appearance and peculiar outlines of the masses of stone — all, much more even than the most extensive sand dunes, remind the traveller that he is in the Great Desert. THE GREAT SAHARA. 75 5. The Table-lands. The greatest space in the Sahara is occupied by the more or less level table-lands. When strewn with sharp stones they are called Hammada, or Tanesruft, and Serir when covered with small pebbles. Both are always entirely destitute of vegetation. The sharp stones might almost lead us to suppose that the Hammada had never been covered with water, but the marine fossils are here also so abundant as to leave scarcely any doubt about the matter. All the Hammada and Serir are composed of clay, which has in many places become almost as hard as stone, and the presence of oxide of iron has mostly imparted a red tinge to the clay soil itself. The plains skirting the Sahara, and which begin to show traces of vegetation, are called Sahel. 6. The Hofra, or Depressions. In contradistinction to the elevated plateaux are the low-lying plains or depressions, generally called Hofra or Juf. The only true depressions — that is, districts lying beneath the level of the ocean — as yet known in the Sahara, are those of the marshes in the south of Tunis, to which we have already referred, and some small portions of the oases in the Libyan desert between Tripoli and Lower Egypt. The expedition to the Libyan desert, led by Gerhard Rohlfs in 1873-74, found that the deepest part of the oasis of Siwah lies at a depth of 95 feet below the level of the Mediterranean, and eastward from this the small oasis of Araj is perhaps not less than 240 feet below sea-level. The areas of these isolated depressions are, however, very insignificant, and the measurements of the amount of their descent made by barometer, not by accurate levelling, must not be accepted as absolutely determined. 76 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. Many of the tracts which the natives call Hofra are not true depressions as here understood, but only such relatively to the more elevated surrounding land. 7. The Oases. An important feature of the desert are the Oases (sup- posed to be the Coptic Ouahd, meaning inhabited place), which are found wherever they are rendered possible by the nature of the soil in combination with water. Wherever water is found in a valley or hollow of the Sahara, even though of a brackish nature, grass grows, plants flourish, an oasis is formed. As pointed out by Barth, the most barren and unpromising-looking sands when so fertilised become immediately clothed in vegetation. But the oases take their rise and are conditioned by various causes, hence are of various sorts. There are, first of all, those due to natural surface-drainage or under- ground springs and infiltrations, such as those of the Wady Draa, supplied entirely by moisture collected from the mountains by the upper Draa and of the upper Tafilet, depending for its existence on the scanty drainage from the inner slope of the Atlas. Amongst those irrigated by underground running streams are the real Tafilet, south of Ertib, the greater portion of the northern group of oases in Tuat, and several other smaller ones south of the Atlas. Then we have oases, such as those of Ghaclames and Siwah or Jupiter Amnion, formed by copious natural springs ; others due to the presence of underground lakes or bodies of stagnant water lying a foot or two below the surface sand, such as that of Kauar, midway between Tripoli and Lake Chad, and many in Fezzan ; others again, where the water lies so deep (from 1 5 to 3 feet below the surface) that it must be reached by artificial means, as is the case with many also in Fezzan, in the Algerian Sahara, and THE GREAT SAHARA. 77 elsewhere ; lastly, places where the water has to be con- veyed by artificial channels from a distance, as in Tidikelt, and some others south of the Atlas. 8. Pavers and Dried-up River Beds. The first description of oases — viz. those watered by surface streams — are found only near the base of high ranges, especially south of the Great Atlas. The bulk of the water in these rivers naturally diminishes in propor- tion to the length of its course. The irrigation of the innumerable fields through which they flow, and the enor- mous evaporation to which they are exposed in the arid wastes, are the principal causes of this. The Draa itself can only reach the ocean in spring, when swollen by un- usual rains combined with the melting of the snow on the Atlas. Other rivers, at the season of their overflow, form sebkhas, swamps, and lakes ; but the oases watered by such surface streams are, of course, the most favourably situated, and here flourish even the fruit trees of the tem- perate zone. In the whole region of the Sahara there is not a single river bed in winch the water flows constantly throughout the year. Even if the Draa be considered as a Saharan river, we know that it flows constantly only as far as the point where its course changes from the south to the west ; but it filters underground the whole year. The river valley which gives rise to the oasis of Tuat, and which in the north consists of a numerous system of ramifications, has surface water only in some isolated places, while the Mia and the Igharghar, w^adys with channels of enormous length, have scarcely ever any surface water. But what prodigious quantities of water must have been at some time required to form and flood such dried-up river beds as are now found in the desert ! The bed of the Igharghar, 78 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. for instance, is in several places some twelve or fifteen miles wide. Hence the obvious inference, that the climate of the Sahara, must have formerly been very different from the present ; and the numerous fossil forests show plainly enough that vegetation was here at one time much more abundant than now ; hence there must have also been a greater rainfall, which would help to explain the existence of the frequently amazing length, breadth, and depth of the dry river beds. 9. Lakes. No less wonderful is the number of beds of lakes, and even lakes themselves, in the Sahara. These are met with most frequently where depressions exist, but also in other more elevated places, as is the case in Fezzan ; and we may well imagine how copious must be the underground springs that feed these lakes, in order to keep them constantly supplied with water in spite of the enormous evaporation to which they are exposed. When these lakes become dried up, they form sebkhas or marshes, which have an apparently firm surface, but a slimy swampy bed beneath. Some of them — such as those of Bilma, on the route to Bornu, near the centre of the Sahara — are so full of salt that on drying up they present the appearance of a sheet of salt. It is remark- able that on becoming dry the surface mud of the sebkhas almost always contracts into regular polygons, generally hexagonal. If the soil is very rich in salt, however, dry wave-like furrows appear, giving to some of the dry sebkhas the appearance of a suddenly petrified lake, the surface of which has been agitated by waves ; but these are much less frequent. 10. The Rot Winds and Sand Storms. The climate of the Sahara is entirely different from THE GREAT SAHARA. 79 that of any other part of the world ; but the extraordinary dryness of the atmosphere results there not from the barren soil, but from the prevailing winds, which are generally easterly, being part of the great current which shows itself most clearly as the north-east trade wind of the Atlantic. These east winds bear with them no clouds or moisture from the ocean, but only currents of dry air from Asia, which, passing also from colder to warmer regions, have their capacity for absorbing moisture increased as they advance. But even in the rare cases when breezes come from the west charged with clouds from the Atlantic, the heats are in most cases so intense that the clouds are dis- sipated before the moisture is sufficiently condensed to produce rain. At certain seasons hot suffocating winds blow outward from the sandy deserts of the Sahara, and to these the general name " Simoom" is given by the Arabs of the north coasts, from the word Samma, meaning hot or poisonous. In Egypt the hot wind is called Khamsin, meaning //£?/, since it generally blows from the end of April, for that number of days, onward to the inundation of the Xile in June. In Tunis it is called " Sheely" and fills the air with impalpable sand, giving rise to much ophthalmia, The Scirocco is most frequent in Algeria in July, whence it blows northward over Italy and melts the snows of the Alps as the warm Folm wind ; in Marocco, the hot wind (here called Shume) is strongest in July, August, and September, and passes across to Spain as the Solano ; still farther round, on the border of the Great Desert in Sene- gambia, and on the Guinea coast, the Harmattan wind, intensely dry and charged with particles of sand and dust, blows out from the Sahara at intervals during December, January, and February. Steamers running along the coast north of Sierra Leone during the Harmattan with freshly tarred rigging or newly painted bulwarks, find the side 80 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. next Africa powdered with fine sand, so that the painted parts assume the nature of sand-paper. In blowing over those portions of the Sahara which are covered with drift sand, every stronger wind raises great clouds of the finer sand. When this driving sand accompanies one of the hot winds, these together form one of perhaps the most terrible hardships that the caravans have to encounter in passing through the deserts. In travelling through southern Fezzan, Gerhard Eohlfs en- countered a sand storm from the east, in which the drift was so dense that it was impossible to see one's hand held out before the face. Such was the violence of the wind that the tents coidd not be pitched, and nothing could be done but to cover oneself up and lie down. Next morning the sand had covered everything an inch deep. Count d'Escayrac 1 gives a vivid description of such a sand storm. " As I was travelling," he writes, " on a fine July night through the desert of the Bisharin, I was astonished at the extraordinary clearness of the unclouded starry sky. The atmosphere was perfectly calm ; suddenly it took a different aspect. In the east a black cloud began to rise with frightful rapidity, and soon covered half the heavens. Immediately afterwards a strong puff of wind covered us with sand, and threw up little stones of the size of peas into our faces. Soon we were surrounded by a dense sand cloud, and stood still in the deepest darkness. We had quickly covered up our eyes ; but in spite of that they filled with sand every time we opened them. The camels sank down on their knees and groaned, and then lay down ; and my servants, battered by the sand and gravel, did the same. I leant myself against my camel, whose high saddle afforded some pro- tection, but did not dare to lie down for fear of being buried in sand. The storm passed, and by daybreak the 1 Le Desert et le Soudan. THE GREAT SAHARA. sky was again clear and the air at rest ; but the camels and their drivers lay up to their necks in sand." 11. Climate of the Sahara. Although in some places hotter than in any other part of the world, the climate of the Sahara may as a rule be described as very salubrious. The frequent almost absolute dryness of the atmosphere would seem to produce no ill effects on the health, acting most beneficially espe- cially on the lungs, even when in an advanced stage of disease. The great feature of the climate of the Sahara, as of all bare desert countries, is that of excessive difference of temperature between day and night. Exposed to the in- tense heat of the sun during the day, the superficial layers of sand on the surface of the rocks become heated, some- times to nearly 200° F., and the air resting upon this heated surface quickly takes a correspondingly high tem- perature. The absence of moisture in the air gives a clear sky, which promotes the rapid radiation of heat during the night till the thermometer falls not unfrequently to below the freezing-point. At Mursuk, in Fezzan, for ex- ample, the average daily range of temperature in the winter months, when it is least, is 28° F. 82 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. CHAPTEE VIII. STATES AND RACES IN THE SAHARA. 1. TJie Northern Border Land of the Sahara. The states hitherto passed in review, especially Marocco, Algeria, and Tunis, stretch southwards into a region which may be described as the border land of the Sahara. In the case of Marocco, the district in question would be that which reaches from the Atlantic seaboard to the frontiers of Algeria on the one hand, and on the other from the southern slopes of the Atlas to the parallels of latitude passing through the southern points of the great oases. In Algeria this outlying district comprises the third and most southern of the three zones into which the whole country has been divided, its northern limit being the Sahara Border Eange. This is the sandy waste of the Algerian Sahara (Sahara algerien, or petit de'sert), here and there interrupted by fruitful oases, and the southern por- tion of which is called by the natives El Erg, or region of the sand dunes. The whole is also sometimes known as the palm country {region des palmiers), the date-palm here being the most striking feature of the vegetable kingdom. In the Algerian Sahara are the oases of El Aghuat, El Gerara, and Ghardaya, in the country of the Beni- Mzab Arabs, besides those of Tuggurt, El Wad, Wargla (" queen of the oases "), and El Golea. In Tunis, the Belad-el-Jerid, or "land of the date," is THE GREAT SAHARA. 83 mainly comprised within the limit of this neutral ground, which is not met with farther east ; in Tripoli the Great Sahara itself reaches, so to say, to the sea-coast. Here grow various kinds of fruit, such as the degla, the hora, the hamma, and the date of Cabes, the latter of inferior quality, and used by the Bedouins in the prepara- tion of an indifferent sort of dough or paste. Mixed with' barley or grass it also serves as food for their horses, mules, and camels. 2. Limits of the Sahara on the West, East, and South. The western portion of the Great Sahara, reaching from Marocco on the north to the great Senegal river on the south, and westwards to the shores of the Atlantic, has been so far but very little explored. For most of our information regarding it we are indebted to two French- men, Panet (1850) and Vincent (1860), and to the Arab traveller Bu-el-Moghdad. More to the east lay the route of Rene Caillie, who in 1828 made his way from Sierra Leone to Timbuktu, and thence across the Sahara to Tangier in Marocco. It is difficult sharply to define the limits of the Sahara on the south, but, speaking generally, they must be considered as passing north of the Senegal and Mger regions. Farther eastwards its southern frontier is formed by the so-called Fellatah states, the region of Lake Chad, Wada'i, and Darfur, which, with Kordofan, bring it to the borders of southern Egypt. Across the Nile the Nubian and Arabian deserts carry it on to the Red Sea. The northern portion of the extreme eastern region of the Sahara, known as the Desert of Lybia, was for the first time carefully explored by Rohlfs' expedition in 1873-4. Proceeding from the west eastwards, we shall im\v endeavour to rive a more detailed account of these vast 84 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. regions and their inhabitants, deriving our information in all cases from the most trustworthy sources. 3. The Western Sahara — Berber Tribes. For the western portion we shall place ourselves in the hands of Vincent, who crossed the burning sands of the Great Desert in 1860. In the neighbourhood of the Senegal region there are numerous encampments of Berber herdsmen, for water in shallow streams and excellent pasture lands are here everywhere abundant. The men are naked from the waist upwards, with red skin, hooked nose, intelligent eye, and hair rather crisp than curly. The women go unveiled, but wear a long robe flowing from the shoulders to the ground. These Berber tribes seem to be of a very gentle dis- position, hence are reckoned amongst the Marabuts, by which in this part of Africa are understood those Moham- medans who do not bear arms, but make profession of a special observance of their religious practices. Amongst all the Berber tribes of the western Sahara, Vincent met with no one who had at any time more than one wife, or contracted a second marriage. The women here do not submit to divorce, and evidently keep their lords well under control. The free women do not work, nor do they ever walk on foot. Hence, though the men are much sun- burnt, the women would appear almost white if their true complexion could only be seen through the thick layer of dirt that covers their skin. But they carefully guard against touching water, and a lady, questioned by Vincent on the point, had carried her precautions so far that for the space of seven years she had never once in an un- guarded moment indulged in ablutions of any sort. The food of these tribes consists in the produce of THE WESTERN SAHARA. 85 their herds and flocks. Camel's milk is exceedingly nourishing, and the sheep are wonderfully prolific. How- ever, they grow no wool, but only something resembling goat's hair. Vincent on one occasion claimed the hospi- tality of the Tiyab, formerly a warlike tribe that had since turned to peaceful ways and become Marabuts. So when the French began to drink wine the Berbers with- drew in horror from the tent. At this Vincent asked his host whether he objected to his drinking wine, to which the hospitable child of the desert nobly replied, " Should you present yourself even with vipers, the moment you enter my tent you are welcome." When the travellers approached the bank of Arguin they came upon a tribe of Berber fishermen, who ply their dangerous trade with trawling nets on a coast swarming with sharks. This bank is assuredly one of the richest corners of the world in fish, if not the very richest, and as there are natural salt beds close by, the neighbouring Cape Blanco might form an excellent fishing station. Occupying the western border of the Sahara, between 20° and 26° north latitude, lies the territory of Tiris, a vast plain of granite dotted over with hillocks, and in part covered with quartz sand, which is roved over by the Uled-Delim, a nomad tribe, pirates of the desert, and famous for the beauty of their women and maidens. And they really deserve their reputation, on account of their smooth hair, large eyes, long lashes, Grecian noses, dazzling white teeth, slim figure, and the extraordinary delicacy of their feet and hands, the nails of the latter of which are dyed a rosy colour witli henna. Unfortunately the family ties are here extremely lax, and marriages arc- always contracted for the shortest term imaginable. Vegetation appears in Tiris only in the sandy hollows, in which great numbers of gazelles are seen. Captain Vincent counted as many as 100 of these in a single day. 86 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. During his journey farther inland Vincent approached Berber villages with several hundred inhabitants, who supported themselves on the produce of their date planta- tions, millet, maize, barley, and wheat crops, watered by shallow but extremely copious wells. {Bulletin de la SocUU de Gdograplvk de Paris: 1861, pp. 5-37.) 4. Aderer, Tafilet y El-Juf y and other Western Districts. Aderer, in which are situated Shingeti and three other towns, is the most notable district in the western Sahara. It is a hilly country peopled by Berbers possessing camels, sheep, and oxen, and cultivating dates, wheat, barley, and melons. The most important town here is Shingeti, or Shingit, where there is a depot of rock-salt, drawn from the inexhaustible beds of the Sebkha Ijil, lying a five days' journey to the N.N.E., and thence exported to the countries in the Sudan situated between the upper Senegal and the Niger, and to southern Marocco by caravans. The other settlements in Aderer, besides that of Shingeti, are Wadan and Usheft, the former of which carries on a considerable trade. The settled population pays tribute to the dominant nomads of the country, of whom the Yaya-ben-Othman are the most powerful. Though the country is high and hilly, rain occurs in some years only once or twice, in October ; and though springs are nume- rous, none are sufficiently strong to form any permanent rivulet. On the north it is enclosed by a dreary belt of sand dunes, known as Maghter or Murthir, which pro- bably unite continuously with the country of sand hills called El Erg in southern Algeria. From Aderer caravans pass northwards through the wide belt of sand hills which separates it from the extensive district of Tiris, to Tafilet, or Tafilelt, the most important of the oases in the Maroccan Sahara, exchanging salt for European goods. THE WESTERN SAHARA. 87 About 20,000 camel loads of salt are taken from Aderer every year. In Tafilet, which is subdivided into a number of dis- tricts, there are about 300 fortified villages. The chief place is Abuam, the market-place of which, called Sultu, situated outside the gates, presents a curious sight. From a distance it might be supposed covered with great mole- hills, which, when examined more closely, turn out to be an immense number of stone booths or stalls with round roofs. Three days in the week the market is held. It is the largest fair south of the Great Atlas, and here are sold, besides the European commodities from Fez, all the products of the south. Tafilet sends two great caravans yearly to Timbuktu. The population of Tafilet is very mixed, the Shirfa and Arabs being in the ascendant. Amongst the latter must be included the Beni-Mhamed, although they speak Shellah as easily as Arabic. The Beni-Mhamed, who are also settlers in the Draa and in Sus, are the chief caravan traders. (Bohlfs, Journey through Marocco : Bremen, 1869, p. 87.) The caravan route from Tafilet to Timbuktu lies to the east of that previously mentioned, crossing the dis- trict of Gidi, or Igidi, which, though covered with high sand hills, produces palms in abundance. South from this point stretches a fearful and notorious region, leading northwards to the Afelele, or Little Desert, which is varied with pretty hills and dales and an abundance of wells and even little streams. Between it and Timbuktu lies the barren district of Asawad, and to the south-east Aderar (not to be mistaken for Aderer), the hilly country of the Auelimmiden, adapted to the breeding of camels and cattle. North-west of Asawad lies El Juf, a region full of rock-salt and destitute of vegetation, known as the paunch of the desert, and de- 88 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. scribed by Barth as a great depression below the general level of the desert. This account, however, is not borne out by the description given of it by Caillie, who actually crossed it. It appears indeed to be more elevated than the Niger at Timbuktu. It is bounded on the north and north-west by the sand-hills of Ergshesh and by the plateau of Safie. Taodeni is the only village within it, and was formerly of considerable importance from its salt mines. These mines, Caillie was informed, are three and a half or four feet below the surface of the ground. The salt is in thick strata, and is quarried in blocks, after which it is split into more convenient cakes. These mines are the wealth of the country, and were worked in Caillie's time by negro slaves superintended by Moors. The salt is taken to Timbuktu, and thence is distributed over the Sudan. To the south-west of this is the waterless district of Akela, ten days' journey in extent, and farther on in the same direction is Baghena, the southern and most favoured district of the country called El Hodh, or " the basin," since it is surrounded by a chain of rocky heights. Here the trees growing most abundantly are the gigantic baobab, or bread-fruit trees (Adansonia digitata), and the date. In the swamps are sown durrha or saba and wild rice, which spring up in the rainy season. In the sterile country of the north-west of El Hodh is the well-built but extremely insalubrious town of Walata, or Biru, the chief place of the country, with houses built of clay and stone, painted in gay colours. "Walata carries on a considerable trade in gold, ostrich feathers, and honey. Between El Hodh and Aderer lies the almost un- known country of Taganet, the northern portion of which is barren and desert, but southern or Black Taganet (which, like southern El Hodh, passes out of the desert zone) has high mountains and forests, sheltering lions and THE WESTERN SAHARA. 89 perhaps also elephants. Its chief centre of population is Tishit, said to have 3000 inhabitants, which is a noted salt-mart. Another district called Taganet lies midway between Asawad and Timbuktu much farther west. All the habitable portions of these western tracts of the Sahara which we have been describing are peopled by a variety of tribes, which are frequently designated collectively as Moors. In former times the Negroes probably extended northward over this region as far as about the 20 th parallel. When the tide of Arab invasion swept along the northern coast of the continent the Berbers of the northern zone were driven before it into the desert; and during and after the religious struggles which accompanied the introduction of Mohammedanism into these regions, they became largely amalgamated with Arab elements. Thus resulted a population the basis of which is Berber, but intermingled to some extent with Negro and Arab blood Though strings of caravans of Mohammedans pass through the western Sahara un- molested, the fanaticism of the greater part of the tribes would oppose itself strongly, it is believed, to similar traffic with Christians, so that great difficulties would attend the opening up of this region to the commerce of the world. To the east of the caravan route between Tafilet and Timbuktu we enter the domain of the Tuareg (pronounced Tuarej) or Imoshagh, occupying the central portion of the Sahara as far as the 12th meridian of east longitude from Greenwich. This line forms the boundary line between them and the Tibbus, who occupy some parts of the eastern section of the Sahara, though the extreme east adjoining the Egyptian frontier appears to be nearly uninhabited. 5. The Central Section of the Sahara (Domain of the Tuareg). We have now to speak of the central region of the 90 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. Great Desert reaching northwards as far as Algeria, Tunis, and a portion of Tripoli, and southward for 1200 miles to the fertile borders of the Sudan. METLILI FBOM THE EAST. 6. The Towns of Wargla, Tuggurt, and Metlili. Of the oases of the Algerian border land, which are included in this section, that of Wargla is unquestionably the most important. It lies in 32° K latitude surrounded by sand, like a green island in an ocean of fire, and has formed part of the French Algerian possessions since the expedition of Colomieu in 1862. The town of Wargla itself lies in a low-lying dis- THE CENTRAL SAHARA. 91 trict abounding in palm-trees. The streets are so narrow that a man on horseback could not turn round between the houses, which are built of sun-dried brick with earthen floors, and all only one story high, usually with an inscription from the Koran over the door. The market, serving also for the shambles, reeks with blood, while the flesh of camels and dogs lies in the sun, infested by swarms of flies. Hence it is not perhaps surprising that Wargla is very unhealthy and subject to fevers. Here dwell four different races on amicable terms. These are the Arabs, the Mosabites or people of Mzab, the Aratines or Aborigines, and the Negroes. The last, though fully aware that they have been emancipated by France, have never yet in a single instance claimed their freedom. The most important explorations in the Algerian Sahara and the land of the Tuareg have undoubtedly been those of the great French traveller, Henri Duveyrier. He visited Tuggurt, capital of Wad E'ir, south of Biskra, and famous far and wide throughout the Sahara. The town is surrounded by a circular wall, and has a popula- tion of about 3000. In June 1859 he went from Biskra to the oasis of Ghardaya, taking El-Gerara on his way. This place is perched on a hill, has walls in a good condition, and houses with arcades. In the neighbour- hood he found jujube-trees and terebinths of great size, and came across flocks of ostriches. Ghardaya lies in the Wadi Mzab, a rift in the extensive plateau or Hammada which begins about a clay's journey north of this point, and stretches southward to beyond Metlili and Wargla. Not far south of Ghardaya is situated the town of Metlili. It presents a singular view, being perched on a steep hill, on the highest point of which rises a half- ruinous mosque. There are no walls, for which indeed there is no occasion, the place being protected by its 92 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. faithful allies the Shaamba Berasgha, here the dominant Arab tribe. ' HOUSE TERRACES IN" TUGGURT. 7. The Beni-Mzab. The people of this region, at present forming the confederation of the Beni-Mzab, profess much stricter principles than the other Mohammedans, by whom, how- ever, they are looked on as a sort of heretics. Their constant feuds have ceased since the arrival of the French, to whom all the seven confederate estates pay tribute. The Beni-Mzab hold lying in abhorrence, and make a virtue of cleanliness. The women are kept in strict seclusion, and the Tolba, or lettered and sacerdotal classes, form a little world of their own, living in common and cultivating palm-gardens. THE CENTRAL SAHARA. 93 8. Oasis of El-Golea. From Ghardaya, Duveyrier went a journey of six days in a southerly direction to the oasis of El-Golea, which place he was the first European to visit. El-Golea, or El-Menia, the most southerly settlement within the border of the Algerian Sahara, with a population of from 1200 to 1300, consists of two towns, the upper built on a cliff and surrounded by a wall, the lower lying between this cliff and another little eminence. Sound about the city are some straggling plantations of date- trees. The houses consist merely of four mud walls covered with palm branches, and disposed in two or three compartments, with little courts but no terraces. 9. The Tu, at Oases. South-west of El-Golea, separated from it by the Areg belt of sand hills, and within the limits of the true Sahara, is situated the cluster of oases known as Tuat, which is the Berber word for oasis. It consists of five groups, the most southern of which is Tidikelt, whose capital, In-Salah (that is, town of Salah), is the emporium of the trade carried on between Tuat and the centre of Africa, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli, exchanging ostrich feathers, gold dust, ivory, slaves from the Sudan, for coffee and sugar and cloth, spices from Tripoli, and knives, needles, looking-glasses, beads, etc., coming by way of Algeria. It lies at about an equal distance of 800 miles from Timbuktu, Mogador, Tangier, Algiers, and Tripoli. Tuat forms an independent confederation of from 300 to 400 little states, and stretches from north to south about 180, from east to west about 200 miles. The traffic with Algeria is indispensable to it, for it depends on that country for regular supplies of corn, flesh, and 94 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. wool. This federal union of republics, if the expression may be allowed, recognises no chief authority, nor any central government for the whole, each state forming a little government for itself. In the Berber villages demo- cratic rule prevails, while amongst the Arabs power is inherited in the families of nobles or Marabuts. Where the Negroes are in the ascendant the rule is aristocratic, in the hands of a few men of colour. The oases are thickly peopled, on which account there are numerous emigrations, natives of the Tuat being met with far and wide — in Timbuktu, Agades, Ghat, Ghadames, Tripoli, Tunis, Tlemcen, in the Western Sahara, and in all the larjje towns of Marocco. 10. Oasis of Ghadames. The oases just noted all lie more or less in a south- westerly direction from Biskra. In a south-easterly line from Biskra the most important oasis is that of Ghadames or Ehadames, close to the south-eastern corner of the French Algerian possessions, but politically attached to the government of Tripoli. It was visited some years ago by the French traveller Victor Largeau, who made his way thither from Tuggurt, for a portion of his route following the bed of the old river Igharghar, part of which he tells us is already filled up with sand-dunes reaching to nearly 500 feet in height. On leaving the valley of the Igharghar he took a south-easterly direction past the salt wells of Hazi-Bottin, and still keeping in this direc- tion he marched for ten days through a country into which even the Shaamba scarcely ever venture even in winter. It is a desert covered with high hills of reel sand formed from the weathering of a ferruginous sandstone of which the plain farther eastward is composed. Between these great dunes the scanty vegetation is cropped by THE CENTRAL SAHARA. 95 antelopes and gazelles. The people of Ghaclames form a branch of the Berber tribe called by the Arab geographers " Molathemin," or " veiled," because, like the Tuareg, they wear a bandage across the face. But they are not true Berbers, differing from them in descent, speech, dress, town life, and special taste for trade and commerce. To their commercial enterprise fully corresponds the appear- ance of the town of Ghaclames itself, with its large, well- ventilated, and lofty white houses, and its streets mostly shaded from the burning rays of the sun. 11. The Tuareg Tribes. To the south of this domain dwell the Tuareg proper (often written Tawarik or Tuarick on English maps), Berber nomades, stretching from Tuat in a southerly direction to beyond the northern bend of the Niger, and from the Algerian oases and the limits of Ghadames in the north to the borders of the Fellatah states and Boniu in the Sudan. They are also frequently met with in the neighbourhood of Murzuk in Eastern Fezzan. Some of these tribes cover a wide expanse of country and are very powerful ; but they live in a constant state of hostility amongst themselves, one tribe speaking of another with great contempt. The Tuareg are of large build and well shaped, alto- gether the finest race of men in this portion of Africa. Their dress is extremely varied, the more westerly tribes wearing a close-fitting garment, while others adopt wide flowing robes. The material is mostly the dark-blue, almost black, " Kano " cotton. Characteristic of them is the "Litham" or " Tessilgemist," wound twice round the face in such a way as to cover eyes, mouth, and chin, protecting these from the blown sands of the desert, and leaving nothing exposed except the middle vi bhe Eaee 96 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. with the tip of the nose. The shawl is tied in a bow behind. TUAREG BEHBEHS. The hair, either cut short or forming a pigtail, remains uncovered on top, and the beard sometimes peeps out below. Sandals are worn only on the borders of the desert. A complete leather costume seems also peculiar to some tribes. Those to the east wear a leather bag- attached to a leather belt, and those in the west a dainty little pouch round the neck, in which they keep twine, thread, pens, pipe, and tobacco. Freemen carry a very long straight sword, a dagger suspended to the left wrist, a spear six feet long, often THE CENTEAL SAHARA. 97 supplemented by a musket. They speak a Berber dialect, which is said to vary very little throughout their country, and they profess Islamism, about which, however, they know very little. They are extremely superstitious, on their neck, arms, legs, breast, and waist wearing amulets and little pouches containing verses from the Koran as charms and talismans. The predominant passion is a love of finery and of women, but the tribes of purer blood are distinguished by their warlike spirit. Hence they are in a constant state of feud amongst themselves, and are everywhere feared and hated. Yet they are not naturally cruel, and treat their slaves kindly. The women go unveiled, and take part in the affairs of the community, but polygamy has unfortunately found its way into several tribes. 12. The Southern Tuareg Country — Ahaggar, and Air or Ashen. The northern portion of the broad country of the Tuareg has, as we have noticed, been described by Du- veyrier ; its southern regions have been explored by Heinrich Earth. The latter traveller, proceeding west- wards from Murzuk to the Oasis of Ghat, thence traversed the whole country from north to south in order to reach the kingdom of Bornu on the Sudan. South and west of Ghat rises the wide highland of the Asgar Tuaregs, the Tasili plateau, attaining elevations of from 4300 to 5200 feet above the sea, and which merges farther west into the alpine mass of the Jebel Ahaggar. In this mass of highlands the plateau formation is also prevalent, but here and there high red mountains with steep cliffs rise above other points. Southward still from the Asgar high- land the country rises to a second plateau, that of the country of Air or Asben, in which the mountain groups of H 98 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. Timge and Baglizen rise to 5000 feet. This is a rude rocky country, full of tree-covered and pastoral valleys, the fertility of which depends not so much on the direct supply from showers which fall from August to October as on the moisture gathered into them from the mountains. The whole land has a general slope from east to west, so that the western valleys are the most fertile. One of the most beautiful among them is that of the Wadi Tegidda, lying at the northern base of the peak of Dogem, 5000 feet in height, which supports large flocks of cattle and camels, and has exceedingly luxuriant woods, especially of acacias. The valley of Tintellust, the residence of one of the sheikhs of Asben, has also an exuberantly rich vegetation. Beyond this highland southward an uninhabited and waterless plateau is again met with, and this merges gradually into a more and more habitable plain country or steppe, in which giraffes, wild oxen, and ostriches, roam in large numbers. Still farther on the pasture-grounds of the nomadic tribe of the Tagama Tuareg's, rich in herds of cattle, are crossed, and lead into the pleasant undulating country of Damerghu, on the border of the Sudan, with farm-yards and corn-fields supplying grain to the domi- nant country of Asben. The kingdom of Asben extends from about 16° to 20° N. lat., and is nominally ruled over by a sultan who resides at the capital town of Agades. It is chiefly peopled by three large tribes — the Kel-owi, Kelgeres, and Itisan — partly settled in villages in the mountain valleys, partly living in movable tents made of mats. Agades was formerly a very important city of Central Africa, but was in a declining condition at the time of Barth's visit to it. At one time it was an entre- pot for the immense traffic carried on with Gagho, the ancient capital of the Sonrhai empire on the Niger, and then probably contained 60,000 inhabitants. ' At the time of Barth's visit (1850) it had not more than 6000. Its THE EASTERN SAHARA. 99 trade and manufactures are now trifling in extent, and it holds little or no intercourse with the northern towns of the Sahara, though its merchants visit the markets of the Sudan, and the salt trade from Bilma in the Tebu country westward, passing through Asben, aids in sustaining its population. The language spoken in Agades, though its inhabitants are to a large extent Berber, is the same as that of Timbuktu, though there is now no communication with that city. Dr. Barth was of opinion that Agades would form a good and comparatively healthy point from which a European agent might open up relations with Central Africa. 13. The Eastern Sahara (Domain of the Tibbus). The eastern division of the Sahara is occupied, as above stated, by the Tibbus. The approach to this region is through Tripoli, whence nearly all travellers have started in making their way through Murzuk southwards across the Great Desert to the shores of Lake Chad. There are two tracks from Tripoli to Murzuk — one, the shorter and more westerly, leading more directly south through the Jebel-Ghurian, Wadi Um-el-Cheil, and the western side of the Jebel-es-Soda ; while the other is more round- about, for a great part of the way turning considerably to the east. The first was mainly followed by Barth, Overweg, and Eohlfs ; the second by Lyon, Denham, and Clapperton, Vogel and Duveyrier. Nachtigal also, the most recent traveller in these regions, has followed tin' longer route, which is the true caravan way, is regularly supplied with watering stations, and offers desirable resting-places in the centres of population of Beni I lid, Bonjem, and Sokna. On the 18th of February 1869, Dr. Nachtigal (to whose leadership we will entrust ourselves mainly in the 100 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. Tibbu country) left Tripoli, beginning his 36 days' march to Murzuk. The character of the desert landscape in the country which spreads out behind the coast range of hills of Tripoli is well enough known ; it rises by a steep terrace to high-lying plains dotted over with isolated mountain groups and peaks, and is cut into by numerous valleys. At Beni Ulid, about 100 miles south-east of the town of Tripoli, a pretty olive grove refreshes the eye of the tra- veller for the last time, since, on passing farther on to Bonjem and Sokna, he finds himself in the midst of a complete desert. Four long days' journey through a waterless plain, diversified only by naked hill ridges and bare undulations, are required to reach the latter place, which lies in 29° N. latitude. The Jebel-es-Socla, which has next to be crossed, forms the natural northern bound- ary of the country of Fezzan, the capital of which is Murzuk. The greater portion of Fezzan presents a melan- choly and silent landscape of the most barren desert, over which a perpetually blue sky, from which the glowing sun evaporates every little cloud, hangs heavily. In contrast to the barren Hammada, however, the cluster of oases round the capital seems like a fresh garden. The inhabitants of Murzuk live chiefly by traffic in slaves, and the products of the countries farther inland, such as salt, natron, and medicinal herbs ; the slaves, however, are the principal subjects of trade. These unfortunates are the victims of man-hunting raids made by the princes of the fertile lands of the Sudan south of the Great Sahara, and brought to one of the great slave-marts of that region — the town of Kuka, in Bornu, on the banks of Lake Chad. There the great mass of them are bought by Arab merchants, and marched by arid tracks over the desert under a burning sun for about 800 miles to Murzuk, and thence north and eastward to the Mediterranean coasts, but chiefly to Cairo. One great annual caravan from Kuka alone brings about THE EASTERN SAHARA. 101 4000 slaves ; and the whole number yearly passed across the desert by this route is reckoned at 10,000. The priva- tions and tortures endured by these troops on their long inarch may be conceived from Kohlfs' remark on the appearance of the caravan track : — " On both sides of the route are seen the blanched bones of dead slaves, many of the skeletons being still wrapped in the blue negro gar- ment. Any one who did not know the way to Bornu would only have to follow the bones which lie right and left of the track." The stirring life of the other oases of the desert seems to be absent in Murzuk, which is impor- tant only as a depot of trade with the interior, and in other respects is a dreary and insignificant place. From Murzuk Dr. Nachtigal made an excursion to Tibesti, or Tu, which is a hill country of the Central Sahara, lying east of the direct caravan route from Murzuk to the lands round Lake Chad, containing the highest known summit of the desert. It is inhabited by the Beshade, one of the tribes of the Tibbu, who are notori- ous throughout the whole of North Africa for their rapacity, treachery, and cruelty. No European had ever visited their country before, all travellers having failed in their attempts, or having feared to venture into Tibesti. At the wells of Tummo, on the usual route southward from Mur- zuk, Nachtigal turned off to the south-east, and after a painful march through a waterless country reached the hill country of Afafi, in the north-west of Tibesti. Limestone and dark-coloured sandstone are the prevailing formations in this district, and great basalt blocks lie scattered over it. Many torrent beds have cut their way through it. and the view in these is enlivened with bright-coloured Talha trees (Acacia gummifera), the hills rising in grotesque shapes in the background. Beyond Afafi, NachtigaJ crossed a bare stony and sandy plain country, on which many groups of sandstone masses rose like huge castles. In the 102 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. torrent beds alone a scanty pasturage was found for the camels, and in no direction could the traveller see any sign of inhabitants. As he approached the torrent bed called the Enneri-Tollobu, however, a remarkable change was noticed in the landscape, and a light porous stone of various colours took the place of the sand and lime stone, presenting an undulating but perfectly barren surface. On the 13th of July 1869 he reached Tao, the first inhabited place he had come upon in Tibesti. Tao is not exactly a village, but consists of a number of huts formed of mats of dum-palm fibre scattered round the vicinity of a copious spring. At the time of ISTachtigal's visit, Tao, as well as all the settlements on the western slopes of the Tarso range, which crosses Tibesti from N.W. to S.E., were almost abandoned, for a famine had compelled the people to retreat up into the mountain districts, or to migrate to Bardai, the most important settlement of the country, situated in a broad valley on the eastern descent of the Tarso range, at which place the date harvest was about to begin. Tibesti is but scantily provided with food ; there are, indeed, some herds of goats, but flesh meat is only indulged in on high holidays, or when a camel happens to die a natural death. It is only after the showers which occur in autumn that the pasturage is sufficiently abundant to allow the camels to give milk. Meal is ground from the millet seed (Panicum colomim), but dates have to be brought from Fezzan and other lands, for the supply grown in the Bardai valley is not sufficient for the population. In times of great necessity the Tibbus use, as a last resource, the leaves of the duni-palm ; but these contain so little nourishment that life could not be maintained by their use alone. From Tao, Nachtigal ascended to the mountain district of Tibesti, and passed through the beautiful Zuar valley, in which water flows in abundance, vegetation is rich, and THE EASTERN SAHARA. 103 apes, gazelles, and birds enliven the scenery. The chiefs of Zuar, however, prevented his farther march southward along this valley, and compelled him to turn back to Tao ; thence he took the route eastward over the mountains towards Bardai, passing on his way a remarkable natron bed in the form of a wide circular basin 10 to 15 miles in circuit, in the middle of which rose a conical hill with a summit crater filled with natron. The peak of Tusidde, the highest point of Tibesti, rises to an estimated height of 1200 feet above the pass to Bardai, or to an elevation of 7880 feet above the sea. Descending the eastern slopes of the Tarso for six days' march, Nachtigal at length reached Bardai ; but his reception there was anything but friendly. Mohammedan fanatics, inflamed by indulgence in palm wine, incited the people to slay the Christian dog, and it was only by the active interference of the chief, Arami, that the traveller could reach the house of his pro- tector in safety. The sultan refused to receive him ; and he saw but little of the pretty settlement of Bardai, sur- rounded by gardens and date plantations, making his escape thence and reaching Murzuk again only after terrible sufferings and privations. One of the most important districts of the central Tibbu country is that of Kauar, or Kawar, an oasis which lies due west of Tibesti, on the caravan route to Kuka. In this oasis, though it is perhaps the hottest part of North Africa, water is found on digging to some depth, and date-palms are abundant. Three or four settlements occupy the most favoured spots, and a sultan rules over the small popula- tion. By far the most important district of Kauar is its southern province of Bilma, with the village of Garn, and this on account of its rich salt mines, which supply a great part of Central Africa. These mines consist of a number of deep pits, which apparently lie upon a great bed of rock- salt. The water in them is so intensely salt, and the 104 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. evaporation so great, that in every two or three days a crust of salt of several inches in thickness forms over them, which is broken up like ice and carried away in pieces. The Tuaregs of the country of Asben, which we have previously described, come here with wheat and cloth and slaves to exchange for the salt, which they carry back through Asben and thence to the Sudan, sometimes with caravans of 1000 camels. AN OASIS IX THE LIBYAN DESERT. 14. The Libyan Desert. The great Libyan Desert, reaching almost to the Nile valley, was for the first time, to some extent, explored THE EASTERN SAHARA. 105 by the expedition sent thither in 1873-4 under Gerhard Eohlfs. It would appear to be one of the most, if not actually the most desert portion of the Sahara, the only part of it really answering to the former descriptions repre- senting it all as a vast ocean of sand. In truth, the Libyan desert is nothing but one im- mense sandy sea, intersected by lofty sand-dunes, resting on it like great solidified ocean waves. However it is not a true depression as was supposed, but, like the rest of the Sahara, a table-land. Its western limits, roughly speak- ing, are Fezzan and the great caravan highway leading thence through the oasis of Kauar (Bilma) southwards to Bornu. In the three other directions it is naturally limited — on the north by the Mediterranean sea, on the east by the Mle valley, and on the south by the more or less cultivated territories of Kordofan, Darfur, Wadai, and Kanem. This vast region, nearly as large as European Eussia, is still one of the least known portions of the Earth's surface. The orographical and geological conditions of the Libyan desert, described by Dr. Ascherson, a member of Eohlfs' expedition, are just as simple as they are unfitted for organic life. Approaching this region from the Medi- terranean coast we first come upon a limestone plateau rising rather steeply, and extending from the greater Syrtis to the Nile delta. At the north-western end it reaches its greatest elevation of about 2000 feet in Jebel Achdar, forming on its slopes, between the towns of Benghazi and Derneh, the fertile and well- watered portion of Cyrenaica or Barca. The coast belt between this and Egypt, watered by the winter rains, affords a few favoured spots in which some of the Uled Ali Bedouins of the sur- rounding country carry on a little rude agriculture; but in the main, one may say that the desert character of the plateau is maintained quite up to the sea coast, and in the 106 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. case of the shores of the Greater Syrtis, the most barren sand wastes occupy the whole sea margin. The lime- stone plateau of Libya stretches away inland as far as the 30 th parallel of north latitude, but there it sinks again into a long latitudinal depression extending from near the Syrtis to the neighbourhood of the Nile delta, and the bottom of this hollow is in several points cer- tainly beneath the level of the Mediterranean. Within it lie the two groups of oases of Aujila and of Sivxih, or Jupiter Ammon, famed in ancient times, twelve days' journey apart from one another west and east. The inhabitants of these belong mainly to Berber tribes, but, like the oases themselves, present remarkable contrasts. Siwah is a little paradise ; round the dark blue mirrors of its lakes there are luxuriant palm woods, and orchards full of oranges, figs, and olives. But the people of Siwah are dull and idle, never leaving their homes ; while those of Aujila, on the other hand, like their relatives in Gha- dames, are known throughout all Northern Africa for their extended trading journeys. To the south of the depression the desert rises gra- dually again, so that in about 25° north latitude it has attained an elevation of 1600 feet above the sea. East- ward it forms a great limestone plateau, which everywhere presents a wall-like face to the Nile valley, and in this the Uah oases — Bacharieh, Farafrah, Dachel, and Khargeh — are sunk in hollows of several hundred feet in depth. For many days' march west and south of these a conti- nuous sea of sand extends to unknown limits. Far to the west, on the caravan route from Wada'i in Sudan to Ben- ghazi, there lies the Oasis of Kufarah, which no European has yet been able to reach. The character of the country in the south-west of the Libyan Desert is altogether different. Here there rises a long range of hills of lime and sand stone, which, begin- THE EASTERN SAHARA. 107 ning at a distance of some days' journey from the southern borders of Fezzan, stretches in a south-easterly direction towards the northern limits of Darfur, probably forming a continuation of the mountains of that country and those of Tibesti and Tasili, and affording habitable valleys at many points along its line. 108 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. CHAPTEE IX. SUDAN. 1. Extent and Meaning of this Term. Forming a natural frontier to the Great Desert is that section of Africa known by the somewhat vague name of Sudan. By this term is understood the region south of the Sahara, limited on the west and south by the Atlantic Ocean as far as it reaches. From the Gulf of Guinea in- land, there is no definite southern border line. It may, however, be assumed at the fifth degree of north latitude, as forming the limits of our present knowledge everywhere except in the east, where the latest discoveries in the Nile region have been extended farther towards the equator. This Nile region is generally taken as the eastern frontier of Sudan, although it properly reaches to the foot of the Abyssinian highlands. Hence modern maps have introduced the appropriate expression " Egyptian Sudan " for those eastern districts comprising Senaar, Korclofan, Darfur, and some others. Sudan is therefore, strictly speaking, a broad tract of country reaching right across the whole continent from the Atlantic seaboard almost to the shores of the Pied Sea, and is the true home of the Negro races. When our knowledge of the interior has become suf- ficiently extended to enable us accurately to fix the geo- graphical limits of the Negroes, it may become desirable to make the term Sudan convertible with the whole region inhabited by them. SUDAN. 109 2. General Features. The conformation of the land and other physical fea- tures of this wide domain are naturally as varied as are the races inhabiting it. Hence it will be here impossible to do more than give a general survey of these lands and peoples, still almost entirely cut off from intercourse with the rest of the world. They both form the most striking contrast to the neighbouring Sahara described in the two foregoing chapters ; but the transition from the desert to Sudan is scarcely perceptible, being effected by a tract of level pastoral steppes lying between 13° and 15° north latitude ; beyond these begins a series of uplands and mountainous districts, interrupted by a number of plateaux, and crossed by some great streams. Of these the most important are the Senegal and the Gambia in the west ; the Assinie and the Volta in the south ; and, above all, the great river Mger, and the Shari feeding Lake Chad. 3. The Coast of Guinea. The course of the mighty river Niger forms with the sea coast an irregular triangle, and may serve as an excel- lent line of demarcation for certain territories in the wide expanse of Sudan. All the country lying west of the Upper Niger is comprised under the general name of Senegambia. The space between the two sides of the triangle belongs, at least in its northern portion, to the Fulah or Fidbe or Fellatah, but is very little known, and, with the exception of one line through it traversed by I >i. Barth, has scarcely yet been visited by Europeans. We possess accurate information of the base or coast line only, Europeans, and especially the English, having here established numerous settlements. This is called tin' Upper Guinea Coast, and is again divided into several 110 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. sections, as, going eastwards, the Sierra Leone and the Windward, Pepper, or Grain Coasts, where is situated the ludicrous free state of Liberia ; farther on, the Ivory and Gold Coasts, where the Negroes form the confederacy of the Fantee under British protection, while the native popula- tion of Ashanti stretches farther inland. East of it is the Slave Coast, where is situated the kingdom of Dahomey, enjoying an evil repute for the sanguinary cruelty of the people. Still east of this is the projection of the delta formed by the numerous branches of the Niger which here flow into the Atlantic. 4. Native States lehceen the Niger and Nile Valley. East of the Niger and the above-described triangle formed by it, with the coast-line for its base, we enter the main group of the states of the Fellatah, limited eastward by the civilised negro states of Bornu and Baghirmi in the region of the great basin of Lake Chad. This vast lake is studded with islands, and does not lie, as was for- merly supposed, in the lowest level of the Sudan. It receives many streams, the largest being the great Shari from the south-east, the upper course of which has not yet been traced. Here we are in the true centre of the continent, on the borders of the state of Wadai, till quite recently entirely secluded, and which approaches on the east to the Egyptian Sudan. Instead of the waterless desert, with its dried-up river beds, scanty vegetation, wide uninhabited plains, and scat- tered nomad tribes, Sudan thus presents the picture of a richly watered, diversified, fertile, and highly cultivated land, with a varied fauna and tropical flora, wherein dwell many populous and settled nations, who have arrived at a certain degree of civilisation. WESTERN SUDAN. Ill CHAPTER X. WESTERN SUDAN OR SENEGAMBIA. 1. The French Settlements in Senegambia. By Senegambia is understood the region stretching from the river Senegal southwards to the coast of Sierra Leone, but without any well-defined inland frontiers on the east. Of the three European powers which have settled on this portion of the African coast, France pos- sesses the largest extent of territory. The whole of the left bank of the lower Senegal river and the coast from the mouth of that river southward past Cape Yerde to near the mouth of the Gambia, is in the hands of the French. Farther south their isolated possessions are the greater part of the banks of the Cazamance river, with Carabane for the chief station ; factories on the Eio Nunez, on the Rio Pongo, and on the Mellacoree or Mal- lecory river north of Sierra Leone. Between the Senegal and Gambia, or inland from the main tract of territory belonging to them, the French also exercise a certain authority in the interior, and are now making strenuous efforts both to direct the current of trade to their settle- ments on the Senegambian coast, and to establish a con- nection across the desert between these settlements and their Algerian possessions. 2. Toivns of St. Louis, Dakar, and Gore'e. The seat of government of French West Africa is WESTERN SUDAX. Ill CHAPTEE X. WESTERN SUDAN OR SENEGAMBIA. 1. The French Settlements in Senegambia. By Senegambia is understood the region stretching from the river Senegal southwards to the coast of Sierra Leone, but without any well-defined inland frontiers on the east. Of the three European powers which have settled on this portion of the African coast, France pos- sesses the largest extent of territory. The whole of the left bank of the lower Senegal river and the coast from the mouth of that river southward past Cape Verde to near the mouth of the Gambia, is in the hands of the French. Farther south their isolated possessions are the greater part of the banks of the Cazamance river, with Carabane for the chief station ; factories on the Eio Nunez, on the Eio Pongo, and on the Mellacoree or Mal- lecory river north of Sierra Leone. Between the Senegal and Gambia, or inland from the main tract of territory belonging to them, the French also exercise a certain authority in the interior, and are now making strenuous efforts both to direct the current of trade to their settle- ments on the Senegambian coast, and to establish a con- nection across the desert between these settlements and their Algerian possessions. 2. Toivns of St. Louis, Dakar, and Gore'e. The seat of government of French West Africa is 112 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. the town of St. Louis, at the mouth of the Senegal, with a population of 15,650 (in 1872), including a motley gathering of colours and vagabond elements, many volup- tuous " Signares " (half-blood negresses), and a few Euro- peans. But the chief commercial town is Dakar, on the peninsula of Cape Verde, inhabited by about 2800 Negroes, and from 200 to 300 Europeans, mostly French. This is the most flourishing of all the French colonies. About a mile from Dakar is the important fortress of Gor^e, a basalt island at the entrance to the harbour ; and on the opposite mainland, in line with these, the populous settlement of Eufisque. Goree, with its 2800 inhabitants, has more to show in the way of buildings and civilisation than Dakar itself. However, this can scarcely apply to the Negro quarter, where the huts, from 12 to 16 feet high, 10 feet broad and deep, formed like haycocks of grass and reeds, are very crowded, and oc- cupied generally by four or five persons, who share the undivided space in the interior in common. But a charm is imparted to the place by the luxuriant oleanders with their purple blossom and the yellow flowering cactuses, beautiful to the eye but dangerous to the touch, owing to their microscopic thorns and the numerous insects by which they are infested. 3. The DdJcar Negroes. Amongst the twenty odd stone buildings there are three or four so-called hotels, bearing the grand names of " Hotel de France," " Hotel des Messageries Rationales," and so on. Attached to these hotels are stores supplying every want the heart can desire, from straw hats and silk dresses to a slice of cheese. The landlords are French- men, while the waiters and salesmen are Negroes, whose habits may here be conveniently studied. In the evening WESTERN SUDAN. 113 they huddle round a coal fire in front of the hotel, and devour their evening meal, mostly of maize variously pre- pared, out of a common dish or plates made of gourd skins. The children run about quite naked, but decked with amulets and a quantity of glass beads, agates, and the like. The mothers carry their infants astride on their backs, leaving nothing exposed except the head, and in this way go about their daily occupations without paying- further heed to the little creatures. Yet they are seldom heard to cry, and are quite happy and cheerful in their apparently uncomfortable position. The mothers, how- ever, Oscar Canstatt tells us, will readily part with them for a two-franc piece. For a few sous the women are easily induced to per- form their national dances in the huts. One beats away on an inverted calabash, while the others throw them- selves into the most astonishing attitudes, all the while muttering a monotonous kind of song, consisting of the incessant repetition of two or three words. This dance is called tam-tam, which is also an expression of delight uttered on receiving a gift of any sort. The Dakar Negro type is, as a rule, not very fine. They have unusually prominent lower jaws and under lips, with very little woolly hair, and a complexion neither brown nor black, but rather of a dark gray, with a dash of bronze in it. On their neck, hands, and legs they wear, mostly very reverentially, amulets, rings, coins, and every imaginable thing, but most commonly one or more little linen packages, about quarter the size of a playing- card, containing a solid, thick substance sewn up in a gray linen cover, and never exposed to view. Many wear these charms fastened to a tuft of hair on the top of their heads, but others have the head shorn, with the exception of a circlet of locks. 114 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. 4. The Mandingo and Fulah Races. The negroes here described are members of the Serere- Wolof (Jolof, Zolof), a race inhabiting the wide alluvial plain between the Lower Senegal and Gambia rivers, and the Faleme tributary of the Senegal. Farther on, in the hilly districts of the interior, dwell the Mandingoes, or Malinke, and the SoninJee, who are justly looked on as the Jews of Africa, being mainly engaged in " exchange and barter." These races occupy the western slopes of the hills, where rise the Senegal, the Gambia, and the Niger. Formerly this mountain system was described as the Kong Mountains, a name which seems to be gradually disappearing from the map. One of its branches runs eastwards parallel with the coast of Upper Guinea ; but in Senegambia it developes into a series of plateaus, not yet sufficiently explored, on the western and northern WESTERN SUDAN. 115 borders of which dwell the above-mentioned Mandingoes and Soninke, reaching as far as and beyond the Niger. Of these the most considerable branch are the Bam- barras, who hold themselves as far better and superior to the rest of men even in respect of language. They live on both sides of the Upper Niger, between 11° and 15° north latitude, and their land is in some places very fairly peopled. Quite distinct from these are the Fulbe, Fide, Fulah, or Fellatah (singular, Pul, or Pullo), a race, perhaps ori- ginally of eastern origin, which in recent centuries has spread outward over the Sudan from the plateaux of the upper Senegal eastward again towards Bornu. Converted to Mohammedanism in the middle of the eighteenth cen- tury, they began religious wars on the surrounding pagans, and were successful in absorbing and incorporating with themselves the many different and distinct nationalities met with in their advance, and in founding several great empires, some of which are still, it appears, increasing in extent and power. From this amalgamation with other races, it follows that the Fellatah differ much among themselves in appearance ; some travellers describe them as true Negroes, others as having features of almost Euro- pean mould ; many have a red skin, are tall and slim, with much finer features and less woolly hair, and are much more capable of culture than are the genuine black races. Jointly with the Mandingoes they inhabit the territory of Futa-Jallon, explored by the French traveller Lambert in 1860. 5. TJie Futa-Jallon Highlands. Futa-Jallon is the well-peopled hilly land, in whose central plateau are found the sources of the Senegal, Faleme, Gambia, Kio Grande, and twenty other streams, including several tributaries of the Niger. Lambert's 116 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. route thither lay through a forest enlivened with birds of gorgeous plumage and watered by many streams, swarm- ing with bees and heavy with the perfume of honey WESTERN SUDAN. 117 Many trees here attain a gigantic size, above all the mighty Bomhax and the JVetteh, one of the finest of the family of leguminous plants. This is spread over the whole of Sudan ; its fruit resembles a bean-pod, and contains a sweet pulpy substance from April to June, affording no inconsiderable portion of their nourishment to the caravans crossing the countries where it grows. Lambert met no beasts of prey in these woods, but dog-headed apes in abundance. The mandrils (Cyno- ecphalus mormon) especially showed themselves very daring. The villages of the Fulah herdsmen and of their slaves, who till the ground for their shepherd masters, occupy the highlands. Through a series of uplands and valleys Lambert made his way to Fokumba, the holy city of Futa-Jallon and the cradle of Mohammedanism in this land, and to the chief town Timbo, at the foot of a hill 1000 feet high and with 3000 inhabitants at the utmost. 6. Mage and Quintins Expedition to the Niger. The northern parts of the interior of Senegambia are still amongst the least known regions of Africa. It is extremely difficult even for a single traveller to penetrate from Senegal to Timbuktu, the whole country being in the hands of petty Negro kings, of whom some only are on friendly terms with the French, and the majority in constant feuds amongst themselves. The encroachments of the Mohammedan zealots on the old primeval heathen- dom of the blacks has kindled the torch of war in those lands, keeping them all but completely barred from the visits of strangers, especially of Christians. Mungo Park, travelling eastward from the British factory of Pisania on the Gambia in 1795, was the first to reach the great river Niger at Sego, in the kingdom of Bambarra, and he then followed its course downward as far as Silla. In his 118 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. second journey of 1805 he again reached the Niger in the Bambarra country, and building a boat there, embarked to explore the whole length of the great river, but never returned, having been killed by the natives, it is believed, at a narrow gorge through which the river rushes near Bussa in 10° N., 500 miles up from the Delta. In 1826 Major Laing, another intrepid British explorer, was the first to reach the famed town of Timbuktu, near the upper bend of the Niger, which Park had passed in 1806. He too fell a victim to the cupidity of one of the warlike tribes of the southern border of the Sahara, having been assassi- nated while endeavouring to make his way northward to Marocco. Two years later, the Frenchman, Bene Caillic, travelling disguised as an Arab, after enduring excessive hardships, was the first to bring back to Europe an account of the long-sought city of Timbuktu, the rock upon which, in two or three generations past, the lives of so many brave travellers had been lost. In the years 1863-1866, the two French officers E. Mage and Dr. Quintin contrived to push forward from Senegal to Sego on the Niger. The Senegal not being navigable even for a small boat, the expedition was obliged to proceed along its banks as far as Fort Bakel, after which point they had to cross its numerous tributaries and affluents. Thus Medine was reached, the most advanced outpost of the French on the Senegal, near which place the river falls over the cataracts of Felu. From the heights of Natiaga, higher up on the left bank of the river, Mage enjoyed a magnificent prospect. Bight away to Dingira he com- manded a view of the windings of the river, the waterfalls and rapids shimmering in a silver light, and the majestic hills of Natiaga showing out in bold relief. Here the land is marvellously fertile, water everywhere abundant, and the streams swarming with fish. Nor is there any WESTERN SUDAN. 119 lack of gold and iron, while in the rapids is treasured up a vast motive power for the future. Meanwhile, however, all this lavish wealth is lost on the people, who have not yet learned even to clothe themselves with common decency. The women go half naked, the dwellings are wretched, and domestic and agricultural implements are of the sorriest description imaginable. It was only with unspeakable labour that Mage and his expedition succeeded in penetrating up and along the river as far as Kundiau, a veritable fortress built of stone in the midst of a country rich in gold and corn. But they had now to journey for three days across the land of Bating, a sort of desert beyond the valley of the Senegal leading through the Mandingo territory to Morena, where they for the first time met with women wearing a different and much handsomer head-dress than do their Mandingo sisters. The province of Jiangunte, with its chief town Jiangirte encircled with high walls, brought them at last to the frontiers of the kingdom of Sego, where the land became more and more mountainous. Wooded country succeeds to the plain : valleys begin to break the uniformity of the landscape, and now and then great rocks rise from the soil. Here also the tobacco fields were more frequently met with in the neighbourhood of the villages. And thus they reached Yamina, the second town in importance in the state, and soon after the capital itself — Segoo on the Niger. 120 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. CHAPTEE XL THE COAST OF GUINEA. 1. From the Gamhia to Fernando Po. The most important points along the coast of Upper Guinea are in the hands of the English, who have here founded numerous trading stations. In these regions the development of commerce is hindered by many causes, foremost amongst which are a generally unhealthy climate, and the indolence and dishonesty of the natives. Yet, in spite of these depressing drawbacks, enormous quantities of palm-oil, nuts, ginger, pepper, and other produce of the interior, are brought down for sale or barter on the coast. There is a small but important English colony at Bathurst on the river Gambia. Besides British Combo, ad- joining Bathurst, the British possess several trading ports up the river, the principal one being that on McCarthy's Island, 140 miles in direct distance from the coast. The river is well known upward to the rapids of Barrakunda, a distance of 3 miles, and it is navigable for this distance from the sea. The town of Bathurst is situated on St. Mary's Isle, a sandbank on the south side of the river-mouth, separated from the continent by a tidal stream called Oyster Creek, from the quantity of oysters growing on the branches of the trees dipping into it. Its streets are laid out at right angles, but are formed of fine sand on which progression is slow. Its chief houses, the stores of the European merchants, front the river, the ground- OR KokcHo Jerrys >TFruJ& Tapt & B ^rtffcg^a^ i «ft^' ■-... O RDlffl leixvo ^"^Keffi Abd fe> Seng ££?-*' B o t x o«Br\p L o ^\y**S idtU T .,. oJL "V" \ ,rivV^»Ho.ieivi m! '- A°' 4g1 ! Q H.WilKam M^? OriMkpiev I GAR A x p% I O 1 M t ft ,R, oBEMKl fls r doh Lumiat; (I "*faS , FARFAR,; <$£ t /t Jkj/tjV I'aii/i nkgua/ ioAtani oBanem, t[ Fan dll Wlkiun ^ Utiom4a% ?WtarV!Uxig<-\ *C-J~— > .9 MFT*T >I() rfjolpryungcL ./: ^^n^^^'^lC.^^ljXr-VB.;^! B U D I KHJM WekTwwi ■ %*,"'?•< "' v"" A ; . """"---. ?ulu-,Town- f'-'.J> o: «#■-' AGASYE Gbch T A Af ■ p olio -Ooojiq ° FERNANDO PO >* ^/)?i>,o D 8 "^V ■StarvfoTvUs Gecg z Estab*. GOLD COAST, LAGOS, NIGER DELTA &r. t.l. in: K.lw:u,l Si unl'.-nl, [, r, Ch;um£ THE GUINEA COAST. 121 floor being used for trading purposes, the upper part as residences. The Government house, barracks, and hospital are on this line, which enjoys most of the sea breeze, and between it and the water grow wide-spreading india-rubber and silk-cotton trees, affording shady retreats. A multi- tude of seemingly half-dressed black people crowd the market, and business is carried on amidst a babel of languages shouted and yelled, for representatives of many tribes come thither from long distances by the Gambia. The native dwellings are cheaply constructed of uprights fixed in the sand, covered by strips of bamboo, and roofed with palm leaves. " The tall Mandingoes, Joloffs, and men of other tribes, having laid aside their walking robes, extend their noble forms on the sand, surrounded by women and children laughing and squalling. At night they organise festivities ; drums are beaten, the elegant tom-tom is heard, dance and revelry are combined until long after midnight. And thus they enjoy life." 1 Though navigable for a long distance through most fertile regions, the Gambia brings down at present only driblets of the immense produce which it may convey at some future time. Ground-nuts, hides, beeswax in cakes, and a trifle of gold dust, are the pro- ducts of the river banks, and cotton can be sent in quantity from the Gambia when its price is high at home. Three days' run by steamer southward along the coast takes us to Sierra Leone, which was united with the Gambia territory in 1875 under one colonial governor. To the eyes of a new-comer the peninsula of the " Lion Hill " appears a perfect paradise ; the land inclines gradually upward into hills about 2500 feet above the sea-level, abundantly covered with tropical vegetation. The settle- ment was first started in 1787, and in 1808 it was made into a colony, and was used as a refuge for slaves captured 1 Trading Life in West Africa, by John Whitford, F.R.G.S., 1877. THE GUINEA COAST. 121 floor being used for trading purposes, the upper part as residences. The Government house, barracks, and hospital are on this line, which enjoys most of the sea breeze, and between it and the water grow wide-spreading india-rubber and silk-cotton trees, affording shady retreats. A multi- tude of seemingly half-dressed black people crowd the market, and business is carried on amidst a babel of languages shouted and yelled, for representatives of many tribes come thither from long distances by the Gambia. The native dwellings are cheaply constructed of uprights fixed in the sand, covered by strips of bamboo, and roofed with palm leaves. " The tall Mandingoes, Joloffs, and men of other tribes, having laid aside their walking robes, extend their noble forms on the sand, surrounded by women and children laughing and squalling. At night they organise festivities ; drums are beaten, the elegant tom-tom is heard, dance and revelry are combined until long after midnight. And thus they enjoy life." 1 Though navigable for a long distance through most fertile regions, the Gambia brings down at present only driblets of the immense produce which it may convey at some future time. Ground-nuts, hides, beeswax in cakes, and a trifle of gold dust, are the pro- ducts of the river banks, and cotton can be sent in quantity from the Gambia when its price is high at home. Three days' run by steamer southward along the coast takes us to Sierra Leone, which was united with the Gambia territory hi 1875 under one colonial governor. To the eyes of a new-comer the peninsula of the " Lion Hill " appears a perfect paradise ; the land inclines gradually upward into hills about 2500 feet above the sea-level, abundantly covered with tropical vegetation. The settle- ment was first started in 1787, and in 1808 it was made into a colony, and was used as a refuge for slaves captured 1 Trading Life in West Africa, by John "Whitford, F.R.G.S., 1877. 122 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. by British vessels along the coast. The descendants of these slaves form the bulk of the population. Kroomen from farther south form an independent community, and there are besides a number of natives of the countries lying between this and the Niger. The white population of the capital seldom exceeds 75 in number, and in the whole colony there are not more than 250 white people. The British Government, presumably in order to conciliate the blacks, has given them full liberty to act and speak as they please. They have accordingly attained to an unexampled degree of shamelessness, and consider themselves far superior to the whites. In order to give the principle of equality full scope, they were even conceded the right of acting on juries. Forming the great majority, they acted here as they have never failed to do in like circumstances, in North America and elsewhere. They invariably brought in the verdict against the whites and in favour of their black brethren, so that it was at last found necessary to deprive them of the privilege. Altogether the state of things in Sierra Leone is not calculated to inspire us with a very high idea of the genius of the English for colonisation. The principal place on the peninsula is Freetown, on a hill above which the Government house is pleasantly situated. The barracks lie still higher, but the merchants prefer to live in the town or its outskirts. Almost every house has its garden, in which the delicious avocada pear, orange, citron, pomegranate, mango, banana, cocoa-nut, pine-apple, and various other fruits are grown. Ginger, pepper, arrowroot, coffee, rice, palm-oil, and many other valuable products, are capable of large cultivation in the colony ; but the tillage of the land is the last resource of the people, who, if they can, lead a perfectly indolent life. Crowds of vagabond loafers abound everywhere. Owing mainly to the want of drainage, a foul malarious fog, THE GUINEA COAST. 123 drawn up by the fiercely shining sun, spreads over the lowlands after heavy rains, breeding fever and death to such an extent as to have given Sierra Leone the name of the " white man's grave." FREETOWN. Sherboro Island and portions of the banks of the navigable Sherboro river 50 miles southward of Sierra Leone belong to the colony. There are five European factories on the banks of the Sherboro, each with its storehouses for " palm kernels," palm oil in casks, and salt. Everything that the negro heart can fancy is sent out to barter, and powder to devastate neighbouring tribes is a favourite medium of exchange, though towards Euro- peans the tribes of the Sherboro are peacefully disposed. 124 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. The projected exchange of the English settlements on the Gambia for the isolated French settlements between that river and Sierra Leone, which might have the effect of consolidating the English possessions on the west coast of Africa, and rendering the administration easier, has not yet been carried out, nor is it very likely to be realised. The British settlements in question have certainly a population of only about 15,000, almost exclusively Negroes, but they command the trade of the Gambia, which is navigable a long way into the interior. Bathurst, the chief town, is within ten days' sail of Liver- pool, and only forty-six days' journey from Timbuktu, all favourable circumstances for the future prosperity of the place. Even now the trade on the Gambia is considerable, amounting in 1874 to about £290,000, imports and exports ; and the resources of the colony are sufficient to meet the expenses of the local administration, which cannot be said of many similar little possessions. The third European power which has obtained posses- sion of some points of this coast is that of Portugal. Nomi- nally the Portuguese claim a large extent of coast land between the Pdo San Pedro (13° 7' N.) below the entrance to the Gambia river and Cape Verga, north of the Pdo Pongo ; but the territories actually in their possession are very small indeed, having together an area not exceeding 3 square miles, and with a population of little over 9000 in 1873. The islands of Bolama and Gallinhas, the inmost of those of the Bissagos archipelago, are perhaps the most important points occupied by them. Bolama has at several periods been settled by the British, especially between the years 1842-47, but on account of the hostility of the natives the post was given up, and it after- wards passed under the nominal rule of Portugal. On the rivers of the mainland the Portuguese have stations at Bissao at the mouth of the river Geba, and the post of THE GUINEA COAST. 125 Geba higher up the same river; on the river San Do- mingo, the next north of this, they have the stations of Cacheo and Farim ; and on the Cazamance, the post of Zinguichor, adjoining the French settlements on that estuary. 2. Slavery — Its Causes — Vain Attempts at suppression. Amongst all the African Negroes slavery flourishes vigorously. Here it has not been introduced from abroad, but is a national institution of native growth which has existed openly from the earliest times, so that it may be said that in Africa one half of the inhabitants are the slaves of the other half. Slavery has its origin in many causes, such as the custom in war of treating all captives as slaves, and hunger, which compels many free- men to renounce their independence. Other causes of this scourge of humanity are debt ; certain crimes, such as murder and adultery ; and, lastly, sorcery, which, according to African usage, are all punished with loss of freedom. Wherever slavery prevails there flourishes the slave-trade, the demand here as in other things creating the supply. Hence all efforts hitherto made to suppress it have been very partially successful. Doubtless a vigorous blockade of the coasts might succeed in extirpating the traffic long carried on on the western seaboard ; but it could not affect that which goes on in the interior. Here, where it is barred one outlet, it immediately opens up another. That, under all circumstances, it never fails to obtain its end, is the lesson taught us by the latest attempts to suppress it on the sea-coast. The favourable results anticipated by enthu- siastic philanthropists from these efforts have not hitherto been realised. To this day the slave trade flourishes to such an extent in the Sudan, that the chief sources of wealth of most of the states in that region are derived 1 1 } 6 COMPENDIA M OF GEOGR APH Y AN D TRAVEL. from it. The Mohammedan rulers of these countries, as well as the so-called Christians of lands farther east, if they are not immediately engaged in war, employ them- selves in making raids on the neighbouring Negro countries of the south, carrying fire and sword into these lands, and driving thousands and thousands of people away from their homes into slavery. Not only are large numbers killed or wounded in such conflicts, but all those who in the subsequent march prove too weak for the journey, or fall by the way, are put to death in the most barbarous manner. Some of those who are collected in these expe- ditions remain on African soil ; many are sent out of Africa by caravans which pass overland on long journeys across the Sahara to the ports of the Mediterranean or the Eed Sea, to supply the markets of western Asia. Their fate, however, is not always a hard one, apart from their separation from home and kindred, for they are looked upon by their masters almost as members of the family, and many of them have doubtless escaped, in being made slaves, from being sacrificed at home in some sanguinary pagan rite. From this it is evident that the number of human beings brought into a state of slavery in Africa itself, by and for Africans, far exceeds that of those who have been exported by Europeans to America, though it cannot be said that in the cruelties of the transhipment, and of labour in the colonies, the European slave-dealers and slave-owners were a whit behind the Africans in barbarity. The African export slave trade was begun by the Portuguese in 1442, but until the sixteenth century, according to Macculloch, it remained of small dimensions. In 1517, however, in consequence of the representations of Las Casas, bishop of Chiapa, respecting the fearfully rapid mortality among the Indians in the mines of Haiti, Charles the Fifth permitted negroes to be conveyed to the New World from the Portuguese African possessions. THE GUINEA COAST. 127 Once begun, the exportation of these unfortunates in- creased rapidly. All maritime nations took part in the traffic. The English conveyed not fewer than 300,000 slaves out of Africa between 1680 and 1700, and be- tween the latter date and 1786 as many as 610,000 were transported to Jamaica alone. To these large num- bers must be added those who were taken to the colonies of the mainland, as well as the numbers that died in the Middle Passage. The numbers exported by the French and Portuguese were certainly not smaller. Millions, certainly, were carried over to the planta- tions of North, Central, and South America, from this region of the West African Coast, from Dahomey, and the Niger delta, as well as from Conga. Angola, and Benguela, © © ' © > © though the centre of the traffic lay in the creeks at the head of the Bight of Benin, the Benin, Bonny, Brass, Calabar, and Cameroons rivers. In 1787 a society for the suppression of the slave trade was formed in London ; but notwithstanding the exertions of Mr. William Wilberforce, whose views were seconded in Parliament by Mr. Pitt, it was not until twenty years after this that a bill making all slave trade illegal after the 1st of January 1808 passed both Houses. With England North America renounced the slave traffic. The Spanish and Portuguese slave trade in consequence increased to a great extent, and British subjects long after continued to carry on the traffic under cover of these flags. In 1833 a grand act of the British Government © © set free the slaves in all parts of the British dominions, and a sum of twenty millions sterling was awarded as an indemnification to the slave-owners, perhaps the greatest sacrifice that any nation has ever made in the cause of humanity and protection of right of property. Notwithstanding the incessant vigilance of the vessels of the British Navy on the African coast, the slave trade 128 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. there lias not ceased, though it has been driven to new and tortuous paths and corners. Many slaves are still collected in the barracoons along the coast, where they are held in readiness, and are shipped off quickly in a few hours of a single night. The profits of the traffic are so great, that the escape of a single slave ship balances the capture of three. 3. The Republic of Liberia — The Kroomen. In intimate association with this question of the slave- trade is the establishment of the Eepublic of Liberia on the Pepper or Grain Coast, which deserves special con- sideration as the only African negro state constituted on a European basis. As none but free blacks live here, it affords the best opportunity of ascertaining the amount of culture the Negro race is capable of when left to itself. Unfortunately the result is extremely disappointing, for they have only succeeded in converting Liberia into a caricature of a civilised state. In the year 1816a com- mittee was formed in Washington with the object of restoring to their native soil in Africa those of the negroes who, on the abolition of slavery, had obtained their free- dom. In 1822 this body obtained possession of a tract of land on the Pepper Coast of Upper Guinea ; and the new colony, which was to be the refuge of the freed blacks, was named Liberia, and thither the emancipated slaves were sent, and were expected to till the soil and grow coffee, sugar, indigo, to collect india-rubber and palm-oil in a land of unbounded fertility. In 1847 the colony proclaimed itself an independent republic, and the consti- tution of the new state was an imitation of that of the United States. Some years later the new-fledged republic received an important extension through the union with it of the adjoining colony of Maryland, formed under similar cir- LIBERIA. 129 cumstances. The two together form an area of nearly 9600 square miles, and have a population of about 18,000 civilised and 700,000 aboriginal negroes. On the foundation of the colony the Americans entertained high hopes of spreading the blessings of civilisation through Western Africa by entrusting these freed blacks with the industrial and social privileges of Christian peoples. But in the course of time it became evident that these were by no means qualified to induce the aboriginal peoples to give up their native and traditional customs and usages. The incidents of the years 1871 and 1872 exhibited very clearly the deep demoralisation into which the leading men of Liberia have fallen. In place of having exercised a civilising influence on the natives, the American negroes seem only to have relapsed into barbarism. The schools are in the most deplorable condition, morality at a low ebb, and the people generally, oppressed with heavy taxes, are lazy and indolent. It is but fair, however, to note that there are individual exceptions to the general rule ; our knowledge of the country inland from Liberia, for example, as yet depends wholly upon the excellent account written by Mr. Benjamin Anderson, a native Liberian, who made a journey to Musardu, in the country of the wes- tern Mandingoes, in 1868, with the object of opening up direct trade with the interior tribes. Eecently several tribes at Cape Palmas and its neighbourhood have risen against the Liberian government, which has shown itself utterly incapable of offering any successful resistance to these attacks. In a combat which took place at Harper, in the province of Maryland, October 10, 1875, the Liberian troops were entirely defeated, flying in great disorder, and leaving three guns and all their ammunition in the hands of the enemy. Monrovia, the capital of the republic, is pleasantly situated on the rising ground of the coast, well adorned K 130 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. with trees, within the promontory of Cape Mesurado, which protects the landing-place from the full swing of the Atlantic rollers. It is a facsimile of a small town in the Southern States of America, and has its " White House " (built of red brick) and a ramshackle wooden " Senate House." Trading stores and wharves face the sea, and on each side of the grass-covered streets of the town are numbers of petty shops and small hotels ; for a life of ease and luxury is imitated in parody by the coloured freemen, and they prefer to associate idly in towns and villages rather than undertake the task of farming, though those who pay attention to growing pro- duce invariably succeed. The aboriginal people of a part of Liberia, as of the adjoining coast eastward as far as Cape Palmas, are the Kroos, whose simple costume (not far removed from the primeval fig-leaf) contrasts with that of the Ameri- canised blacks. They are robust and industrious, and have been introduced as labourers into all parts of the coasts of Equatorial Africa, where the natives themselves often look upon the least work as degrading. All vessels trading on this coast take gangs of Kroomen to do the rough work of the ship, and ships of war em- ploy them to save the white crew from too much labour in the tropical sun. Every trader, from the Gambia to the equator, annually obtains a supply, and without them the commerce of Western Africa could not be carried on. Grand Cess, on the coast immediately east of the Liberian boundary, is one of their chief villages, and is a collection of thatched huts peeping out from the border of the woods behind a belt of yellow sandy beach, on which the long Atlantic waves break perpetually in foaming lines. Mr. Whitford gives the following description of a scene at this place in engaging a gang of Kroomen : — " The report of the ship's gun arouses the inhabitants, and hun- LIBERIA KROOMEN. 131 dreds of dark forms rush at once over the bright beach to launch their canoes into the surf and through it. These canoes go bobbing up and down, dancing on the blue water. They are very light, are carved out of one piece of wood, gracefully formed like a cigar tapering at both ends, and are propelled by one or two men squatted upon their heels in the bottom of the canoe, and their well- developed muscular action swiftly urges the graceful skiff towards the steamship. It is a glorious sight to watch the race of at least two hundred canoes. The paddlers yell with ecstasy as they approach, and familiarly hail well-known faces on board. Their names are peculiar. 'Nimbly/ 'Tom Bestman,' 'Shilling,' 'Bottle of Beer,' ' Prince of Wales,' ' Gladstone,' ' Flying Gib,' and hun- dreds of others equally fantastic, conferred according to the fancy of their employers, stick to them throughout life, and their heroic deeds are sung and recited to crowds of evening parties in Kroo country." The necessary number having been selected, the rest jump overboard, even after the steamer has started at full speed, and swim a mile, or it may be two, to their canoes. Head Kroomen organise the gangs, and become responsible for the proper treatment of the " boys " when away from home. On shore or on board palm-oil vessels they only engage themselves for one year, reckoning it by the number of moons, for each of which they carefully cut a notch on a piece of stick. Though a hard-working race, they are timid and superstitious, and are naturally born thieves. They come on board ship naked, but leave it laden with everything they have been able to lay hands upon. Very interesting is the fact that these Kroo negroes, who, at a distance from their home, seem fully capable of civilisation, sink back into their former barbarism on their return to their native land. While they readily acquire foreign languages, and at times give proof of a real attachment and devotion to Europeans in foreign 132 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. countries, on returning home they take the greatest pains to forget their acquirements as soon as possible, and woe to the European that ventures into their country ! How- ever well they may have been treated, they nearly always after a few years quit the service of the whites in order to return to their barbarous condition in their native place. So little attraction has our much- vaunted civilisation for these children of nature ! The coast of Liberia is generally flat and sandy, but steep and rocky in the south-east. About 20 or 25 miles inland the country rises to wooded hills, and still farther east to mountains, between which are many fruit- ful valleys. The climate, both on the coast and in the interior, is fatal to Europeans, and dangerous even for the blacks born in the temperate zone, but not unfavourable to the indigenous population. The ground contains seve- ral minerals, especially iron and copper, and here flourish many fine and useful tropical plants, such as nut-trees and dye-woods, ebony, copal, and gum plants. Of all the varieties of the palm, that producing palm-oil (Elaeis guineensis), yielding the material of which almost the whole of our common soap is made, is the most impor- tant. It is a thick-stemmed tree, the leaves of which begin a few feet above the soil, and as it grows this first set withers and gives place to other leaves higher up, which in turn wither as the tree grows older. When it attains an age for bearing fruit its graceful leaves spread in all directions, and at the point where they branch off from the stem a huge bunch of red and yellow plums or exaggerated grapes appears, each bunch containing from 800 to 1000 oil-yielding plums, and weighing in some cases half a hundredweight. No cultivation is needed, but if the undergrowth is cleared away the oil is of finer quality. The palm flourishes for a long distance inland all round the coasts of Guinea, but FRENCH STATIONS ON THE IVORY COAST. 133 it is only in the vicinity of the villages that a compara- tively small number of the bunches are gathered and boiled to extract the oil ; elsewhere the ripe fruit drops and goes to waste. Besides many medicinal plants, rice and maize, cotton, the sugar-cane, and excellent coffee, grow freely ; while the table-lands of the interior produce wheat, barley, and oats. Of the animal kingdom, the elephant, hippopotamus, leopard, crocodile, and red-deer are now rarely met ; but the woods abound in apes, chameleons, ants, and lizards, some species of the latter being useful in ridding the houses from insects and vermin of all sorts. 4. Ivory Coast — French Stations — Condition of the Slaves. East of the Grain Coast, so called from the grain of the Meleguetta pepper plant (Amomum granum paraclisii), lies the flat monotonous Ivory Coast, producing nothing but cocoa groves, affording no ivory now, and for nearly its whole length fringed by lagoons, into which flow the rivers on the coast. Here the French possess the forts of Assinie, Dabou, and Grand Bassam, one of the most im- portant gold marts, but these settlements have been unoccupied by them since 1871. On this coast the relations of the slaves present some very remarkable features. They are often seized with a weariness of existence, on being informed of which their masters present them with a flask of rum. With this they make themselves drunk, in which state the execu- tioner beats out their brains with a club. Their bodies are then left unburied, as food for the birds and beasts of prey. In Great Buba, however, the affair is not transacted in quite so simple a way. Here the master brings the despondent slave to the village elder, who urges every imaginable argument against his suicidal mania. Failing 134 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. these remonstrances, a grand " palaver " of all the elders is held, but it is rare that even they succeed in talking him over. He is then bound fast to a tree, and the whole assembly rush on him like wild beasts. He is instantly torn to pieces, but all taking part in the ceremony pay a tribute to the master to indemnify him for his loss, and enable him to procure another less melancholy-mad slave. Human sacrifices are regularly offered at the " Igna- men " feasts, which occur generally in October, and the slaves employed to bury a chieftain are often immolated to his manes, as was the practice of the Gaulish and other ancient peoples. Equality is recognised by the savages neither in life nor in death, which is always accompanied with superstitious practices. In Grand Bassam the hus- band enjoys the right of life and death over his wife, and Admiral Fleuriot tells of a chieftain who informed him casually and very coolly that he was in mourning for his wife, whom he had put to death. To the remonstrances of the Frenchman he contented himself with answering — " After all, what did it matter ? She was grown old, and past child-bearing." His conscience had never been troubled by the deed, and yet we are assured that there is but one moral law for all mankind. 5. The Gold Coast — British Settlements. The Gold Coast was known as early as 1366, and was settled from time to time by the French, Portuguese, Dutch, British, the Danes, and for a time also by the Brandenburgers. It consists of the outer margin of a plain of about 15 miles in average width, bounded land- ward by hills covered with primeval forest. Besides the gold, which is washed in the rudest w r ay by the negroes from the alluvial soil, its chief wealth is the oil-palm, the product of which is constantly being exported in THE GOLD COAST. 135 larger and larger quantity, giving rise to an extraordinarily busy traffic. Up to the moment of the abolition of slavery the whole enormous quantity of the oil that was brought down to the coast was carried thither in cala- bashes on the heads of the natives. Other valuable vegetable resources are the oil-yielding ground-nut, yams, and maize. All attempts to introduce cattle and horses have as yet failed owing to the presence of the poisonous tsetse fly (Glossina morsitans). As for the climate, the earlier missionaries who settled here up to 1841 died to a man. Intermittent fevers, liver complaint, and the guinea- worm, are the scourges of the coast-land. The Gold Coast is now entirely in the hands of the English, to whom the Dutch sold their possessions here in 1872. These consisted of the important settlement of Elmina, with the Government house and a fort, and the factories of Axim, Boutry, Chama, Appam, Winnebah, and Accra. The value of the imports during late years amounted to about £700,000, and of the exports to about £650,000 a year. But the revenue being merely nomi- nal, and the expenditure considerable, the Dutch had to make up the difference when parting with an unprofitable possession, retained by them only because they were here enabled to raise black troops for service in their East Indian colonies. But the Dutch factories were inconveniently situated between those of the English, whose chief station on the Gold Coast is Cape Coast Castle. Hence it was only for the sake of rendering her possessions more compact that England was induced to purchase the Dutch factories, just as she had already purchased those of the Danes on the same seaboard in 1850. She thereby gained no material advantage, but on the contrary became again involved in a conflict with her old hereditary enemies the Ashantees. 136 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. 6. The Ashantee Kingdom. The Negro kingdom of Ashantee, lying inland from the English settlements between the rivers Assinie and Volta, is now practically cut off altogether from the Coast. Here its trade has no longer an outlet except by the round- about and unsafe route leading to the French station of Assinie at the mouth of the river of the same name. It is also constantly threatened by the Fantees, the coast tribe, who have acknowledged the authority of the British, and live at perpetual feud with the Ashantees. The sanguinary war of 1873-74, following on the transfer of the Dutch settlements, resulted in the famous march of the English on Coomassie, capital of the kingdom, the burning of that town, and the complete overthrow of the Ashantee power. This Ashantee war has been so far of advantage to the Gold Coast that it obliged the English Government to change the former protectorate into an absolute dominion and to construct strategical roads in the country. Lastly, in July 1874, the country was constituted into the " Colony of the Gold Coast," and annexed to the establishment at Lagos ; and in December of the same year slavery was abolished, whereby the way was prepared for a complete revolution of the social relations. 7. Natives of the Gold Coast — Religion of the Fantees. There are several distinct tribes of natives on the Gold Coast, no less than four different languages being spoken within a tract of five days'' journey in extent. The missionaries were obliged, with the assistance of Professor Lepsius of Berlin, to prepare an alphabet for these various idioms, which now boast of a copious educational literature. There are altogether twenty-seven THE GOLD COAST. 137 Christian communities, with schools attended by about 1200 scholars. But civilisation finds a great obstacle in the excesses of the natives, amongst whom rum, firearms, and tobacco were the only articles formerly taken in exchange for slaves. Hence it is not perhaps surprising that Christianity has hitherto made but little progress, and that the great bulk of the natives are still addicted to their old heathenish practices. The African lives in constant commune with the beings of another world. The Fantee, when about to take a draught from his palm-wine gourd, never forgets first to pour a little on the ground and invite his protecting deity to drink with him. Unbelief is unknown to the savage. He may neglect his gods, refuse them homage, even defy their power, but he never doubts their existence, as a matter of course attributes sickness and all other misfortunes to their offended majesty, makes them presents, and asks their forgiveness. He endows them with human tempera- ments, and holds them in the light of tyrannical chieftains or kings. He tells you that some of them are good, but not all goodness, for they are liable to take offence ; that others are evil, but not altogether evil, for they may be appeased. The African does not exactly worship the principle of evil in the same way that did of old the dwellers in the plains of Babylonia, but only to the extent of addressing more prayers and offering more sacrifices to the evil than to the good divinities, precisely as they pay heavier tribute to oppressive than to more beneficent kings. At the same time he knows nothing of true loyalty. He pays his taxes simply through fear, and it is the same with the worship of his god. His cardinal virtue is his devotion to his family, a feeling reaching beyond the limits of life and the visible world. The members of the same family, and even of the same tribe, are bound by ties of the greatest fidelity 138 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. one to the other. Towards others they may show them- selves treacherous, dishonest, and ruthless ; amongst themselves they are ever kind, loving, and true. The dead are often buried in the house occupied by them when alive. Their kinsmen do not look on them as bodies devoured by worms, but as an ethereal spirit hovering around their hearths, and still living in associa- tion with them. Hence the frequent custom of setting some food or a bowl of palm wine apart for their deceased relatives ; for the African believes that in the food also dwells a soul that the spirit of the departed can partake of, while the matter itself of their nourishment, like the bodies of men, falls a prey to corruption. Tell him that the souls of the dead dwell in spaces far removed from earth, and he laughs at you with a conscious feeling of superior wisdom, and relates of ghosts seen by him at night, and of mysterious sounds which have reached his ears. Knows he not, moreover, that the dear ones are in his midst ? Is he not persuaded that he lives in their very presence ? Hence he feels no sense of loneliness ; when he has no human fellowship the ghosts of the dead are at his side, and he sings to them of his joys and his sorrows. 8. Strange Customs of the Fantees. The following usages and practices of the West African tribes, and especially of the Fantees, are perhaps not so generally known. For the whole people, male and female, there are no names except the seven male and female days of the week. The choice being thus naturally rather limited, recourse is had to nicknames. Another original habit on the Gold Coast is the practice of pledging each other. Fathers and mothers pledge their sons and daughters, husbands their wives and wives THE GOLD COAST. 139 their husbands, with the same indifference with which our students are wont to pawn their watches. The worst feature of this arrangement is that the female so pledged remains entirely at the disposition of the receiver. If a male pledge dies, the body is made fast to the branch of a tree high up in the air out of reach of prowling beasts. As the native tribes believe in the immortality of the soul, as above stated, and are further persuaded that the deceased cannot undertake his journey to the eternal regions until his remains are buried, his relations make the most vigorous efforts to obtain the release of the body. The Fantee rejoices in the possession of two devils — Abonsam and Sasabonsam. The former rules over the wicked in heaven ; the latter, a huge monster of human shape and red colour, with long hair and in league with sorcerers and witches, holds sway on earth. Sir Sasa- bonsam dwells in the deepest recesses of the gloomy forest, generally in the vicinity of some gigantic bombax tree. The custom of celebrating the death of their friends by exceedingly riotous orgies here also prevails, and is attended with the usual often lamentable consequences. The mortality amongst children is comparatively high on the Gold Coast. 9. Chief Towns of the Gold Coast. Elmina, situated about midway in the length of the Gold Coast, was the earliest European settlement in this region, having been formed by the Portuguese before the discovery of America, in 1481 ; the Dutch admiral De Ruyter took it by stratagem in 1637, and it remained the capital of the possessions of Holland on this coast till its transfer to Britain in 1873. The Baya, an arm of the 140 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TBAVEL. sea, enters at the landing-place of Elmina, and, running parallel with the shore for some distance, is separated from the ocean by a narrow strip of sandy soil terminat- ing in a rocky promontory on which stands the castle of St. George. The lower part of the spit is occupied by Elmina town ; the Baya is spanned by a stone bridge, and on the other side is the Garden town, a long street shaded by umbrella trees and containing the houses of the merchants, and overlooked by three little hills surmounted by forts. The population of Elmina is estimated at about 18,000 to 20,000. Cape Coast Castle lies in a gorge or chasm of a high bank of red clay covered above with jungle and fronted by a strip of white beach on which a roaring surf con- tinually breaks. Three hills behind it have three small forts perched on them, one of which serves as lighthouse and signal station. The great castle, like an old church in a rural village, stands on a slope close to the water's edge. In the native part of the town, which is believed to have about 10,000 inhabitants, filth and unwholesome- ness are the rule, naked children and lean pigs emerging from the same mud huts ; but the houses of Europeans and wealthier natives peep out pleasantly from the woods of the surrounding heights. Accra, the chief port of the eastern part of the Gold Coast, is approached in surf boats similar to those in use at Cape Coast Castle. Ships anchor abreast of the English Eort James at a distance of a mile from reefs of rock jutting out from in front of the fort. Two miles eastward is seen the large building of Christiansborg Fort, built by the Danes. Landing at the foot of James Eort a steep incline leads up to the town, which has a few good houses inhabited by merchants ; but the native houses are surrounded by garbage, which long-legged lean pigs and turkey buzzards eagerly devour, thereby acting as THE ASHANTEES. 141 the scavengers of the place. Hills rise inland at a distance of abont fifteen miles, and the country between is suitable for farms and plantations. Accra women when young- are noted for their beauty, and many of them migrate to ports east and west ; and Accra supplies excellent coopers to the whole coast. 10. Origin and Rise of the Ashantees. The last Ashantee war has thrown more light on the relations of this negro state. Winwood Eeade tells us that the Ashantees belong to the same stock as the Fantees, their respective dialects differing but little from each other. According to the tradition, on one occasion when on a warlike expedition they were compelled by hunger to separate ; one of the tribes was supported by eating the plant fan, and were hence called Fantees, or " fan-eaters ; " the other by the plant shan, hence called Shantees, or " Shan-eaters." The initial letter a is seldom heard in the mouth of the Ashantees themselves. They were raised to the position of a powerful nation by the genius of two or three nobles, who founded the capital, Coomassie, developed the local gold mines, and extended the limits of their state to the sea-coast in the west, and eastwards to Buntuku, a half Mohammedan town never yet visited by a European. The greater portion of the Ashantee country, as well as that of the Fantees, may be described as one continuous forest. " The primeval forest," says Winwood Eeade, 1 " is composed of tall and massive trees, with creepers extending like cordage from one to another, and so matting the foliage together overhead that a green roof is formed almost impenetrable to the sun. Here and there are chinks and skylights, through which the sun shoots in and 1 The Story of the Ashantee Campaign, 1874. 142 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AM) TRAVEL. falls upon the tree trunks and ground in gleams and splashes of crystal light. There is not much undergrowth, for that kind of vegetation cannot exist without sunshine, and in the virgin forest is always a kind of twilight or dim. There is no danger of sunstroke in the forest, but the heat is often suffocating — a moist, dank, sunless heat. There are many hills and dales ; the hills are composed of primary rock which sometimes lines the hollows at their feet, and then bright streams sparkle along over quartz beds glitter- ing with mica like rivers of gold. But more often the valleys are marshes and beds of black mud, where grows the bamboo with its drooping branches and pale green leaves. Through the forest runs a red or yellow path, winding as a river, and joining village to village. These are usually perched on hills, are always near water, and are embosomed in broad-leaved plantain groves. But the plantations of the villages are at some little distance, and are frequently changed. The natives make a planta- tion by cutting down trees and letting them lie, but burning the branches. They sow their crops in the ashes, and in three years' time the soil is exhausted, and they have to cut a clearing again. Now, on the site of the abandoned plantation, which is freely exposed to sun and rain, springs up a thick scrubby vegetation, which I shall term jungle : it is a thick undergrowth almost impene- trable, except to the axe and the knife, but rises to a considerable height." The King of Ashantee should perhaps be called a constitutional monarch, but he has many absolute powers. On ascending the throne he is warned by his chiefs that if he does not choose to follow certain fundamental laws he will be at once dethroned ; but in details his tyrannical power is unlimited. He gives judgment in person, and is aided in this by a body of examiners who investigate circumstances and hear witnesses, bring- THE ASHANTEES. 143 in£ the case to the king for final decision. Although there is a Muslem quarter in the capital, the king and his people are pagans. The Mohammedans are only the traders in the lands watered by the tributaries of the Niger. . The queen-mother in Ashantee holds a higher place than the other wives of the monarch ; she is the only woman in the country who may interefere in political matters or go about at will and unveiled. The king may possess 3333 wives, but not more, though according to some reports the number is unlimited. Some of these ladies are only slaves who work in the royal plantations and provide the court with cassava and figs ; others live in well-furnished apartments, and are guarded with the greatest jealousy by 150 eunuchs, devoting themselves in true oriental fashion to the enjoyment of tobacco and palm wine. Any intrigue with the royal ladies is punish- able with death ; and the executioners of the country are busily employed from sunrise to sunset in collecting their victims, leading them for exhibition through the capital, and ultimately hewing them in pieces in presence of the king. It is a remarkable usage in Ashantee that the condemned prisoner, by calling out certain words, may secure immunity from the punishment of death and the right of protection ; to prevent the possibility of this, however, the executioners attack their victim by stealth from behind, beginning their work by driving a dagger . ; through both cheeks, by which the delinquent's mouth is effectually gagged. When the king dies a number of his personal attend- ants put an end to themselves, so as to accompany the deceased on his journey to the land of shadows. These people are called " okras," or " souls," and wear a special gold badge or order which marks their office. At such a time, also, the most sanguinary saturnalia are celebrated. Hundreds of people are sacrificed ; and the young men of ' 144 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. the royal house run through the capital shooting whom they will, even those of highest rank in the country. The Ashantees believe in a life after death. Their Hades, or " Sheol," is subterranean ; there the subsolar life is con- tinued for ever ; the king resumes his royalty, but the slave remains a slave, so that for them death is only a change of place, and they die with equanimity. The proverb that " the Ashantee soup has too much salt in it," which is in use among the coast tribes, refers to their barbarous customs. Once a year in Ashantee the king goes out hunting in state ; but this is more a matter of form than otherwise, as the expedition is generally fruit- less. The king never goes barefoot, but always wears sandals richly studded with jewels, and in his journeys he is carried in a hammock, and is remarkable among his people for the splendour of his apparel. In time of war, however, he and his chiefs wear wide Turkish trousers of many-coloured cloth ; the common people, however, wear only the tunic. On gala days the chiefs appear in the market-place of Coomassie with their arms so heavily laden with gold ornaments as to be obliged to support them round the necks of slaves. The Ashantee army is the whole nation. When the order to march is given, all the capable men join their companies and leave the town, taking provisions with them. The women then collect in the streets, and if they find any shirker, they beat him unmercifully. In battle their generals remain in the rear, and hew down any who try to retreat or escape. Coomassie, though the capital of Ashantee, is not, perhaps, its most populous centre. Before its being burned down in the late war, it was well and regularly built, with wide streets, and had from 70,000 to 100,000 inhabitants. The royal palace was a huge building of hewn stone. A great deal of cloth was manufactured in Coomassie, and was excellent in its fine texture and durable qualities. TEE GOLD COAST. 145 11. The River Volta. The Volta river forms the eastern limit of the Ashantee country, but both of its banks, for a distance of about 75 miles up from the lagoon at its mouth, are embraced within the colony of the Gold Coast. This large and important river is probably destined to be a future highway of trade to the interior. It was first ascended for 60 miles in the early part of this century by Colonel Starreburg of Elmina ; Lieutenant Dolben, of H.M.S. "Bloodhound," explored 80 miles of it in 1861; and Captain Croft surveyed its lower course in 1872. M. Bonnat, a French merchant and explorer, led an ex- pedition in 1875 up the Volta for 200 miles. The rapid of Labelle, in about 7° 30' K, is the most formidable obstruction to the passage of the river in this long dis- tance, the difference of level above and below the cataract in the dry season being about 25 feet in a distance of 700 yards. During the rains, however, in September and October, the river rises 5 feet, and the rapids could then be easily passed by a steamer. Kpando (6° 50' K), not far from the left bank of the river, is the most important commercial town in the forest region through which the lower Volta passes. It was destroyed by the Ashantees in 1869, and its in- habitants were dispersed or carried off into slavery, but in 1875 it had recovered a population of 2500, and had a well-stocked market. Shea butter, palm oil, skins, cotton, rice, and native aprons, constitute the principal articles of trade. North of the seventh parallel on the Volta the river flows through a prairie country, with clumps of gum and butter trees, and abounding in antelopes, wild hogs, leopards, and monkeys. In about 8° 10' K, at a distance of 22 miles eastward from Yegiy, the highest point yet attained on the Volta, lies the L 146 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. famous city of Salaga, or Parana, the greatest commercial emporium of this part of Africa. It is described as standing on a rising ground in the midst of a vast plain. ASHANTEES. Before the Ashantee war it had upwards of 40,000 inhabit- ants, but many of its houses are now unoccupied. M. Bonnat purchased ivory here at 6d. a pound, and forty pounds of wax for 3d. Several important routes diverge from Salaga ; one leading west to Buntuku, the capital of Diaman, a country abounding in gold and ivory ; another DAHOMEY. 147 north-east to Dienne, the capital of Dagomba, said to be as large a town as Salaga itself ; and still a third to Daboya and Kong, at the foot of the mountains. 12. The Slave Coast — Ewe Tribe. East of Ashantee lies the Slave Coast, the country of the Ewe or Krepe tribes, stretching from the coast north- wards to the domain of the Wirma-Donto, and bounded on the west by the river Volta. Along the coast are several lagoons, and for a day's journey inland there extends a flat grass plain, or steppe, varied by pleasant little cocoa groves, with towns and villages. The fertility of the soil gradually increases with the number of rivu- lets and streams flowing through the plain, which in the rainy season become greatly swollen. Seen from the coast in the hazy distance, some eighty miles inland, the great Atakla raises its coffin-shaped back sheer out of the plain, with its face turned towards the rising sun, and falling very abruptly from an elevation of 1600 feet. Beyond it the land rises in gentle undulations to the hilly country at an average elevation of about 1700 feet. The negroes of this district call themselves Eweawo, that is, the Ewe people. 13. Dahomey, its Capital Abomey — Sanguinary Rites — Amazons. Their domain is bordered on the west by the king- dom of Dahomey, which bears a bad name for its whole- sale sanguinary rites and practices. The extent of this west African state was long over-estimated, and it is now known to constitute but a small portion of the great Yoruba, or Yariba, country, and appears to be every- where encircled by hostile tribes. On the east of the 148 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. coast-line, Fort-William, Porto Novo, and Badagry, are already in the hands of the Europeans. The most im- portant coast town, however, of Dahomey, is "YVhydah, two miles from its open roadstead. Like all negro towns, it covers a great extent of land, the huts being sur- rounded by gardens, nor is there any lack of other open spaces. The capital of the interior, 70 miles north of Whydah, is Abomey, first reached by the British traveller Duncan in 1845, a town with a population of probably not more than 30,000, but with a circuit of from 12 to 15 miles. It is enclosed by an earthen wall some 2 feet high, with a very wide and deep ditch. The streets are broad and tolerably clean, the houses are all surrounded by large courts, and the public places adorned with magnificent trees. Here live the Amazons and slaves of the king, and here also he keeps his treasures. He has no special apartments, but resides now in one, now in another hut with one or another of his wives. All buildings belong- ing to the royal group of huts are enclosed by an earth wall 15 or 20 feet high, and mounted by several iron spikes or prongs, on which are stuck the heads of victims, some already blanched, some with the putrid flesh still adhering to the bones, and others still fresh and dripping with gore. Yet these constantly-recurring sanguinary rites are less the residt of cold-blooded cruelty than of supersti- tious fear and pious tradition. Hence European influ- ence is already beginning to diminish the horrors of religious ceremonies hitherto looked on as essential to the welfare and prosperity of the king and his subjects. The Dahomey negroes are all fetish- worshippers, and this, like other forms of religion, has its priesthood, which is in Africa no less powerful and influential than else- where. Every conceivable object may be converted into DAHOMEY. 149 a fetish by a few magic words muttered over it by the priest. GATE OF THE GOLGOTHA IN ABOMEV. On the coast this feticism assumes the form of ophiolatry, or serpent- worship ; and in Whydah there is a special snake temple, where more than a hundred of these consecrated reptiles are preserved. The Ffons, or Dahomey negroes, are generally of 150 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. small size, but very robust. They climb the lofty pahn- trees like monkeys, drink palm-wine in moderation, but are all the more devoted to the rum-flask. They are of a pleasant, cheerful disposition, very sociable, but irre- sistibly addicted to stealing. Everything in the state, including the lives and property of his subjects, belongs, strictly speaking, to the king, who inherits as the eldest born. Besides a number of ordinary troops he has a female bodyguard of real Amazons, renowned for their bravery. All the women of this corps pass for wives of the king, but they really live in a state of celibacy. These Amazons wear a blue and white striped cotton surtout of native cloth, without sleeves, and a pair of short trousers, and carry a gun and heavy cartridge-case. They are trained to be capable of enduring the greatest hardships and fatigues. Duncan describes one of the exercises to which they are accustomed. " I was conducted," he says, " to a space of broken ground, where fourteen days had been occupied in erecting three immense prickly piles of green bush. These three clumps or piles, of a sort of strong- brier or thorn, armed with the most dangerous prickles, were placed in line, occupying about four hundred yards, and were about seventy feet wide and eight feet high. Upon examining them, I could not persuade myself that any human being without boots or shoes would under any circumstances attempt to pass over so dangerous a col- lection of the most efficiently armed plants I had ever seen. . . . The affair was got up to illustrate the capture of a town. . . . After waiting a short time the Amazons made their appearance at about two hundred yards from the first pile, where they halted with shouldered arms. In a few seconds the word for attack was given, and a rush was made towards the pile with a speed beyond conception ; in less than a minute the whole body had passed over this immense pile, and had taken the sup- posed town." YORUBA. 151 14. Lagos — The Yoruba Country — Ahbeokuta. The English have taken possession of a portion of the Slave Coast, and here is situated Lagos, the most populous town on the west coast, connected by a regular line of steamers with Liverpool, and otherwise of great com- mercial importance. It lies on an island, separated by a lagoon some fifteen miles from the mainland, here over- grown down to the water's edge by an impenetrable virgin forest. The lagoon formation renders the climate very unhealthy, producing great mortality amongst the natives themselves no less than the Europeans. The soil of the lagoon island of Lagos is sandy, covering clay ; the land is but little elevated above the ocean, and abounds in swamps. Before 1861, when Lagos was formed into a British colony, it was a filthy md savage place ; but the wretched native huts were quickly cleared away, and wide streets letting in the sea- breeze, with brick stores and comfortable dwellings above them, are now seen, with wharves running out into the lagoon. Markets have now been regulated, Houssa Zouave- dressed soldiers and a police force organised, a racecourse established, churches, schools, courthouses, custom-house, Government house, and barracks built. Where houses are not built, however, rank vegetation flourishes. The wily crocodile and voracious shark exist in the lagoon, and both seem to thrive. " The population of the town," Mr. Whitford tells us, " is estimated at about 50,000, and it is very much mixed. In addition to the original natives, many people from coun- tries bordering on the river Niger, eager to trade, have settled here. Traders from Sierra Leone, old liberated slaves, or their descendants, have also come to ameliorate their position in life, and they conduct themselves better than at Sierra Leone, for if they exhibit insolence here 152 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. they are liable to be properly punished. Various de- nominations of Christian missions have planted their Ebenezer in Lagos, and the followers of Mahomet have also established their right to benefit by the religious in- clination of the different races. Christian and Mahometan schools abound. . . . There are several followers of Maho- met wearing green turbans, to which they are entitled from having performed the pilgrimage to Mecca, crossing and recrossing the continent of Africa from Lagos to Egypt, over the Nile and across the Eed Sea to Jiddah, the port of Mecca, and then inland in Arabia the Blest to the birthplace of the Prophet." The trading stores, or factories as they are called in Lagos, belong to English, French, or German firms, and in these, guns, cloth, or " anything from a fish-hook to a cask of rum," are exchanged for palm-oil and cotton, which furnish a continual supply of cargo for homeward-bound steamers. The Guinea Coast, from Cape Palmas eastward to the Bight of Biafra, is subject to fierce short-lived hurricanes or cyclonic storms called here " tornadoes." They occur most frequently in the dry season. Mr. Whitford has given a picturesque description of one of these which occurred in the neighbourhood of Lagos. " The forenoon," he says, " had been very bright and very hot. We were seated in the verandah after mid-day breakfast enjoying the sea-breeze, when suddenly the rumble of distant thunder was heard. On looking inland towards Abbeo- kuta we observed inky clouds streaked with vivid lightning coming up rapidly against the sea-breeze. The sea-breeze ceases suddenly, and calm ensues — a calm that you can feel by the sinking of your own spirits. Presently all animals get under cover. English rabbits, in their pro- tected enclosure, scurry into their holes ; lizards catching butterflies flee out of sight ; land-crabs stop excavating YORUBA. 153 and go home. The fox-bats, asleep during the day, clinging by their claws to the branches of trees of dense foliage in the courtyard, with their bodies suspended, as is their nature, may be observed clawing a tighter hold. All labour is stopped, and everybody takes shelter. Sud- denly the sun disappears, and the ensuing darkness is appalling. The theatre of heaven bursts into tempest. Hiss, hiss, comes the lightning, flash after flash dancing- over ironwork like momentary blue flames of sulphur, totally blinding you while it lasts, while the thunder so crashes that you cannot hear anything else. ' The wind blew as 'twad blawn its last, And rattling showers rose on the blast.' Trees are broken, and branches fly through the air, and the roofs of many houses disappear. The weather doors and windows rattle almost to bursting. The rain is driven nearly horizontally, and a deluge covers the country. In half an hour the sun returns with his silent beams, and all nature is once more calm and bright." The country inland from Lagos is Yoruba, already men- tioned, in which is situated the tolerably well-known town of Abbeokuta, with a population of some 80,000, belong- ing to the Egba tribe. This is one of the few places in Africa where the zeal of Christian missionaries has not remained unrewarded. The Yoruba country, bounded on the north and east by the Lower Niger, has been to some extent made known by the explorations of Mr. Daniel May in 1858, and by the memorable travels and labours of Gerhard Eohlfs in 1867. Towards the end of his great march across North Africa, Gerhard Eohlfs crossed the Niger at Eabba, and passed straight through the Yoruba country to the coast at Lagos. He describes the gradual transition from open and cultivated country, resembling a great garden with its 154 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. beautiful flowers and gay butterflies, to undulating heights in which cultivation interchanges with woods of the oil- palm. Thence, as the ocean is gradually approached, vegetation becomes more and more luxuriant, till at length a broad belt of the same dense primeval forest as we have described on the Gold Coast intervenes to separate the cultivated interior lands from the sea. Saraki, a large town with square barrack-like buildings of clay and straw, each inhabited by a number of families, about twenty miles south of the Niger at Eabba, was the first Yoruba city which he visited. Illori, a city of about 60,000 inhabit- ants, and famed as a great market throughout all West Africa, lies about thirty miles south-west of this. It is surrounded by high but ruinous walls and deep trenches, and the circuit of these is not less than twelve miles. The dwellings in Illori are all rectangularly built, with colossal roofs of palm rafters and straw thatch ; the streets are wide and interrupted frequently by little open market- squares filled with little booths. Mosques are numerous, and king and court profess Mohammedanism. The Yoruba inhabitants are of light brown colour, and have pleasant features ; all are clothed well and cleanly, some of the women even with elegance. This is remarkable as being the last point towards the Guinea Coast at which the goods coming over Africa from Tripoli, Tunis, and Egypt are met with. The Haussa merchants bring hither bur- nouses, red " torbushes," natron from Lake Chad, essences, and silks, to exchange these for European products (cloth, powder, brandy), which are brought to this point by traders from Lagos and the other settlements on the Guinea Coast. Ibadan, between Illori and the coast, is the most populous city of Yoruba, and one of the largest in West Africa, having about 1 5 0,00 inhabitants, — a very London of negroland, with long wide streets lined with booths. THE NIGER DELTA. 155 The whole of northern Yoruba has been conquered by the Fulah Mohammedans, and belongs to the great king- dom of Gando. The Sultan of Illori, at the time of Eohlfs' visit, was a man of Fulah descent, though perfectly black. His grandfather had first extended the Mohammedan power as far over the Yoruba country as this city. Oyo, a place lying south-west of Illori, is the capital of Yoruba proper, but Ibadan has sometimes been the seat of power. 1 5. The Niger Delta — Bonny. Our notice of the coast of Guinea may be concluded with a glance at the Mger delta and the islands of the Gulf of Guinea. The land is almost a dead flat all the way to opposite the island of Fernando Po near the head of the Bight of Biafra, facing which are the volcanic Cameroon mountains, rising to an elevation of 13,120 feet. Below Abo the Niger begins to divide itself into a number of branches, which are connected together by many channels or form backwaters, whereby the main stream is much diminished in size. It has altogether twenty-two mouths. The huts of the inhabitants of the delta are of the rudest de- scription, and the people themselves, distinguished by their dark copper colour, are a wild savage race, generally of repulsive appearance, and, notwithstanding all the in- fluence of the Europeans, more than ever addicted to the grossest superstition, human sacrifices, and cannibalism. Specially notorious is the town of Bonny, where the barbarous custom prevails of burying twins immediately after their birth. In New Calabar, Old Calabar, and Abo, not only are all twins sacrificed, but also all the children whose upper teeth first appear. In some parts of Benin it is customary to sacrifice two human beings at every new moon. The spiritual chief of these negroes is the 156 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. fetish man, who on all festive occasions takes precedence of the king himself. The juju-houses, or fetish temples, are everywhere met with. " Jnju" properly means fetish, but has many other applications, and vividly recalls the " tabu " of the South Sea Islanders, and like it serves for the preservation of property. In 1859, in the public market-place of Duke Town on the Old Calabar river, human flesh was openly exposed for sale like so much beef; and in Brass and Bonny all captives taken in war are eaten under the impression that the food is conducive to bravery, an illusion also prevalent in Australia. Both sexes mutilate themselves by gashing their face, chest, and arms. Their dress is extremely simple, even the most distinguished and richest oil-mer- chants wearing nothing but a narrow strip round the loins, and the women dress exactly like the men. In excep- tional cases they wear European clothing, like all negroes showing a preference for glazed hats and dress coats, in which they look like so many decked-out apes. Through the influence of the missionaries and traders the wholesale destruction of human life in these barbarous shores has been reduced, and in some instances abolished altogether ; but the natives still adhere to their fetish ceremonies, and there seems to be no doubt that, in spite of various treaties which have been made with them for the abolition of this fearful custom, the natives of Bonny still practise cannibalism. The juju- house, in which human sacrifices were common upon stated occa- sions, is ranged round with hundreds of human skulls, and has a central altar on which offerings are laid to pacify the evil spirit. These low-lying delta branches of the Niger and the Old Calabar and Cameroons river estuaries, each of them separated by mangrove-covered swamps, have been termed the " oil rivers " of West Africa, since it is by these that ISLANDS OF THE GULF OF GUINEA. 157 the enormous supply of palrn-oil is brought down to the coast to be shipped in large steamers for Liverpool or Glasgow. The river Bonny, or Boni, one of the eastern delta mouths of the Niger, was one of the first inlets of this coast known to the Europeans, and from the sixteenth to the present century was the favourite mart of slave- ships, the number of human beings transhipped here having amounted to about 16,000 every year. The houses form- ing the present town at the mouth of the river are placed in a dismal swamp almost overgrown with rank vegetation, amidst which fevers are rife. European traders cannot reside in the town or on the beach, but live on board hulks like exaggerated Noah's arks, which are moored in the current of the river, and in these goods of every de- scription are exchanged for palm-oil, which is melted down and stored in sheds on shore, ready for shipment by the earliest steamer. At Duke Town on the Old Calabar river, and Aqua Town on the Cameroons river (so named from the Portuguese Camarao, a shrimp), trade is carried on in the same fashion. In contrast to the low mangrove swamps of the coast to north and west of its base, the volcanic Cameroons mountain rises like a gigantic pyramid from a sea-base of thirty miles, which is dotted with pretty wooded islands. Above these, valleys and chasms filled with great trees of infinite variety reach up the high land to where the soli- tary peak towers upward, altering in aspect and colour with each change of position of the sun. 16. Fernando Po and other Islands in the Gulf of Guinea. In the Gulf of Guinea, running from the north-east to the south-west, are five volcanic islands — Fernando Po, belonging to Spam, and used as a place of exile for political offenders, the largest ; Ilha do Principe, or Prince's 158 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. Island ; and St. Thomas, with the little Ilha das Rolhas (all three Portuguese) ; and lastly, Annobom (Spanish), the smallest of the group. The most important of these islands is Fernando Po, with its peak 10,190 feet high, and a perfect cone in shape. It is wooded to the top, rendering the harbour of Clarence Cove the most pic- turesque point on the west coast of Africa. It is inhabited by a very peculiar tribe, the Aniyo, or " Boobies," as they are called by the English. They are of a very mild nature, though repulsive in appearance, but have a decided distaste for the least degree of civilisation. A straw hat is their chief clothing. Prince's Island is described as "a volcanic flower- garden," and the bay, on which is situated the little town of San Antonio, forms the scene of the loveliest amphi- theatre imaginable. St. Thomas, like Fernando Po, pos- sesses a lofty peak 7005 feet high, and the clean little village of Santa Ana de Chaves ; but bears an evil repute for its unhealthy climate. On the other hand, the romantic Annobom, crossed by bold rugged basalt masses of wondrous forms, is perfectly salubrious. An extinct but clearly defined crater in the interior of the island is filled by a lovely picturesque mountain lake. THE NIGER. 159 CHAPTER XII. THE NIGER REGIONS. 1. The Course of the Niger — Sego — Sansandig. One of the largest of African rivers, the Niger is unques- tionably the most important in the west. Rising, it is believed, in Mount Loma, a summit winch stands on the plateau at a distance of about 200 miles east-north-east of Sierra Leone, and which was passed by Mr. Winwood Reade in his journey to Falaba and Boure gold-fields in 1869, the Joliba or Upper Niger flows first north-eastward towards Timbuktu, thus reaching the Sahara and the domain of the Tuareg. Here, after flowing for some distance in a due easterly direction, it suddenly changes to the south- east, thus at last reaching the ocean at the delta described in the foregoing chapter. Portions both of its upper and lower course remain yet to be thoroughly explored. During its upper course it bears the name of the Joliba, and that of the Quorra or Kuara in its middle and lower ; but there are even other names for various sections of this river which European geographers will do best to continue still to speak of as the Niger, there being no general name for it in Africa itself. Although the river was known vaguely by report to the ancient geographers, and supposed by Hero- dotus to be a branch of the Egyptian Nile, and though trad- ing vessels had long been visiting the creeks at its mouths, no definite notion of the Niger began to be formed till Mungo Park first reached it from the west coast, and found it flowing slowly to the eastward through the kingdom of 160 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. Bambarra, with a width nearly equal to that of the Thames at Westminster. In his second journey of 1805, con- vinced that the river must have an outlet in the sea, he was on his way down it in a canoe, when he was either murdered or drowned in sailing through a narrow channel of the stream at Bussa, in the kingdom of Gando (10° 20' X.) In 1828, Caillie descended the river from Jenne to Timbuktu, in company with a cargo of slaves in one of the fragile native canoes, which keep up a continually active trade along the whole extent of the river ; in 1830 the brothers Lander, one of whom had accom- panied Clapperton in his unsuccessful journey of 1826, landed at Badagry, and, marching overland to Bussa, took canoe there, came swiftly down the great river with the autumn floods, and arrived at the Nun mouth, thus settling the long-vexed question of its outlet. Several heroic attempts were now made to open up the new-found highway to legitimate trade, and to abolish the slave traffic by it : first, the ill-fated ascent of the river by Macgregor Laird, in 1832, with two small steamers; and then the expedition sent out in three vessels by the British Govern- ment in 1841, which founded a "model farm" on a tract of land at Lukoja, opposite the confluence of the Binue and Niger. Such, however, was the fearful mortality among the Europeans sent thither, that the Niger schemes were abandoned till 1852, when Mr. Laird established the African Steamship Company, and built factories along various points of the river. At the present time the navigation of the Niger is regularly established ; six or seven steamers of light draught make trips from the Atlantic ports to and fro during nine months of the year to factories as far as the confluence of the Binue, and during the swelling of the river they pass still higher to stations above the con- fluence, delivering European goods, and receiving ivory, THE NIGER. 161 palm-oil, and shea butter, in return. These vessels must, however, be well armed, for the natives of the vil- lages bordering the river in the upper portion of the delta are hostile, and frequently fire upon the steamers in passing. The town of Abo, at the head of the delta, is in the very- centre of the palm-oil region. Beyond the low delta land the single river opens out in width and grandeur ; beautiful islands appear in its course, and the banks, adorned with groves of palms and sprinkled with silk-cotton trees, rise upward in undulating heights. At Onitsha, a pleasantly situated town, with cultivated gardens situated on high ground at about two miles from the left bank of the Niger (in lat. 6° 10' N.), the northern limit of the palm-oil trading region is reached, and higher up ivory and shea butter are the chief articles of trade. The shea or "tree" butter is derived from the oil or fat contained in the olive- like seeds of a tree nearly allied to the genus Bassia ; the seeds are dried and afterwards boiled to extract the butter, which is not only whiter and more solid and pleasant to the taste, than that of cow's milk, but keeps for a year without salting. Near Icldah, still higher up the stream, light red sandstone cliffs rise perpendicularly from the right bank of the river, and the view on both sides becomes enchant- ing. " Distant mountains stretch across the horizon from north-west to north-east ; between, are great plains rising into table-land. The flat, smiling, level country abounds in forests, bounded by far-away hills ; quiet villages, con- sisting of round mud huts, cluster picturesquely over the landscape." A remarkable change for the better is also observed in the inhabitants of the country as the river is ascended : the people are more civilised, and depend on agriculture for a living ; growing indigo also, and dyeing the blue robes which they wear folded loosely round the body. Nearly opposite Igbegbe, or " Bebbe," immediately below the mouth of the Binue, at the base of the hill called M 102 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. " Patte," is Lukoja, the site of the unfortunate " model farm" of 1841. This was the residence of Dr. Baikie for seven years from 1857 onward, as consular agent for the British Government ; and since 1865 it has been an important mis- sion station under Bishop Crowther's management, as well as a chief trading place and store for the merchants of Liverpool, Sierra Leone, and Lagos, trafficking on the river. Upward from Lukoja the Niger winds through a valley ranging from ten to thirty miles in width, abounding in rich soil and cultivated levels, fringed on each side by flat-topped hills. In September and October, when the river is hi full flood, it overflows the low-lying banks for several miles, giving the appearance of a great lake dis- trict. At the large town of Egga, in Gando, a full day's steaming from Lukoja, the present limit of the European traffic on the Niger is reached. The town of Egga has a population which has been variously estimated by travellers at from 18,000 to 50,000. Mr. Whitford describes it as being built on land slightly elevated above the river, but surrounded by the stream, and separated into islets at time of flooding. The whole of the land forming the town is densely covered with the usual round mud huts with thick conical roofs. The streets are narrow, crooked, and filthy, covered with refuse left for the lean dogs and turkey buzzards to clear away. There are three mosques, for the country inland from the con- fluence is Mohammedan ; and beside these sanclal-makers and saddlers are busy at work. Weavers also rattle their shuttles in primitive looms, making a thick and durable cloth ; and red leather is worked up into warlike shields, dagger-sheaths, and quivers. The Binue is wider at the confluence than the Niger, and its waters are blue and clear, hi contrast to those of the mam river. Though this great river was ascended by Baikie and May, in 1854, to a place called Dulti, 350 MANDIXGO COUNTRY. 163 miles from the confluence, attempts to open up traffic along it have as yet been unsuccessful, owing to the jealousies and suspicions of the native chiefs along its banks. We may now pass on to glance at the Central African states and kingdoms which lie within the great Niger basin. The Joliba or Upper Niger defines for us the eastern limits of Senegambia, flowing through the domain of the Mandingoes and Bambarras, whose capital, Sego — a square town surrounded by earth walls, with two-storied white mud houses with flat roofs — is situated on its banks. A little lower down is Sansandig, which is not a great negro village hi the usual sense, but rather a town of from 30,000 to 40,000 inhabitants, exceptionally industrious, and very wealthy. Here money is abundant, and you may reckon by hundreds the owners of rich European stuffs, arms, precious stones, tea, sugar, and the thousand articles with which the caravans are laden that cross the desert from Marocco and the Tuat oases. There are chieftains and merchants who could, at a moment's notice, produce £50,000 or £60,000 more readily than many European bankers ; and there are great numbers of slaves also, that fruitful source of wealth in Africa. The money of the country is the cowrie, a little univalvular shell {Cyproea moneta) found in the Indian Ocean. Whole shiploads of them arrive on the coast, especially of Dahomey, whence they reach Sego, Timbuktu, and the Haussa states, but not farther w T est than Sego. However, the cowrie serves only as a sort of petty cash for everyday transactions, the real "current coin" in Sego being the slave, who has here a fictitious value. In Sego we meet with representatives of all the types of Western Sudan — the pure Pul or Fulah, and all sorts of minglings with the various Moorish races, the Soninke, 164 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. Malilike, Jolof, and Bambarra ; but the finest type is un- doubtedly that produced by a mixture of Fulah and Berber blood, excelling, perhaps, even the pure-blooded Fulah themselves. Between Bambarra and the inner borders of Ashantee, Dahomey, and Yoruba, lie several Negro states, known as yet only by report, such as those of Tombo, Mosi or More, and Gurma ; and of Kong and Dagomba farther south. 2. The Haussa and other Fulah States. The region, stretching from the middle course of the Niger, between Bambarra and Timbuktu eastward, across the whole extent of its basin to the upper Binue, is sub- divided into several states and tribes, all, however, appa- rently belonging to the same race. The most powerful of these Negro states are those of the Haussa, a branch of the Fulah, who are the most intelligent of all African races. Hence the more important of their kingdoms are entitled to special attention in a work of this sort. Although the Haussas probably had their origin in the east, their later conquests took a direction from west to east. It was only in 1802, however, that the warlike Othman, called Fu Dir, or the "White," founded the ex- tensive Haussa empire. At his death he divided it be- tween his two sons, Mohammed Bello, to whose share the more easterly division of Sokoto fell, and his brother, Abd-Allahi, who received the western provinces, with the capital town of Gando, territories which occupied the whole vast space along the middle Niger, and across to the basin of the Binue. Still later the Felattah con- quered and established the kingdom of Massina, which occupies a wide area on each side of the upper Niger between Bambarra and Timbuktu, and is separated on the east from Gando by a narrow belt of independent Son- rhay territory. HAUSSA STATES. 165 On the great island of Massina (or Massina proper), in the Niger, is the town of Jenne, with 8000 inhabit- ants, a chief centre of the commerce of Sudan, owing its prosperity to its trade in salt and gold. Hamda-Allahi, the capital city of Massina, lies near the right bank of the Niger, lower down ; and Yowaru, another large town of Massina, on the left bank, is nearly as large as Tim- buktu. But foremost of all stands Timbuktu, at about nine miles from the western knee of the Niger, with a popula- tion of 13,000, a famous emporium for the traffic carried on between the north and the negro states of Sudan. Although situated in the country of the Tademekket, it, properly speaking, owns no master, and keeps aloof from the constant feuds of the surrounding states. To the east, and mainly along the course of the Niger, dwell the Sonrhay negroes, reckoned at about 2,000,000, and speaking a poor and originally monosyllabic tongue. South of Timbuktu, and east of Massina, stretches the state of Gando, made up of loosely confederated tribes, situated in the region of the Niger and its tributaries, and partly belonging to the former Haussa states. This Haussa nation occupies a prominent place in North Africa, and is distinguished for its vivacity, intelligence, friend- liness, industry, and social qualities. Yet it seems un- conscious of being destined to fulfil any great mission in Central Africa. The Haussa tongue is the noblest, the most harmo- nious, the richest, and most animated in the whole of Nigritia. East of Gando stretches the kindred Fulah state of Sokoto, with its capital of the same name, reaching over an area about equal to that of the British Isles, and bordering eastwards on the negro kingdom of Bornu. To Sokoto belongs the province of Adamawa, watered by the Chadda 10 6 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. or Benin.*, the most important tributary on the left bank of the Niger. The people of Adamawa, notably the Batta or chief tribe, are also very intelligent and indus- trious, of a yellowish - red complexion and handsome appearance. The whole of the Fulah domain occupies an extent of country about equal to the area of Austria, Bavaria, Wtirtemberg, Baden, and Switzerland taken together. The travels of Barth (1853) and Eohlfs (1866-67) have thrown the greatest light on the general character of the Fulah states. From the capital of Bornu, Kuka on Lake Chad, Barth went in an almost north-westerly direction across the northern bend of the Niger to Tim- buktu, while Eohlfs made his way from the same place in a south-westerly direction to Lagos. Among the hundreds of towns and centres of popu- lation scattered over the densely inhabited Felattah or Haussa states of the Niger basin, the city of Kano, the capital of a province of its name in the empire of Sokoto, is one of the most noted. Kano has about 30,000 in- habitants, carries on a great traffic, and manufactures the blue cotton cloth of the Sudan very extensively, sending every year 15 00 camel loads of it to Timbuktu, Murzuk, Ghat, and even to Tripoli. Its houses are partly quad- rangular, built of mud, and provided with a flat roof, and surrounded by gardens and fields, so that the city occu- pies a great space. The numbers of its inhabitants, and its industry, are constantly on the increase. Its market, famed throughout the Sudan, is well supplied with slaves, gold-dust, ivory, salt, leather-wares, cotton, and indigo. From January till April, the season at which caravans come to Kano from all parts of the Sudan, its population is at least doubled. Yakoba, or Garo-n-Bautshi, the capital town of another subjugated province forming part of southern HAUSSA STATES. 167 Sokoto, is also a great town, with about 150,000 inhabit- ants. Eohlfs, who visited it in making his way south- westward from Kuka to the Atlantic at Lagos in 1866, describes it as surrounded by walls three and a half hours in circuit, enclosing great gardens and fields along with the houses, besides several rocky hills, and many pools. The town lies on a plateau, surrounded on the north-east and south-east by granite hills, reaching nearly 3000 feet above the sea, and forming the water-parting between the tributaries of the Quorra and Binue. The climate of this plateau would be very suitable for Europeans ; besides the fruits of the tropical zone, all the fruits of the southern temperate region flourish here, with dates, citrons, and pomegranates. Though it formerly carried on a busy trade with Adamawa in the south, and the province of Nupe in Gando westward, the commerce of Yakoba had much declined at the time of Eohlfs' visit, but a daily market is still held, and in it slaves are sold at half the price of those at Kuka, besides cattle, horses not larger than donkeys, and sheep and goats of the size of a poodle dog. Like Kano, Yakoba is also a famous place for the manufacture of cotton stuffs. The dress of its people is very varied. The better class wear a white or black " litham," like the Tuareg, with wide trousers of white or finely-checked blue cotton, a large white shirt with long sleeves, and over all an ample mantle. Most, however, go either with shirt alone or trousers alone. They shave the head and beard like the Mohammedans. This applies to the citizens only ; the country people wear nothing at all, and only the richest of them put on a shirt, or, it may be, wind a large cloth round their loins, when they come into town. Sokoto and Gando, the capitals of the two great empires, lie not far from one another near the river Sokoto, the first considerable tributary received by the Niger after 168 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. its bend through the margin of the desert. The former town, well built on an eminence over the river, has about 20,000 inhabitants. Iiabba and Egga, on the Niger, are perhaps the chief among the many important trading towns of the empire of Gando, and these, as we have seen, have already been reached by direct commerce from England. 3. Bar tli s Journey across the Bend of the Niger to Timbuktu. After passing through northern Bornu and Sokoto, Barth reached and crossed the Niger at the town of Say, where the stream is 1000 paces broad, and flows with a velocity of twelve miles an hour between rocky banks from twenty to thirty feet above the level of the stream. Say itself forms a square, each side of which measures 2000 paces, but inside the earth wall the houses are built very irregularly, with an unusually large space set apart for the women. The heat was here so oppressive that it produced the sensation of being " throttled." After Say came Champagore, seat of a powerful Fulah chieftain. Here the people do not wear the national white tobe, or shirt, of the Fulahs, but one of a bright blue colour. Their granaries, perched upon four trestles to protect them from the ants, present rather a peculiar sight at a distance. Still keeping to the north-west, Barth arrived at a well-cultivated district, but where the Fulah alone breed cattle. Then, crossing the Sirba, a not inconsiderable tributary of the Niger, he came upon the Sonrhay village of Bossebango, where the men are inveterate smokers, and wear short blue shirts and long wide trousers. The women are of short stature, of unsymmetrical figure, and adorn their neck and ears with strings of pearls, but do THE NORTHERN BEND OF THE NIGER. 169 not wear nose-rings. Next followed Sebba, which, though capital of a Fulah province, is a wretched place of 200 mud huts. In the adjoining territory of Libtako, the last recognising the authority of Gando, the daily hardships of the journey were intensified by the troublesome flies and the leeches which, like their cousins in the Terai of the Himalayas, crept out of the grass on to the horse's legs, and plagued him so that " the blood ran down in streams.'* Lamorde, in the district of Aribinda, and Tinge are independent Sonrhay places, whose inhabitants build very roomy houses, wear indigo blue shirts, and carry spears as their usual weapon, but swords occasionally. Here also the lower classes disfigure their features by gashing then cheeks. These open tracts were succeeded by the domain of the Fulahs of Massina. The appearance of the country from Kuka to this point had been tolerably uniform — cultivated 170 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. plains, varied by woodland scenery, arid districts, and low hills. Now, however, Barth entered a mountainous conn- HOMBOEI MOUNTAINS. 171 try full of romantic beauty. This was the Hombori range, where the rocks seen from a distance resembled hands and fingers pointing upwards. The nearer he approached the more fantastic became the shape of the hills, the cliffs looking like square pillars with perpendicular walls, bold and rugged, and springing from cone-shaped rocks, so that every hill resembled a ruined castle resting on a sugar- 172 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. loaf elevation. These hills, however, did not attain a height of more than 787 feet above the plain, and Barth estimates their absolute elevation at 1500 feet above the sea-level. On leaving this picturesque hilly country he again found himself in an independent district, inhabited by the Iregenaten Tuaregs, but soon entered the Fulah territory &^^^r of Massina, arriving at the important town of Sukurara, in the neighbourhood of which a considerable stream reminded him that he was again approaching the upper Niger. From Saraiyamo, capital of the Fulah province of Kisso, he followed the downward course of the Niger to Timbuktu. Crocodiles and caymans are here seen in the river, and farther on the hippopotamus raising his unwieldy back TIMBUKTU. 173 above the surface. The river now assumes the appearance of a noble stream as far as Kabara, the port of Timbuktu. This place, which is at an elevation of about 900 feet above the sea, consists of from 150 to 200 mud houses with a number of reed huts, and has a population of about 2000, mostly Sonrhay negroes. The short tract between Kabara and Timbuktu is quite desert, the narrow strip of vegetation on the banks of the river, at least in the dry season, disappearing altogether after a few steps. That small tract of land bears the dismal name of " Ur-imman- dess," i.e. " he hears it not," meaning that Allah himself is deaf to the cry of anguish uttered by the solitary wayfarer when here fallen upon by robbers. 4. Timbuktu. Timbuktu, with regular streets in the better quarters, and the stately dwellings of the wealthy merchants from Ghadames, presents an imposing appearance. There are nearly a thousand clay houses, some low and unseemly, others rising to two stories and exhibiting considerable architectural adornment, and many huts of matting. The mosque of Sankore is a most imposing edifice in the north of the city ; the " Great Mosque " is also an immense building of stately appearance. The settled population does not exceed 13,000, but in the "season," from No- vember to January, the number of strangers attending the market increases it by from 5000 to 10,000. As Tim- buktu produces nothing itself, it is indebted for its very existence entirely to the trade carried on at this market. But little field produce is raised by the inhabitants them- selves, most of the supplies and provisions being brought down the Niger. The elegant and tasteful leather work and leather embroidery, which are the only articles pro- duced on the spot, are the work of the Tuareg women. 174 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGKAPHY AND TEAVEL. Three gTeat highways of trade converge at Timbuktu, the two caravan routes crossing the desert from Marocco and Grhadames in the north, and the upper Xiger itself, bringing the produce of the south-west to this great emporium. The chief articles of trade are gold and salt, the latter indispensable commodity being nowhere found in the cultivated regions of Sudan. A considerable traffic is TIMBUKTU. also done in the guro or kola nuts, fruits of the Ste? , culia acuminata and macrocarpa, which supply the place of the coffee berry, though even this plant seems to be indigenous to many parts of Sudan. The only articles of European trade that find their way to Timbuktu are Manchester cotton goods, red cloth, looking-glasses, cutlery, and tea, to which the Arabs are very partial. THE SONRHAY. 175 5. The Sonrhay. East of Massina and Timbuktu, and stretching thence across the northern bend of the Niger to as far as the borders of Air or Ashen, live the Sonrhay people, the descendants of the inhabitants of the vast empire which flourished during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Their number is still estimated at upwards of two millions. The city of Gao, or Gagho, situated on the left bank of the Niger, where the sandy downs of the desert merge into arable lands and rice and tobacco fields, and for six centuries the most nourishing place in all Negroland and the capital of the Sonrhay empire, was represented at the time of Earth's return journey along the Niger by a village of about four hundred huts in the midst of over- 176 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. CHAPTER XIII. CENTRAL SUDAN. 1. Extent — Political Divisions. This region, situated between the Fulah states on the west and the so-called " Egyptian Sudan " on the east, is occupied by the negro kingdoms of Bornu, Baghirmi, and Wadai. Bornu, the neighbouring state to Sokoto, is pro- perly conterminous with the basin of Lake Chad, that great lake of Central Africa, for somewhat more accurate infor- mation concerning which we are chiefly indebted to the most recent explorers, Bolilfs and Nachtigal. Bornu is a lovely and fruitful kingdom, considerably larger in extent than England, decked in all the splendour of the tropical world ; but also subject to all its inconveni- ences. It is inhabited chiefly by the Kanuri race, which has a language of its own, but is otherwise mixed with a great deal of slave and foreign blood. Like all the other states in Central and Egyptian Sudan, Bornu has adopted Mohammedanism, though many heathen lands stretch south- wards from it, about which we are still almost in complete trance. Kanem, an undulating but generally sandy country lying on the north-east side of the Chad, is partly depend- ent upon Bornu. Only that portion of it which lies close to Lake Chad is well peopled by the Kanembu, the original owners of the soil, allied to the Tebu who are scattered over the northern regions of Kanem ; but mixed up with the Kanembu are numbers of immigrant Arabs, and other foreign peoples. BORNU AND BAGHIRMI. 177 Baghirmi, bordered on the west by Borrm and a por- tion of Lake Chad, may be described as the land of the Shari, by which river it is watered. This would seem to be the most considerable stream in Central Africa that does not reach the sea. It flows into Lake Chad from a south- eastern direction, but has not yet been traced to its source, nor has Dr. Nachtigal's conjecture been yet confirmed, that its true upper course is the Welle, which we shall again meet in the north-western parts of the great equatorial lake region. The natives of Baghirmi are distinguished by their handsome appearance, warlike spirit, and industrious habits, but are otherwise bloodthirsty and cruel. North-east of Baghirmi lies the sultanate of Wadai, the northern parts of which are watered by the periodi- cally flowing stream of the Batha. Till quite recently Europeans have been barred all access to this country. The brave Edward Vogel paid with his life his daring attempt to penetrate into Wadai, and Dr. Nachtigal, to whom geography is so deeply indebted for his discoveries in Central Africa, was the first to succeed in crossing the country to Darfur on its eastern border, and collect reliable information on this region. 2. Semi-civilised Negro States. Both Bornu and Baghirmi present a surprising picture of a remarkable state of Negro civilisation. This culture may in many respects seem somewhat eccentric and even barbaric ; still it cannot be denied that we here meet with entirely independent attempts at the formation of original states and social policy. Amongst these nations we find a fully organised administration, a court and government with all its accompanying dignities and offices, a military system, which for Central Africa may be considered fairly well N 178 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. worked out ; in a word, a people of industrious habits, tillers of the land, and skilled in many of the arts of life — a people that can in no sense be regarded as " savage," although still addicted to many practices looked on by us as barbarous. Thus the whole policy of the state is still based on slavery, and the slave-trade, especially towards the north across the desert in the direction of Fezzan and Tripoli, still flourishes vigorously throughout the whole of the Mohammedan states of Sudan. 3. Transition from the Sahara to the Sudan. Eohlfs' travels in Bornu have thrown the greatest light upon this territory, whose sultan bears the official title of " Mai " Omar. He has shown himself exceptionally friendly to his European visitors, by his liberal co-operation con- tributing much to the happy issue of their explorations. Coming from the north, when he reached the well of Belkashifari, Eohlfs found that the desert came to an end. After this point the country rapidly assumed a totally different aspect. At first various grasses are met with, including many producing edible corn. Then comes the great mimosa forest, which seems to form a broad belt from four to five days' journey in width, and stretching right across the continent from the western seaboard to the Eed Sea. This, however, is no impene- trable virgin forest such as may elsewhere be met with in tropical lands, but rather resembles a light, airy park, with widespread grassy tracts interspersed between the wooded parts of the land. As you advance wild beasts of all sorts become more numerous, especially whole herds of the red and white speckled antelopes ; giraffes are also seen, and there are traces even of the lion. At last the open hamlet of Ngigmi is reached, built of pointed red huts, the first peopled spot on the northern frontier of Bornu, on the north-east extremity of Lake Chad. BORNU. 179 4. Lake Chad and surrounding Country. The Chad, or Tsad (for both spellings express the sound as it is variously uttered), is a great sweet- water lake, about which for many years the most opposite opinions were entertained by European geographers. Shaped like an irregular triangle, the base of which is invaded by the delta of the Shari, the Chad has an area of about 10,000 square miles in the dry season, and in the rainy season is probably at least five times more ex- tensive. At this period alone it can be looked on as a lake in the full sense of the term. It begins to swell in the month of August, and at its highest stage in the end of November its level is raised by from 20 to 30 feet. In the dry season, before the rains begin in June, it presents rather the appearance of an immense swamp, for miles along its border overgrown with reeds and the papyrus, the haunt of the hippopotami, that may here be seen in herds of a hundred and upwards. Here also we of course meet the crocodile, and also the elephant and rhinoceros, though not so frequently. Waterfowl of all sorts would appear to be more abundant than in almost any other part of the world, and the extraordinary quantity of fish has been dwelt upon by all travellers that have visited the lake. In the centre is an archipelago of numerous islands, in summer connected together, and also partly with the mainland. Hippopotami, crocodiles, and fish are every- where to be found on their shores, and on one or two of them elephants are numerous. They are inhabited also by the Yedina, or Buddnma, a Negro tribe of notorious pirates, independent of Bornu, who navigate the lake in flat-bottomed vessels. The Yedina islanders are described by Dr. Nachtigal as big and strong black men with long hair, wearing the 180 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. ordinary Bornu tobe. Their arms are the lance and throwing-spears, and a shield of phogu wood. They cultivate a little durra and maize, and are rich in cattle and goats. They make two kinds of boats, a larger sort of 50 feet in length and 6 feet in width, built of planks of murr wood, and little canoes made of branches and twigs of ambatch, which is plentiful in the Chad. In trading they exchange fish, hippopotamus-hide whips, ivory, and natron — which last is obtained in great quantity from the islands, although the lake water is perfectly fresh — for clothes, ornaments, and wheat. The security of their homes in the lake has made them most audacious robbers. Many harmless agricul- turists of the lake shores are carried off as slaves to their islands, and smaller caravans are frequently plundered by them without any retribution being attempted. They are often at enmity with their neighbours the Kuri, who occupy the smaller islands in the south-eastern part of the lake, and sometimes engage them in naval fights, in which several hundreds of boats are engaged on both sides. According to Eohlfs, Lake Chad is situated at about 1150 feet above the sea-level. But we now know that it is not the deepest basin in Central North Africa, though receiving more river water than any other. In the west it receives a number of streams, amongst which the Koma- dugu 1 Yaobe is not exceeded in length by the Rhine itself. From the south conies the very important river Shari, swollen by the Ba Logon, a western branch almost equal to it in size. Dr. Nachtigal has now placed it beyond doubt that the Chad occasionally overflows to north-eastward by a broad channel named the Bahr-el-Ghazal, which opens out at a distance of 300 miles from the Chad into a 1 The words Chad, Shari, Komadugu, and Ba, have each, Dr. Nach- tigal tells us, the meaning of river, or collection of water. BORNU. 181 great depressed plain called Bodele. He found the broad channel of the Ghazal and this remarkable depression completely strewn over with the vertebral bones of fishes which had been left there by the rapid drying up of the water after flooding from the Chad. 5. Bornu and its Capital. After crossing the Komadugu Yaobe, Eohlfs arrived, on July 22, 1866, in the capital of Bornu, Kuka, or Kukawa, situated close to the western shore of the Chad. The former capital, called Birnie, on the Yaobe, is now almost completely in ruins, but the newer town has risen rapidly into eminence both as a trading place and as the seat of government, and has gathered a population of about 60,000. It consists of two regular oblongs, each surrounded by a wall of 20 feet hi height, and separated by nearly a mile of level land. The western division is the larger ; the eastern one is the seat of government, and half of it is occupied by the sultan's palace, a labyrinth of courts and dwellings ; in it also live the troops, slaves, and eunuchs belonging to the sultan. Each division is traversed by a wide main street, from which narrower ones lead off right and left. Most of the houses are built of reeds and straw in the form of a sugar-loaf, and the more prosperous of the inhabitants have two or three of these surrounded by a little earthen wall. A small opening, covered by a mat serves for entrance and win- dow, and for furniture are a few mats and calabashes. One or two houses, however, and among these the sul- tan's residence, are built of clay, and roofed with wood exactly as those in Murzuk. Kuka is one of the greatest markets of all Central Africa, second only, perhaps, to that of Kano, and morning and evening its streets are so crowded with cattle, camels, 182 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. sheep, and poultry, as scarcely to leave room for the bustling population. Over the whole western division of the town, and in the open space between it and the government residences, booths are thickly scattered, and in these butter, milk, eggs, corn, fruits, and all kinds of wares, are exposed for sale. Immediately outside the gates a horse-auction is held. Here one may buy a first- rate riding-horse for 20 dollars, and the horses of Bornu are famed throughout all ISTegroland. Eohlfs notices that if Bornu were in direct communication with Europe, or united to the Mediterranean by some more rapid means than that of the camel caravans, which require four months to cross the desert, the greatest advantages would result to both countries. Or why, he asks, have not the English, Germans, or French, who are most interested in supplying Africa with wares, opened out the much shorter route to Bornu by the Binue river ? Horses, cattle, asses, sheep, goats, ivory, ostrich feathers, indigo, wheat, leather, dried fish, skins of lions and leopards, and many other national products, are here in vast quantity, and com- paratively valueless ; while Bornu requires all sorts of European manufactures, such as cloth, paper, knives and razors, guns and powder, spices and sugar. Tea and coffee, however, would be useless here, for the kola nut, which the Kuka people chew continually, takes their place. At the time of Dr. Nachtigal's visit in 1873 a third new capital town, which had been baptized Cherwa, or " the blessed," was being built on a range of sand-hills, two miles north of Kuka, which had been inundated by the extraordinary swellings of the Chad in recent years. During Eohlfs' stay a caravan of 4000 slaves, col- lected in the neighbouring regions of the Sudan, set out from Kuka for the long march over the desert northward. One detachment after another was despatched on the BORNU. 183 journey, so that it required a full fortnight to set the whole caravan in motion. It is the wealth derived from the slave-trade that has made Bornu, at the present time, the most powerful of all the negro kingdoms of the Sudan. During the past twenty years more slaves have been sent out of Bornu than formerly were exported in a century. If the slave - traffic were abolished in the Turkish dominions, the strength of Bornu would be turned to agriculture and manufactures, and its natural resources are far more than sufficient to provide it with material of exchange for everything it requires. Though in form constitutional, the government of Bornu is as despotic and unfettered as that of Mar- occo. Perhaps the constitutional form was the original one of the country in the times when it was per- fectly pagan, and the absolutism has arrived in the train of Islam. The Mai, or Sultan Omar, is the head of the state, the mirror of all excellence and infallibility ; and his Dig-ma, or whole ministry in one person, is, after him, the highest authority in the country. Mohamme- danism has introduced the remarkable condition that fully two-thirds of the inhabitants of Bornu, or all those who have not embraced the new religion, are looked upon as enemies by their own government, and live in constant fear of being carried off and sold as slaves. So it hap- pens that Bornu was formerly much more populous than it now is. Within the rule of the sultan of Bornu are many smaller conquered principalities, some completely subjected, others more independent, and large territories are either the personal property of the sultan, or in pos- session of members of his family ; the present condition of the kingdom, indeed, resembles that of the feudal states of Europe in the Middle Ages. The military power of Bornu is made up chiefly of the irregular soldiery or following of each petty sultan 184 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. or chief within the realm, and reaches a total of fighting men of between 25,000 and 30,000. About 1000 foot- men, and the same number of horse, are armed with flint guns. The sultan has also a special bodyguard of horse- men in suits of armour, partly obtained from Egypt and partly manufactured in Bornu. Among the remarkable manufactures of the country are twenty metal cannons, of undetermined calibre, which were cast in Kuka. The country south-west of Kuka is thickly wooded with bush, in which the tamarind trees alone rise to con- siderable height, and has abundance of large game — wild pigs, antelopes, gazelles, ant-eaters, lions, elephants, and ostriches ; it rises in gradual undulations to a considerable height above the level of the Chad. Beyond the thickly wooded belt in this direction lie the towns of Magomeri, Uassaram, Mogodom, with important cotton fields round it, and Gujba, a large walled place of 20,000 inhabitants. In the south of Bornu is the vassal state of Wandala, a marshy and watery district, flooded in many parts dur- ing the rainy season, partly by Lake Chad and partly by the streams and torrents from the neighbouring hills. Its capital is Doloo, a place of 30,000 inhabitants. The southern limits of Wandala form a crescent of hills, beginning with the granite-capped Sremarda, rising to a height of 2000 feet above the sea-level, and situated close over Doloo. Beyond the district of Uje, the most fertile and populous portion of all Bornu, lying between Wandala and Kuka, Bohlfs had to penetrate through the forest of Budu-Masseli, with its gigantic tamarind, anim, and komawa trees. Near the town of Maiduguri is first seen the Kirgalibu, a mighty bird of prey, out- stripping in size the royal eagle itself. This town has 12,000 inhabitants, belonging to the Gamergu tribe, closely related to the Wandala, but differing materially from the Kanuri of Bornu. They are of a very dark BAGHIRMI. 185 brown colour, and their features are of a decided, but not repulsive, negro type. The excursions undertaken by the indefatigable Dr. Nachtigal in 1871 from Kuka have shed much light on the regions lying to the north-east of Bornu. The results of this expedition have been thus summed up by Dr. Petermann : — " It was already known that the Bahr-el-Ghazal formed a fertile valley and river-bed of considerable extent, and connected with Lake Chad ; but wdiether its waters flowed into that lake, or vice versa, all previous researches had failed to determine. Dr. Nachtigal, however, has clearly shown that the waters of Lake Chad flow occasionally into the Bahr-el-Ghazal, and that even Borku, far to the north-east, forms a large and deep de- pression still below the level of the Chad basin. The Bahr-el-Ghazal itself stretches no farther north than the Chad, as hitherto assumed, but rather to the north-east to about 16° north latitude and 19° east longitude from Greenwich, and still farther northwards in the direction of Borku, passing into the land of Bodele, an extensive and fruitful depression supplied with many wells and springs." Beyond Bodele lies Borku, whose northern portion rises rapidly to a wide, lofty, and romantic range of hills, where Nachtigal discovered the Kussi mountain, which probably equals the Tarso of Tibesti in height. According to his investigations this range seems to stretch in a gigantic bend nearly 1000 miles in extent from Tibesti in the west to Darfur in the east, and to be actually a con- tinuation of the Marrali mountains, the central rano-e of that region. 6. Baghirmi and Gaberi. South-east of Bornu lies Baghirmi, which had long formed an independent state, bordering eastward on Wadai, 186 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. whose sultan caused Edward Vogel to be beheaded. At the time of JSTachtigal's visit the state of affairs in this country was involved in great confusion, and would seem to have remained so ever since. Thus in "Wadai the young sultan Aly turned out to be an ambitious conqueror aiming at the establishment of a great Central African state. In 1871 he invaded Baghirmi, the expedition ending with the conquest of its walled capital Masefia, so that Baghirmi would seem to be at present hi a state of vassal- age to Wadai. In 1872 Dr. Naehtigal made his way from Kuka southwards to the Gaberi country, whose king, Muhammed, gave him a very kind reception, and allowed him to accompany several predatory excursions of his people, undertaken to procure corn and slaves in the neighbouring villages. On these occasions the people sometimes con- trived to escape from their pursuers by taking refuge in the branches of gigantic bombax trees, which were often large enough to afford shelter to several families. Such citadels could be stormed only at a heavy loss of life, and as the Baghirmi warriors did not possess the necessary implements for felling the trees, they were fain to rest satisfied with picking off a poor wretch here and there, and barbarously mangling the bodies as they fell from the branches above. 7. The Natives of Baghirmi — Customs — Religion. Nachtigal's trip to Baghirmi has considerably enlarged our knowledge of the river Shari and its numerous rami- fications, as well as of the extensive pagan regions stretch- ing farther to the south. The natives here are of the Sonrhay type, of low stature and unpleasant features, though seldom absolutely repulsive. The men are hand- somer than the women, but not so tall. Their dress con- BAGHIRMI. 187 sists of a narrow strip of skin — goat, gazelle, or wild-cat — wound round their loins. They take the greatest pains with their hair, which they curl and adorn in the strangest ways. Their arms consist of spears and knives, the foot- soldiery also wearing narrow shields of buffalo hide. They are good horsemen, sitting well on their lively little ponies without saddle or stirrups. Both sexes have one of their incisors knocked out. They believe in a supreme being, who speaks to them in the thunder. The symbol of this divinity consists in the trunk of a tree with its bark stripped off in rings, and set up in a little hut in the vicinity of their houses. Neither women nor children have access to this sanctuary, whither are brought offerings of the most varied descrip- tion. They are staunch believers in witchcraft, and the death of any important person, or even of a favourite horse, is invariably attributed to the evil influences of some sorcerer, in the discovery of whom the various tribes have recourse to sundry devices. The deceased is placed on the heads of two men, the feet being- turned in the direction of the house where the sus- pected criminal resides. On arriving here the sorcerer is brought out and put to death, and his family sold into slavery. Persons subject to epileptic fits are suspected of being possessed by the evil one, and are accordingly also despatched. The dead are buried in circular graves, in which are also placed a goat, a couj)le of pitchers of honey and melissa (millet beer), and a dish of cowry shells. Amongst the Nyellem and other tribes the barbarous practice prevails of burying a boy and girl alive with the body, to keep off the flies as they say, but this custom is fortunately falling more and more into disuse. Wives remaining childless may be sold as slaves, but if they have had three children they may return to the house of then parents ; it is then presumed that the hus- 188 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. band has received a fair equivalent for his original outlay in her purchase. The Sonrhay, like the other pagan tribes south of Baghirmi, are industrious tillers of the soil, raising crops chiefly of durra and millet, which they ha iter for tobacco, pearls, and cowry shells. Their houses are made of straw, except the granaries, which are of mud, cone-shaped, and with a single opening at the point above. Besides horses, they keep goats, sheep, and dogs, the last being highly esteemed as an article of food. Horned cattle are rare, and our domestic cats seem altogether un- known to these tribes. 8. Wadai and its People. Dr. Nachtigal has procured much valuable information concerning the state of Wadai, which has acquired such importance under the energetic government of its present ruler, Sheikh Aly. The learned traveller left Kuka in March 1873, proceeding through Fittri to Abeshr (Beshe), which, since the destruction of Wara, has been the capital of Wadai. Abeshr lies a little north of 1 4° north latitude, and a little east of 21° east longitude from Greenwich. The journey thither lasted one month, and on his arrival Xachtigal was received by Sheikh Aly with unexpected friendliness, no restrictions of any sort being placed on his movements. What principally strikes the stranger in Wadai is the rudeness of its inhabitants, the poverty of the land, and the excellence of Sultan Aly's government. The people are far behind Bornu both in respect of social refinement and in a total absence of all arts and industries. On the other hand, the native of Wadai is violent, quarrelsome, and cruel, especially under the influence of melissa (fer- mented durra beer), the abuse of which is a matter of daily occurrence. These propensities, combined with his pride WADAI. 189 and hatred of strangers, would soon put an end to all traffic with the coast, but for the energetic administration of the present ruler. And even now melissa and their fondness for love intrigues are the fruitful source of con- stant murder and bloodshed. Their weaving is rude in the extreme, and the land generally is poor, suffering in many districts from drought. Horses are rare, and but sorry representatives of their species ; though camels are more at home here than in Bornu. Cattle, however, as well as sheep and goats, are very numerous ; and yet it is impossible for any one to purchase a single measure of milk in Abeshr. The prin- cipal articles of export are slaves, ivory, and ostrich feathers, and the foreign traffic is in the hands of the Modyabra and the Dyellabu (Ayal el Bahar) ; the former trade with Egypt by the northern caravan route through Wanyanga and the oases of Kufarah and Aujila, the latter with Darfur. Thanks to the sultan, no one in Wadai can escape paying his just debts, nor can he defraud any one in his dealings. Aly governs with relentless severity. Death is the punishment inflicted for most crimes, as a lighter sentence would have no effect on the people. Theft, adultery, and cowardice in the presence of the enemy, are punished either with death, or the loss of the nose, ears, or other members. It is only within the last two years that the Arabs venture to show themselves openly in Abeshr. South of the Bahr-es-Salamat, the proper boundary of Wada'i, lies Eunga, or Dar Eunga, which must now be looked upon as an integral part of the state. If there exists an actual king of Eunga, he is much more de- pendent on his feudal lord the sultan of Wadai than is usually the case with vassal princes of the great Moham- medan states in Central Africa. The Eunga people proper are Mohammedans ; but the kindred tribe of the Kuti, in 190 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. the south-west of this country, are still heathens. Mer- chants from Dar Banda and Bornu have settled amongst them, and from this place comes most of the ivory ex- ported from Wada'i to Darfur. The rivers in Eunga flow westwards into the Shari, and the Bahr Ivuta, a consider- able stream seven days' journey beyond the southern limits of Bunga, is probably identical with the Welle, regarded by Schweinfurth as the upper Shari. In the country west of Bunga, amongst the wild beasts are the lion, the leopard, the hyena, wild boar, elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, various species of antelope, ant-eater, and porcupine ; but the giraffe is rare. In all the region south of this the silk-cotton tree, the butter tree, oil-palm and deleb, bananas, pepper plants, many edible roots, and virgin tobacco, are found abundantly. 9. The Banda Tribes. The people of Bunga and Kuti call by the common name of Banda all the tribes dwelling south of Kuti and Dar Bunga, and eastward to the Bahr-el-Arab. But as most of these tribes are addicted to cannibalism, they also call them Nyamanyan, properly the plural of Nyam nyam, but here used also in the singular number. Nachtigal's authority for this statement, a native of Bornu, asserts even that they are connected by the unity of a common speech, and gave him specimens of this " Banda lan- guage," of which he was able to make a skilful use. The Dar Banda country is very varied, some parts being quite hilly, others containing only detached ridges, and others again being perfectly level. 10. Darfur. With Darfur, situated on the eastern frontiers of Wada'i, on the southern limits of the Sahara, and on the DARFUK. 191 west of Kordofan, we enter the so-called " Egyptian Sudan." There is, properly speaking, only one route from Wada'i to Darfur, at least only one military or caravan highway leading more or less directly eastwards. The present capital is Fasher, on the little lake Tendelti, about 2^0 feet above the sea-level. Although bordering on regions that have been frequently explored, Darfur is itself still but little known. Till within a year or two the only account of it we possessed was that given in Browne's Travels in Africa, written in 1799. Dr. Nachtigal, how- ever, having returned from Wada'i through Darfur and Ivordofan to Egypt, has already partly raised the veil by which this region lay so long shrouded in mystery. For many centuries an annual caravan used to come hence to Egypt, bringing ivory and gums, ostrich feathers and slaves, which were disposed of there to advantage ; and the merchants returned with manufactured goods, powder and shot, and weapons, to their native country. The chief export of Darfur, however, was slaves, the most of them the property of the Emir, who was the greatest tradesman of his dominions. The central region of Darfur is formed by the Marrah mountains, a mass of parallel ridges curving from north to south, and reaching about 3500 feet in height ; from this nucleus numerous channels of periodical streams radiate outward east, south, and west, giving character to the whole country, and determining the cultivable and habitable portions of it. The fauna and flora of Darfur do not seem to present anything very remarkable. Instead of the luxuriant vege- tation which the stranger admires in the gardens of the Nile valley, the ground appears unfruitful and dry. Ma- jestic trees are certainly met with in Darfur, but the way- farer cannot rest beneath their shade, the ground being all round thickly overgrown with brambles. Even the trees 192 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. themselves are otherwise of little use. But few acacias are met with, producing a little gum ; yet in the rainy season, lasting from the middle of June to the middle of September, the land becomes clothed in the richest vegetation. The central, western, and south-western districts are thickly peopled, the northern and eastern very thinly. The inhabitants, variously estimated at a total of three to five millions, who are all Mohammedans, must be divided, on the one hand, into natives of Central Africa and Arabs ; on the other, into the actual lords of the land and the sub- jected tribes. By the side of the Dajo dwell the For or Fur in the hills and their slopes ; in the north, the Zoghawa and various Arab tribes ; in the west, the Mas- salat ; in the south, other Arab tribes ; in the south-east, the Bego and Birgid ; in the north-east, the Berti ; and in the centre, the Tunjur, true Arabs. Before the autumn of 1874 the state of Darfur, which during several centuries had extended its limits outward from the central nucleus of the Marrah mountains, till it embraced an area of more than twice that of England, was under the rule of the brave King Brahim, the son of Sultan Mohammed El Hassin, who had reigned for thirty- five years ; one of a race of absolute sovereigns whose history can be traced back for four hundred years. The story of its annexation to Egypt may be put in a few words as follows : — A man of some education, named Ziber, left Khartum some years ago to seek his fortune in the unexplored lands which lie between the eastern tribu- taries of the Upper Nile and the country of Darfur. He gained much influence, and succeeded in establishing a sort of sovereignty over several of the heathen tribes of this region. Soon after another adventurer, named Balalawi Mohammed, having persuaded the Egyptian authorities that he was able to bring the countries lying between the Nile and Lake Chad under their rule, was supplied with KORDOFAN. 193 soldiers, money, and arms from Egypt, and set out also from Khartum. He met and quarrelled with Ziber, and lost his life in a skirmish in 1872. On being condemned for the part he had taken in causing the death of a servant of Egypt, Ziber was permitted, in compensation, to reim- burse the government for the expenses incurred on behalf of his rival, and ultimately to take up his mission. Making friends of the Eizegat Arabs in the south of Darfur, he invaded and occupied Shegga, the chief station of the slave-traders in this border region. Early in 1874 the sultan of Darfur sent an army against Ziber, but it met with defeat. The bold adventurer now pushed forward into the heart of Darfur, and in a battle which took place at Menowatsi, three days' march south of the capital town of El Fasher, the Sultan Brahim was slain. Ziber now took up his quarters at Torra, in the centre of the Marrah mountains, and before 1875 began, was able to send the news of his conquest to Egypt. An expedition from Kordofan under Ismail Pasha Ayub completed the subjugation and annexation of the new province. In 1876 the Egyptian garrison of Darfur numbered 10,000 men. 1 1 . Kordofan. The far smaller district of Kordofan, between Darfur and the valley of the Nile, has been under the rule of Egypt since the expedition of Mehemet Ali in 1 82 1. The capital of Kordofan is El Obeidh, 1700 feet above the sea- level, hence somewhat lower than Easher. The greater portion of the country, at least in the east, is included in the great Nile valley, this river forming its eastern limit or flowing very near it. Westward from the Nile, the land presents a uniform appearance as far as the capital Obeidh. It consists of undulating plains covered with a high brown grass, with groups and groves of the leafless o 194 COMPENDIUxM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. mimosa offering a shelter to the gazelle. Here and there occur bare sandy plains on which crops of durra are raised in the rainy season. Here also are seen villages of " tokels," or conic-shaped huts, with wells from 100 to 150 feet deep, around which graze herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats. Agriculture, however, is at a very low stage. In the rainy season the ground is cleared of the decayed grass, the seed is sown in little holes, covered up with the feet, and then left to nature, the only heavy crop being that of the durra. Traces of the cultivation of cotton are occa- sionally met with, and an industrious sheikh will now and then plant some maloshie or bamie ; but the dearth of water must always stand in the way of any great develop- ment of agriculture in this country, for all those plants are necessarily excluded from cultivation that do not ripen during the three months of the rainy season, besides which the annual rainfall is far less to be relied upon than is usually supposed. The same scarcity of water also necessarily limits the extent of the pasture lands, the herds being obliged to keep always in the neighbourhood of the wells. Ancient baobabs, growing solitarily, are salient points in the landscape. An important product of the country is gum, and the red colour of the soil bespeaks the presence of iron. At a distance of twenty-five miles to the east of Hursi (north- east of El Obeidh), iron ore is found in irregular masses at a depth of from six to ten feet under the soil. The town of El Obe'idh, or El Obeyad, as described by Colonel Colston of the Egyptian staff, who visited it in 1875, is situated in the midst of a vast flat smooth plain, and at a distance hides itself in groves of heglik (Balanites Egyptica), a plant which is cultivated for its edible fruit, and for the oil which is expressed from its seeds. The city covers a large space of ground, and is said to contain KORDOFAN. 195 from 20,000 to 30,000 inhabitants. Most of the houses are of circular form, built of roughly-kneaded mud bricks, covered by a conical roof of stubble supported by wooden posts. "At the extreme point of the roof is placed a cylindrical sheaf from three to four feet high, from the centre of which rises a stick, rarely either straight or even. If the proprietor can fix on this stick a common bottle between two ostrich eggs, this architectural luxury becomes the admiration of all his neighbours." The merchants and well-to-do people also build square houses of one story, called " duldur." 196 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. CHAPTER XIV. REGIONS OF THE NILE. 1. From the Mediterranean to the Equator. Proceeding gradually from the western seaboard of the continent, we have at last reached the valley of the Xile, that venerable stream with which is indissolubly associ- ated the culture of perhaps the oldest civilised country in the world. "Who can speak of the Xile without conjur- ing up visions of Egypt, and the pyramids rising out of the desert waste, gigantic witnesses of a great past that had long disappeared, while waiting for modern research to be again unveiled ? Still the land of the Pharaohs is but a small portion of the vast region watered and fertilised by the Kile, and stretching from the equator to the Mediterranean. Long as the darkness of ignorance had remained over Egypt itself, the mystery continued still longer to shroud the source of its beneficent stream. Not till recent days has the problem been sufficiently solved to give us a clear insight into the geographical relations of the interior of Africa. The results of the most recent explorations will be given farther on, and it will be sufficient for the present to know that the Nile, the greatest of African rivers, flows from the great lake Victoria Xyanza, which like its western neighbour the Albert Xyanza, is crossed in its northern portion by the equator. Hence, by the expres- sion Regions of the Xile, we understand the whole country THE NILE VALLEY. 197 lying on both sides of this river from the equator to the Mediterranean, extending over a space of more than thirty degrees of latitude. This comprises nearly the whole of north-east Africa, which sends down to the Nile the tribute of its waters. 2. The Nile Delta, In order to give a bold picture of this widespread domain, we shall depart from the more usual plan, and proceed upwards from the mouths of the river into the very heart of tropical Africa. This has also been the method adopted by explorers in all ages, until recent times, in their attempts at penetrating the mystery of its source ; the river itself, notwithstanding all its numerous windings, following on the whole a direct line from south to north, and thereby acting as a guide to the long un- known regions of its upper course. Where the wearied stream splits off mainly into the two great branches of Damietta and Eosetta, thus forming the renowned and fertile Nile Delta, we find a flat, low- lying river tract, more extensive than Wales, almost imper- ceptibly merging with the blue waters of the Mediterranean. The Nile is no doubt incessantly thrusting the land forward into the sea, and after the inundation of the Delta from July to November a thin film of sediment is annually left to add to the elevation of the plain. But the position of certain buildings at Alexandria, and the half-submerged ruins of towns in Lake Menzaleh, one of the large lagoons which occupy the seaward margin of the lowland, show that a gradual sinking of the Delta has been in process simultaneously with its upward growth. This is the district of Lower Egypt, the real heart of a state at present extending its frontiers in all directions, where necessary even with armed force, and which is 198 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. already, if not the strongest, assuredly the most extensive state in Africa. For nearly every part of the Nile region has been absorbed, and the Egyptian advanced stations have now reached the northern shores of the Albert Nyanza the Mwutan or Luta 'Nzige of the natives. 3. Egyptian Culture. But Egypt itself is limited to the narrow valley of the Nile, and even here it is in Lower Egypt only that a wider tract of arable land is procured by the outspreading branches of the river. Hence, here also are situated the most important cities in the country — Alexandria, its great seaport, on the Mediterranean, and its capital, Cairo, above the point where the stream forks off. Here, in the venerable land of the Pharaohs and the Pyramids, now flourishes a hybrid culture, half European, half Oriental ; here the traffic between the most important points is furthered by a network of well-constructed railways, one branch of winch reaches like a horn of plenty as far south as Siut in Upper Egypt; here the Mohammedan mosque proudly lifts its head by the side of the European opera-house, and the burnous of the defiant Arab brushes by the coat of the pliant Frank ; here, in a word, the un- experienced traveller receives the impression as if some European city had but changed places with a more southern capital, until taught by a longer residence that all is mere outward show and polish, beneath which the old eastern barbarism still finds a refuge. If he hurries from the centres of this superficial culture, he finds himself in the wilderness enclosing both banks of the river. In the west it is the vast and dreaded Libyan Desert, which skirts the whole left bank of the Nile through Middle and Upper Egypt as far as Egyptian Sudan, at/ places even approaching close to the river it- THE NILE VALLEY. 199 self. Fayum, on the northern frontier of Middle Egypt, may almost be regarded as an oasis, such as those of Farafrah and Dachel in the true desert. 4. The Country East of the Nile — The Atbara and the Blue Nile. On the right bank the plain stretches eastwards from the Delta to the Suez Canal, now connecting the Mediter- ranean and Eed Seas at a point where Africa and Asia meet in the sandy waste of the former isthmus ; but towards the south, along the Gulf of Suez and the whole coast of the Eed Sea, there rises a hilly country occupying the tract between the Nile and the east coast of Africa. In the north, this country of mountains and wadys is called the Eastern or Arabian Desert, and farther south, where the Nile forms an inverted S, it descends to the Nubian Desert ; while, still following the coast-line on the left until between 15° and 10° north latitude, it expands into the imposing highlands of Abyssinia. This region alone sends down considerable streams, in their north-westerly course watering the districts of Fazokl and Senaar, and at last flowing into the Nile, which up to its confluence with the Atbara has not throughout its whole lower course received a single tribu- tary either from the east or the west. More important still than the Atbara is the more southern affluent, the Bahr-el-Azrak, or Blue Nile, flowing from the alpine lake Tsana hi the lofty Abyssinian table-land of Amhara. At the junction of the two streams is situated Khartum, the most important centre of traffic in Egyptian Sudan. 5. The White Nile and its Tributaries. The Nile, henceforth to be named the Abiad or 200 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. White, iii contradistinction to the Blue Nile, reaches this point in nearly a straight course from the upper regions, where it receives the Sobat, its confluence with which may in a sense be regarded as a turning-point in the history of Nile discovery. The Sobat rises probably in the little-known mountain region which forms a southern continuation of the Abyssinian highlands, and in which are situated the states of Shoa and Kafra. On the east these uplands descend towards the land of the G alias, who occupy the eastern horn of Africa jointly with the Somali, lying still farther coastwards. Hence also several other streams that remain still to be explored, flow west- wards to the Nile basin. But the first decided change in the character of the Nile takes place not on this right or eastern side, but on its left or western bank, where south of Kordofan and Darfur the Bahr-el-Ghazal (Gazelle Eiver) and the Bahr-el- Arab gather and bring to it a regular network of streams flowing in a parallel course from south to north, and rising in the mountains to the north-west of Lake Albert Nyanza. This is the domain of a number of most interesting Negro tribes, such as the Nuehr, the Dinka, and Bongo, the cannibal Nyamnyam and Monbuttu, whose habits and customs were some years since for the first time observed by Dr. George Schweinfurth. South of these is the dwarf race of the Akka, visited by the Italian traveller Miani. Here from the Blue Mountains skirting the western shore of the Albert Nyanza, streams descend and flow into the still unexplored regions of the west ; amongst them the Welle in the land of the Monbuttu, which, as we have already seen, is pro- bably the upper course of the Shari. The White Nile itself flows from the northern extremity of the Albert Nyanza, winding through the THE NILE VALLEY. 201 hilly country to the north of this lake down to the plains below. Nevertheless a deep channel connecting the Albert with the Victoria Nyanza is generally regarded as the White or Victoria Nile, so that for the present this basin may be looked on as the true source of the father of rivers. Whether one of the more southern or south- eastern affluents of the Victoria Nyanza is to be con- sidered as a further continuation of the Nile seems to us a somewhat idle question, with the investigation of which the reader need not, at least for the present, be troubled. 202 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. CHAPTEE XV. EGYPT. 1. Political Situation — Extent — Population. Egypt is a vassal state of the Porte, to which it pays a yearly tribute of about £670,000, and which in case of war it is obliged to assist with a number of auxiliary troops. Its present ruler, who formerly bore the title of viceroy, has contrived constantly to restrict the sovereign rights of Turkey, securing for himself and his successors the dignity of Khedive, and continually extending the frontiers of the state southwards along the Mle basin and over the shores of the Bed Sea, so that he is now unques- tionably the most powerful potentate in the whole of Africa. Under him Egypt has become an important and all but independent state, approaching ever nearer to complete separation from the Porte, its dependence on which is even now little more than nominal. Meantime it is difficult accurately to estimate the total area of a state that has grown up under our very eyes. The territory nominally subjected to Egypt now extends over about 865,000 square miles, or is more than four times the area of European Turkey. If, follow- ing the estimate made by Behm and Wagner, we set down the population at about 17,000,000, including the districts of Korclofan and Darfur, this figure can be looked upon as little more than purely conjectural. In Egypt proper, that is the Nile valley as far as Wady Haifa, there were in 1872 about a third of this number, EGYPT. 203 including 3,800,000 settled Arabs, 200,000 Turks and other Tatar tribes, 400,000 Bedouins or nomad Arabs, the Mussulmans thus reckoning about 4,400,000 altogether. There are some 600,000 Christians, com- prising 350,000 Kopts and 250,000 Franks and natives of the Levant. 2. TJie Fellaheen, Kopts, Pure Arabs, Europeans, Jews, and Gipsies. The great mass of the settled Arab element are known as " Fellaheen," literally " Ploughers," who are not pure Arabs, but rather half-bred descendants of the old Egyptians and the first Arab invaders of the land. On the other hand, a portion of the Egyptians as well as of their conquerors remained unmixed, the former being now represented by the Kopts, Jacobite Christians, outwardly professing Christianity but practising circumcision and other Mohammedan rites. They generally support them- selves as scribes, notaries, secretaries, and book-keepers in public and private offices, though some rich Koptic land- owners and merchants are occasionally met with. All, however, bear a certain reputation for trickery and craftiness. Like the Greeks, the Kopts are divided into United and Disunited ; and besides the Catholics and a limited number of Protestants, there are also Armenian and Maronite communities in Egypt. The pure Arabs are mainly represented by the Bedou- ins ; but even a portion of these, as in Fayum, and espe- cially in the province of Kenneh, have exchanged their nomad tents for settled houses, made at first of palm branches and clurra stalks, afterwards of regular brick- work. Besides cattle, sheep, and camel breeding, they are occupied in escorting caravans, preparing and selling char- coal (mostly of tamarisk shrubs), and palm matting ; but, 204 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. since the time of Meliemet Ali, have renounced the profes- sion of highway robbers. The Europeans and natives of the Levant — Greeks, Syrians, Italians, French, English, and Germans, taking them in the order of their numbers respectively — very nearly monopolise the commerce and navigation of the country, and are also the principal hotel-keepers, chemists, physicians, booksellers, teachers of languages, and, in very small numbers, even artists, in the more important cities of Lower Egypt, There is, moreover, a not inconsiderable number of Europeans, especially Italians and French, in the service of the Khedive. The Jews, owing to the unmeasured contempt in which they are held by the Moslem, do not thrive quite so well in Egypt as elsewhere. The gipsies, also, have diminished in numbers, and are now only occasionally met with at fairs and markets as conjurors, serpent-charmers, and acro- bats, while the women are here, as elsewhere, devoted to fortune-telling, and even public dancing. 3. Social Progress — Spread of Education. Under the sway of this present ruler, Egypt and its inhabitants have in many respects made undoubted pro- gress. Every year the Khedive introduces fresh European customs and usages. Thus he has created a police force based on a former Austrian model ; but in no department is the improvement so marked as in that of public instruc- tion. The Egyptian schools are classified as military and technical, supported by the Government ; poor and orphan schools, also partly assisted by the Government ; central schools in the chief towns of the provinces, in whose main- tenance the families take part ; boarding schools, in Cairo and Alexandria, to some extent relying on voluntary aid ; and lastly, national colleges, supported by the parents and EGYPT. 205 students themselves. This, however, takes no account of the various sectarian schools in Cairo, also liberally aided by the Government, nor of the other foreign institutions, similarly enjoying considerable subventions, not figuring in the budget of public instruction. These are mostly mis- sionary establishments, orphanages, Koptic, Greek, Jewish, Catholic, and conventual schools. With regard to the progress and advancement which has been made in Egypt under its present government, the well-known traveller, Charles Beke, wrote as follows : — " Nothing surprised me more in my present journey, though I have visited Egypt frequently since 1840, than the many changes for the better that were observable in the whole country. When one has passed the Mareotis lake, and the barren district west of the Eosetta arm of the Nile, the land presents most distinct evidences of higher and more extended culture. I was told that in this part of Egypt, where in 1850 only 100,000 acres of land were under cultivation, now double that extent is planted. The cotton harvest is now just over, and the fields are being ploughed. Once I saw, what I have never seen before, a camel drawing the plough. Far and wide there waves a green sea of corn-fields or of rich pasture-land, on which cattle, asses, sheep, and goats are grazing. Trees have been planted, and not only along the roads ; some places have been set so thickly as almost to appear like little forests. The route across the Delta, on the clear sunny clay on winch I travelled, was indeed charming, and I had often to remind myself that I was really in Egypt, so totally changed was the picture ; for here and there, also, the tall chimney of some manufactory was to be seen rising above the trees or over the villages. Egypt will soon belong only geographically to Africa; in everything else it is becoming European. The condition of the lower classes, also, shows a marked improvement. Ophthalmia, 206 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. perhaps the most painful scourge of Egypt, is now neither so widespread nor so intense as formerly ; and if the people are not better fed than they used to be, they have, at least, sutticient for then- wants. Those inhabiting the towns are remarkably improved. In Cairo there are not nearly so many barefooted people as formerly ; and they are not contented with slippers, but wear European boots. The fellahs, or peasants, also, are decidedly improved ; their mud huts are better built, and especially better roofed — indeed, here and there peasant houses of quite European type are now to be seen. " No doubt this rapid progress in Egypt has its shadow side. Like the children of Israel of old, the people do not work for themselves, but are in heavy bondage almost beyond their powers ; yet this development under high pressure is undeniably to the advantage of the country. The greatest and most important, because most universally active, change is certainly that of the improvement in the climate, brought about by the more extended cultivation, and especially by the numerous plantations of trees. Egypt is in a fair way to overturn its proverbial rainlessness. In Alexandria rain now falls even to excess ; and Cairo, of which the prophet of all travellers, Murray, in his Hand- book, still maintains that it enjoys at most five or six light showers in the course of the year, had to record not fewer than twenty-one such in the past year. I myself experi- enced a rainy day there quite as wet as any known in England ; the consequences of it were, that the unpaved streets were covered ankle-deep with mud, and all traffic, except that in carriages, w T as at an end. Naturally the ignorant Arabs ascribe these changes to supernatural agencies ; and since the year corresponds with that of the ascent of Mohammed Ali to the throne, the witchcraft is supposed to emanate from him and his dynasty." But, however remarkable the progress already made, it EGYPT. 207 cannot be denied that much of it is more dazzling and superficial than solid. The Khedive's attendants wear liveries, including even the tall hat itself, otherwise held in such horror by Mohammedans. In the theatre a special box has been set up for the ladies of the harem, and under the pretext of attracting strangers a European company has contracted for the rent of a gambling estab- lishment, binding itself in return to set apart a fixed yearly sum for the embellishment of Cairo. The ladies of his highness's harem have already made such strides towards emancipation, that they drive out in open carriages dressed in European fashion, with the addition of a very gossamer veil, and with English coachmen and footmen in red and gold-embroidered liveries. The public offices themselves are beginning to be pervaded by another atmosphere. The divans in the various government departments have been replaced by European sofas and chairs, and the officials have been recommended to imitate their western colleagues by abstaining from smoking and coffee during business hours. The commerce, especially the transit trade, of Egypt has derived immense advantages from the construction of the great highway of the Suez Canal, uniting the Mediterranean with the Eed Sea, and giving an uninterrupted waterway between Europe and the Indies. Tins greatest engineer- ing enterprise of modern times was completed in 1869, after fourteen years of labour. From the Mediterranean at Port Said, now a flourishing modern town, though as lately as the year 1860 its site had not even a hut, the canal passes for nearly a hundred miles southward to the old Egyptian seaport of Suez on the Eed Sea, with its mosques and houses of sun-dried brick. Midway the canal passes Ismailia, the head -quarters of the Canal Com- pany, to which point a fresh- water canal has now been opened from the Nile. The increase of traffic by this 208 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. highway may be estimated from the fact that while only 486 vessels passed through the canal in 1870, this num- ber had increased to 1494 ships, carrying nearly three millions of tons of goods, in 1875, as well as 85,000 passengers. All these efforts at civilisation are of course meantime restricted to Lower Egypt, where are situated the two most important cities in the country, Cairo and Alexandria. 4. Alexandria and Cairo. Alexandria, with a population of 212,000, is divided into two sections, one occupied by Europeans, the other by the natives. In the Arab quarter in the north-west and west the streets are narrow and irregular, in summer dusty, in winter rendered impassable by the mud and dirt. The houses are mostly one story high, with few windows towards the street, and built in the most arbitrary fashion. The European quarter, a creation of recent times, presents a very different appearance, with its broad and straight streets, occasionally planted with fine rows of trees, with here and there a charming square laid out with ever- green plants and sweet-smelling flowers. Here are also splendid houses, solidly built and with the most elegant shops, rendering Alexandria one of the most brilliant cities of the Mediterranean. It is lit with gas, and the Nile water is conveyed thither by a company, which supplies the whole place with the best drinking water in the world. The traveller is now hurried from Alexandria to Cairo by the government railway, the ramifications of which, extending over a total length of nearly 1000 miles, con- nect together nearly all the large towns of the Delta, besides extending southward along the river as far as Siut, whence the Nile navigation is open to Assuan. EGYPT. 209 The express train takes four and a half hours to make the journey from Alex- andria to Cairo. IT the change in the open country and the climate is extraor- dinary, no less so is that we meet with in the capital, which the Khedive seems anxious to make the Paris of the Levant. The western quarter has been almost en- tirely reconstructed, and has grown considerably in the direction of the Nile. The other divisions of the city have also been pierced by [|[Pfj|p ^fz-:. -^r--' ^==5 ===^^= =A=S^^=- r-^T:-- "■ i 1 '.^=S^ i^^m n gk i STREET IN CAIRO. P 210 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. large open streets, only it were to be wished that the desire to convert it into a European town may not end in the disappearance of its Eastern character, which would rob it of a great part of its peculiar charms and attractions. The first thing that a stranger generally does when he has arrived at Cairo is to make for the citadel. This stands on a slight elevation, which, however, is a relatively important one in the wide levels which surround it, and it is also occupied by some of the government buildings, and the splendid new mosque which holds the tomb of Mehemet Ali. The panorama which one enjoys from the walls of the citadel is indeed a fine one, the most splendid certainly, excepting that of the Bosphorus, afforded by all the East. At one's feet the vast city spreads out, the Masr el Kahira, the victorious, as the Arabs are proud to call the queen of the Nile valley, — a sea of houses, over which rises a forest of tapering minarets and noble cupolas. There are said to be 400 mosques in Cairo, but no one appears to have counted them singly. In the background are the yellow mountains of the desert, and over all the clear blue sky. Behind the huge city lies a green plain watered 1 iv the Nile, which has spread out like a great lake, and be- yond that the pyramids, with two gigantic ones overtopping the rest, the insoluble riddle of a mysterious past. In the south, in the greater distance, are the pyramids of Sakarah ; in the east, the white mountains of Makattam and the tombs of the kalifs, and the wide bare desert. This is in a few strokes the vast picture which unfolds itself before our eyes. The city is surrounded almost entirely by walls in a tolerably good state of repair. The houses are of one to three stories high, without gables or window -frames ; instead of sloping roofs, there are flat terraces, and the windows are protected by strong wooden lattices, the balconies also being latticed round, most of them having canopied coverings ornamented with carved work. In EGYPT. 211 all the houses the lowest stage is wholly, or in part at least, raised above the level of the ground. The doors are fastened with a wooden bolt, and are provided with a ring for knocking ; on most of them a text from the Koran is inscribed, to serve as a protection from the evil eye ; and in the joints, teeth are wedded in, since this A CAIRO BARBER. is held to be preservative from toothache. The houses along the larger streets contain divans or coffee-rooms, kitchen, workroom, or shop. Most numerous are the workshops of the shoemakers, tailors, saddlers, and pipe- makers, for we are in a country where everybody smokes and rides. In the shops are chiefly to be seen drugs, roots, perfumed waters, and carpets, for every Mussulman uses 212 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. one of those in kneeling for prayer; there are also large white woollen shawls, burnouses, fez caps, silk etuffs, and cloths. The large fruit shops are also interesting, and in these whole pyramids and hillocks of bananas, figs, dates, and oranges, are piled up. In the kitchens one generally finds a mess of pilau (rice and meat) being pre- pared, or beef or fish are being roasted. These delicacies are not only consumed on the premises, and with the aid of the fingers only, but are carried off for family use, since in many houses no cooking at all goes on. In the open barbers' shops one may see how the heads of the true believers are shaved smooth, with the exception of a small lock, or how by the aid of some depilatory they are kept perfectly bare. The clothes shops of the orientals contain only two chief articles of attire — long kaftans and wide trousers. Shoemakers' booths have great quantites of ready- made shoes of untanned or red and yellow leather. Very interesting for the stranger are the jewellers' shops, in which the richest choice of finger, ear, and nose rings of strange oriental shapes are temptingly shown. The armourers' places are also well worth seeing, with their splendid Turkish sabres, yatagans, and richly ornamented guns and pistols. The crowd in the streets is still larger and far more varied than in Alexandria, and the noise is almost deafening. Water-carriers, chiefly very poor people, are very numerous, and take about their supply either in a goat-skin on their own backs, or lead their donkeys with them, in every part of the city. When one remem- bers that all the inhabitants of Cairo, 350,000 people, are provided with water from the Mle — for the wells only give a bad and saline water — the great number of these carriers is readily comprehended. The fellahs or peasants bring their products to market in baskets which they carry on their heads ; now and then they also make use of a donkey for this purpose, and the animal carries v~ '^ FRUIT-SELLER OF CAIRO. To face page 212. EGYPT. 213 not only the goods, but also their owner ; or the driver may be seen running alongside holding on to the pack- saddle so as to be dragged along by the animal. Eiders on splendid horses are often met, and these, with their picturesque oriental equipage, give a fine effect to the scene. FEMALE COSTUME. Turks, Arabs, Armenians, Franks, Jews, Kopts, Negroes, beggars, and among these many blind men, all move in chaotic confusion, and with continual din, among one another. The native women are all veiled, and their loose hanging clothes give no idea of their forms. The divans are small, but have large bow windows in their wooden walls, and they are much frequented, for the oriental is most at 214 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. home in his coffee-house ; here chibouks, hashish, and opium are smoked, while music is played, or some story-teller is listened to. 5. From Cairo to the Cataracts. The best way to visit Egypt proper — that is, the Nile valley — is to make the journey by water in a Nile boat or " dahabieh." For the portion of the trip as far as the Second Cataract at Wady Haifa, little more is now required than a well-filled purse. The first objects attracting attention are the world- famed pyramids of Gizeh, the ruins of Memphis, the pyramids and burial-grounds of Sakarah and Dajur. From Beni Suef, the first town of importance above Cairo, a branch line of railway has been constructed west- ward to Medinet el Fayum on the site of the ancient Krokodilopolis, the capital of the exceedingly fertile basin which surrounds the Birket el Kerim (the lake of the promontory), the ancient Lake Moeris, fed by a canal from the Nile, the water of which is also drawn off by numerous irrigation canals forming a network over the cultivated lands. In addition to the usual products of Egypt, roses, apricots, figs, vines, and olives are produced in great quantities in Fayum. Eastward from Beni Suef the Arabian Desert has fre- quently been crossed to the shores of the Gulf of Suez. Drs. Schweinfurth and Giissfeldt made this short journey in 1876, proceeding for several days' march across a num- ber of wadys between the heights, some of them affording a scanty pasture for camels, and then into the wide Wady Arabah which is six leagues in width, and, like the oases of the Libyan Desert, is surrounded by steep precipices, surmounted by extensive bare plateaus. The two remark- able Koptic monasteries of St. Antonio (Deir Mar Antonios) and St. Paul (Deir Alar Bollos) are respectively I EGYPT. 215 on the northern and southern slopes of the heights of Galfila, which form the south-eastern side of the Arabah. For more than fifteen centuries these convents have pre- served their original features ; the former is a magnificent building resembling a huge fortress. Eeturning to the Nile voyage, as far as Minieh, an important town with a population of 18,000 and about 155 miles from Cairo, the Arabian mountains on the east and the steep edges of the Libyan table-land on the west approach at times close to the banks, presenting a panorama of romantic groups of rock scenery often serving as the pedestals or framework of a colossal primeval architecture. Crocodiles are first met with in their native freedom at Beni Hassan, a little to the south of Minieh. They are frequently seen sunning themselves in the mouths of the caves and fissures of the steep wall of Jebel Abu Focla, one of the most picturesque, but, at the same time the most dangerous passes of the Nile voyage. Far- ther south they become an ordinary feature of the landscape, basking in the sun along the shores and sand- banks of the river. Siut, with 29,000 inhabitants, and built on the ruins of the ancient city of Lycopolis, is the capital of the province of the same name, and the most important town in Upper Egypt, remaining for the present the terminus of the Nile railroad. The great caravan highways to the Southern Libyan Oases and to Darfur, converging here, add a certain animation to the place. Between Siut and Girgeh are seen the ruins of many ancient towns ; the dum-palm now appears on the banks, and the Nile flows almost due east and west as far as Kenneh (13,000 inhabitants), whence a route, four days 7 journey long, leads across the Arabian Desert to the small port of Kosseir on the Eed Sea. Opposite Kenneh is the great temple of Denderah on the left bank, and farther south the land spreads out into 216 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. the great valley of Hamamet, with its numerous ancient granite quarries and monuments. Now follow in succes- sion the temple of Qurna, the Kamesseuru, the colossal statue of Memnon, the ruins of Karnac and Luxor, the nohle remains of the " hundred-gated " Thebes. South of this city of the dead rises the stately Esneh from the midst of palm groves on the left bank of the river. Twenty miles above Edfou, which contains the ruins of two magnificent temples, the landscape becomes wilder and more gloomy, the hills on both sides approach nearer, the cultivated land shrinks to a narrow strip, and the Nile, now scarcely 300 paces wide, winds through the pass of Jebel Silsileh, and on emerging from this the country assumes a new character, in this respect already forming part of Nubia. The hills, averaging about 200 feet in height, retire on both sides, and give place to the desert, on the east of a prevailing gray, on the west of a yellow hue. The cidtivated land disappears almost entirely at this point, which may, perhaps, be regarded as the extreme southern limit of Egypt proper. Beyond the palm-fringed island of Elephantine is Assuan, a place of about 6000 inhabitants, where the Nile assumes the appearance of a lake, with the dark masses of the granite hills forming the Cataracts as its southern boundary. The navigation of the river between the Cataracts becomes difficult in the dry season, but in the season of inundation the Nile boats and even steamers can pass easily. The first Cataract is not properly a waterfall, and even in the most difficult place, named the Gate of the Cataract (Bab-e-Shelal), the gradient is not more than one in fifteen. Black rock masses rise abruptly from the foaming cur- rent, and here and there blocks fallen from them form islets of 1 5 to 2 feet in height. Sometimes the ascent of the Cataract requires more than a day, but the boat EGYPT. 217 floats down stream through the pass in little more than an hour. The first of these Cataracts forms the proper frontier of Egypt and Nubia. Above it the Nile valley expands into the magnificent basin of Philae, encircled by wild rugged hills ; but, still higher up, the rocky pass of Kelabsheh again narrows the stream to 150 paces in width, and a few hours later, in passing the temple of Dandur, the TOMBS OF THE KALIFS. tropic of Cancer, the boundary of the tropics, is crossed. At Korosko, where, with a sudden turn, the Nile begins a great loop to south-west, a caravan route strikes south- ward across the Nubian Desert to Abu Hamed, cutting off the wide circuit by the river. From Korosko to Derr the Nile bends backward from north to south for eleven miles, and this reach is a great obstacle to the advance of vessels during the prevalence of northerly winds. The character of the landscape remains that of the desert ; the grotesque rocks of the banks are now closer, now farther 218 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. off, and here and there the remains of ancient buildings show themselves. Beyond Derr the river assumes a south- westerly course, and is here very broad, having within it large well-cultivated islands interchanging with sandbanks, the favourite resort of the crocodile. Abu Simbel, with its mighty rock temple, here im- presses the imagination almost as forcibly as the great pyramid of Cheops or the gigantic ruins of Karnac. Forty miles farther on we come to Wady Haifa, soon after which point begins the Second or Great Cataract, entirely stopping the passage of larger vessels, but navigable for small boats during the floods. This Second Cataract presents the aspect of a cliff- walled lake on the borders of which the waves are breaking ; the huge towering granite rocks of Philae and Assuan are indeed wanting, for the coarse-grained sandstone through which the Nile breaks here is less capable of resisting the action of the torrent ; still the Wady Haifa Cataract, with its numberless cliffs and islets of red and yellow stone framed in a border of unlimited desert, presents a wild picture of irresistible charm. From Wady Haifa, the head of the free naviga- tion of the Nile for larger vessels, a Nubian railroad is now being constructed along' the river-bank to El Ordeh or Dongola, whence the Nile is again navigable to the important station of El Dabbeh, at the terminus of the shortest route to Darrur. This work now (July 1877) employs upwards of 6000 men. The whole journey by the Nile from Cairo to Wady Haifa, a distance which may be compared to a voyage from the Thames along the east coast of Britain to the Pentland Firth, is less than half the entire distance to Khartum, and only two-fifths of the Nile proper, reckoning from the confluence of the Sobat with the Bahr el Abiad, and only a fourth of its whole length from the northern EGYPT. 219 extremity of the Albert Nyanza to the Mediterranean. But above Wady Haifa the pleasant trip by water is changed for the wearisome caravan, the "ship of the desert " here taking the place of the dahabieh or river boat. 220 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. CHAPTEE XVI. REGIONS OF THE UPPER KILE. 1. The Nubian Desert By Nubia or Dongola was formerly and is even yet understood the country south of Assuan. But it is diffi- cult to attach any definite geographical notion to these terms, which, at least in the south of the region in question, are being now gradually superseded by the expression "Egyptian Sudan." The most direct southerly route towards Khartum is the track across the Nubian Desert, from Korosko, at the knee formed by the jSTile between Assouan and Wady Haifa, to Abu Hamecl at the corresponding northern bend, 250 miles farther south. This camel route winds through a succession of bare gorges covered with gravel or sand, and walled in by high rocks, over stony plateaux and across rocky ridges extending east and west. Only a few of the deeper valleys have moisture sufficient to support some dum-palms and mimosas, or to give food for gazelles. Here and there, beside the few wells along the route, are little encampments of Ababdeh Arabs of unfavourable aspect. They carry a long sword or a lance, and wear wrapped round their waists a great sheet of cotton stuff with which they cover themselves in sleeping at night. Most part of the desert is without the least trace of organic life, and the track is marked out by the remains of fallen camels ; excessive dryness and heat prevent these from decaying, and the skin becomes like parchment drawn IX THE NUBIAN DESERT, IX THE NUBIAN DESERT. To face page 220. NUBIA. 221 over the skeleton. The mirage is almost continuous ; the horizon appears like a wide sea, and mountains far be- yond the limit of vision are frequently seen reversed in the air as if standing on their summits, while others take the forms of castle towers. Abu Hamed, the terminal point of this desert march, is a small village surrounded by gardens at about a mile from the Nile bank. Those wishing to proceed to Khartum from Wady Haifa, the limit of the journey by water, must continue their excursion on the camel along the banks of the river where it flows through the desolate rocky desert of the Nubian province of Batn-el-Hajer, and the date-growing lands of Sukkot and Mahass. After a ride of thirteen days the traveller will thus reach the town of El Ordeh or New Dongola on the Nile, an important market and military station, a middle point of traffic with Darfur and Lower Egypt. In its vicinity, immediately above the third Nile Cataract, is the fertile river island of Argo, with colossal statues and ruins of ancient Ethiopian and Egyptian build- ings. From Dongola a boat may again be taken as far as El-Dabbeh, whence the route is ao;ain overland through the steppe of Bajuda to Khartum, capital of Egyptian Sudan. 2. Berber, Shendy, and Khartum. On the course of the Nile, above Abu Hamed, the most important station is the town of Berber, on the right bank, not far from the confluence of the Atbara, the most northerly of the tributary rivers from Abyssinia. Berber is de- scribed as a collection of mud huts, with here and there a building in European fashion, and has a population of about 8000. Its tall acacia and palm trees, and the beautiful gardens of Sheikh Halifa, give it a charm and beauty, best appreciated by the traveller who approaches 222 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. it by the frequented caravan route across the desert from the port of Suakin on the Eed Sea. Where it joins the Nile the Atbara is a fine river of 400 yards in width, and at some seasons its limpid blue waters contrast strongly with the deep earthy red of the swollen Nile. Tins is the last supply received by the Nile before entering on its course of 1200 miles through the parched deserts of Nubia and Libya. Shendy, also on the right bank, between Berber and Khartum, formerly a great commercial town, razed to the ground in 1821 in reprisal for the assassination in it of the son of Mehemet Ali, is now again a place of much importance, both as a depot for the caravan traffic with Kordofan, and as the designated terminus of a projected Sudan railway to pass to this point from Wady Haifa. From Shendy light- draught steamers can pass readily to Khartum. Khartum, at an elevation of 1270 feet above the sea- level, 1 and with a population of 40,000, is the largest town and principal centre of traffic in the country, the converging point of all the caravan routes. Ivory, ebony, and ostrich feathers, reaching this point from the south, are sent on from it across the desert to Korosko and down the Nile to Cairo ; and grain, cotton, and gums, ex- changed for European goods, give rise to an active trade. The town is built on the left bank of the Bahr-el-Azrak or Blue Nile, about two miles south from its confluence with the White Nile or Bahr-el-Abiad. These names, however, are not well chosen for the rivers at this point, since the White Nile preserves a pale opaque azure, while the eastern tributary is dyed a deep red with the earth that it brings down from the highlands of Abyssinia. The well-built government houses and residence of the governor- general of this province of the Sudan face the river-side, opposite a point at winch a quay gives easy access to the 1 By levelling from Suakin through Berber, by Ismail Bey in 1873. NUBIA. 23 river steamers. The streets that border the Nile look down from a bluff height : here and there are stately palms and large gardens of citrons and orange trees, and neatly whitewashed houses relieved by minaret and mosque give it the appearance of an Egyptian city. Its streets within, however, are narrow and badly drained ; pools of water formed in the rainy season throw off a !|H$JB ■lUXUr'il JjK Y-"--' ; —^ ~ ^ iBSi -JiP^ =£r7 iHfijlHEi --~^BS~v: jgjjjii ^r3S -^2^srr^ ^^H ' f / . ; KHARTUM. deadly fever miasma. The population is a motley one of Turks, Greeks, Jews, Egyptians, Nubians, Abyssinians, Gallas, and Negroes. The Europeans are chiefly Greeks (a few are Italians) engaged in the sale of wines, raki, beer, and provisions. A regiment of the Shillooks, a warlike race of jet black negroes of fine stature, inhabiting the regions of the Nile about the confluence of the Sobat, is maintained at Khar- tum, and is found to be of threat service in enforcing the 24: COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. payment of tribute among the Arabs of the province, by whom they are feared and hated. 3. Senaar — The Country "between the Blue and White Nile. In advancing still higher up the Nile basin we shall first take the country watered by the Blue Nile, which has of late years been explored by Ernst Marno, a meri- torious young Austrian ; and then, in company chiefly with Schweinfurth, pass in review the remarkable region lying on the left bank of the Bahr-el-Abiad. The wide domain on the left bank of the Bahr-el- Azrak, limited by this stream on the east and by the White Nile on the west, bears the name of Jesireh Senaar, and is probably to be identified with Strabo's island of Meroe. The northern portion of this country, reaching to the confluence of the Blue and White Nile at Khartum, bears the stamp of a somewhat higher culture in its tolerably numerous towns and hamlets and productive cultivation of the soil, and is inhabited by an unusually mixed and varied population. The interior, interspersed with extensive steppes and forests of brushwood, is frequented by nomad Arab tribes, but the southern district, which may be described as South or Upper Senaar, is occupied by a number of Negro tribes, both geographically and ethnographically forming a transition or connecting link with the negroes of Central and Western Africa. The first important point above Khartum on the Blue Nile is Woad Meclineh, a station now much neglected and in a state of great decay. On the west bank of the river there stretches away to the north-west an immense wood- less level, for miles presenting the aspect of one vast brown tract. This is the great cultivated plain of the EGYPTIAN SUDAN. 9 9 country, the granary of the Egyptian Sudan, sending down supplies of durra to Khartum and the whole Nile region. Here are the brick villages of the Halawin, and occasionally also the whitewashed tomb of a sheikh or fakir. The second town on the Blue Nile is Senaar, which would seem to have given its name to the whole region. But, though at one time great and populous, Senaar also has lost much of its former prosperity. Fifty miles farther up, and on the right bank of the river, is the market village of Karkoj, the last place in this direction possessing any commercial importance, as well as the highest point up to which the Blue Nile is generally navigated. About this neighbourhood grow the Gomrah or Baobab (Adansonia digitata), and the Deleb palm (Borassus JEtliiopicus) ; while, at a greater distance from the river, the red Falsa (Acacia gummiferd) and the Suf- farah (Acacia fistidosa) are the commonest trees of the steppe bush. Above Karkoj, as the edge of the Abyssinian heights is approached, we come upon Eosaires, on the right bank of the river, formerly the chief town of an independent province ; still higher, nearly opposite the mouth of the Tumut, a periodically flowing tributary from the south, is Famaka, the central place of the district called Dar Fazokl, the limit of the Egyptian dominion in this direc- tion. Between these places a new ethnographic race begins to add a fresh element of confusion to the already sufficiently diversified tribes of Sudan. These are the Hdmmej, a branch of the great Ethiopian Negro family, which might be conveniently described as that of Upper Senaar, and which seems to occupy a middle position between the Arab Semites and the sub-equatorial Negroes of Central Africa. Immediately north of these, but chiefly on the eastern side of the Blue Nile, as far down as Karkoj, dwell the Q 226 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. HaJckalin Arabs, a handsome race, with a remarkably clear complexion and a symmetry of form, evidently im- plying total freedom from the least taint of Negro blood. 4. Valley of the Bahr-el-Abiad. We now retrace our steps to Khartum, in order to follow the course of the Bahr-el-Abiad, or White Nile, and thereby penetrate farther south into the hitherto little explored regions of the Upper Nile. The country to the east of the Bahr-el-Abiad is the Jesireh Senaar just described, while on the west we enter the domain of the Baggara Selim Arabs, conterminous southwards with the savage Shillook tribe. With the island of Abba, between 13° and 14° north latitude, begins the finest part of the river, the banks being here thickly overgrown with magnificent sannut forests, the retreat of innumerable monkeys (Cercopithecus griseoviriclis), the mimosa, willow, ambatch, and cissus, whose dense and intricate foliage often forms charming natural bowers. In 10° N. the station of Fashoda is reached, a place of 3000 inhabitants, including an Egyptian garrison of 800 men, which claims some attention as a convict settle- ment and the principal post of observation against the hostile Shillooks, and, though with doubtful success, against the slave-trade on the White Nile. Above this place the western bank is studded with numerous Shillook villages, and consequently bears an evil repute on account of the frequent attacks made by these savage negroes. On the east is the confluence of the Sobat which brings down its milk-white waters from the Abyssinian highlands and is about half the size of the Bahr-el-Abiad itself. The best account of this large tributary of the Nile yet obtained is that given by Dr. Yunker in the Journal of EGYPTIAN SUDAN. 227 the Berlin Geographical Society (vol. xii., 1877), who as- cended it in an Egyptian steamer in 1876 for 190 miles to the station of Nasser. This military outpost was formed two years ago by Colonel Gordon, of the Egyptian Staff, partly with the object of accustoming the natives of the river to the presence of the foreign power, partly with a view to opening up new avenues of trade and barter along the basin of the Sobat. This post can only be reached by large vessels in the rainy months from June to November; during the rest of the year the river is only navigable for small boats. In beginning the upward voyage from the Egyptian military station at the confluence of the Sobat and Nile, the banks are wooded, but soon a wide savannah appears on both sides of the river, and the woods do not appear again till more than half the journey to Nasser is accomplished. Here, however, a dense impenetrable vegetation and rank undergrowth matted together with creepers, affords fine effects of light and shade. This is the favourite resort of the white-headed eagle (Malicetus vocifer), and one sees him sitting proudly under the leafy tops of the high trees. For a day's journey upward from the Nile the banks are peopled by the Shillooks ; next on the south bank follow a portion of the extensive tribe of the Dinka ; and higher up the Eallang and Niuak, while the Nuehrs have a large territory on the north and east of the river. Along this portion of the river not fewer than five different idioms are spoken. No European has yet reached any higher point on the Sobat than the station of Nasser. Dr. Yunker was informed that higher up the river breaks into four branches, the Addura, Nikuar, Gelo, and Abual, named from north to south ; and that the Addura, which probably rises far in the interior of the plateaux which continue the Abyssinian highlands southward, is navigable by native canoes for a distance of 40 to 50 days' journey. 22S COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. Returning to the Xile voyage, a little above the Sobat confluence we come to the junction of the Bahr-el-Zeraf (Giraffe river), which at 7° 30' north latitude branches off from the Bahr-el-Jebel, or the main stream which passes Gondokoro, again joining it here after a winding course. The whole country between the Bahr-el-Jebel and the Bahr-el-Zeraf, and for an unknown distance beyond the latter river, is cut up by innumerable river-beds, forming in the rainy season one vast swamp swarming with musquitoes, and, with its floating vegetable islands and dense walls of reeds, offering formidable obstacles to navigation. At its confluence with the Bahr-el-Abiad the Bahr-el-Zeraf is tolerably deep, and its high banks are fringed with a strip of wild sugar-cane (Saccharum isclwemmii). Soon, however, on both sides the grassy steppes stretch away to the horizon, varied only with solitary trees and patches of brushwood, and strewn with the conic hills of the termite or white ant. Here there occur a few deleb-palms, of which we meet with extensive forests farther south, such as that south of the Seriba Gauer, the first settlement on the Bahr-el-Zeraf. The pestiferous climate of these marshy districts, where dry plots of ground are so rare as to receive, on that account alone, special names, is fatal not only to Europeans, but also to the Nubians and other natives. 5. The Nuehr Tribe. Yet in this dreary region dwell the Nuehr, represented as closely akin to the Denka or Dinka race, which nearly surrounds them from the Bahr-el-Ghazal in a southerly curve to the Sobat and southern Senaar. The physical constitution of the Nuehr furnishes a fresh proof of the received opinion that the inhabitants of fenny lowlands EGYPTIAN SUDAN. 229 breathing a heavy moist and warm atmosphere display a less expansive chest formation than those living on more elevated lands and breathing a thinner and lighter air. Almost the sole wealth of the Nuehr consists in their herds of cattle, to which they manifest greater affection than to their wives and children. Above the Seriba Gauer the Zeraf grows shallower and becomes more and more overgrown with flags, while on the other hand its banks spread out so that their limits cannot always be clearly distinguished from the surrounding land. The feathered denizens of these reed and grass grown wastes most frequently met with are the cuckoo (Centropus monachus, Eupp.) and the graceful Ortygometra eryihropus, seen also in the fenny districts of West Africa. Here also are the king vulture, the "parasite kite," and the eagle. The slimy banks free of grass are frequented by the white and black ibis, the tantalus, the magnificent " saddle-back " stork, elsewhere rarely found, the Balamiceps rex, and the Marabu, besides flocks of lapwings, stone-curlews, sandpipers, and pelicans. At 9° 30' K latitude on the main Nile we, for the first time, meet with the papyrus, which was once spread as far as Lower Egypt, but has now withdrawn to the very heart of Central Africa. The farther we advance up the river, the more frequent and serious become the obstacles to the navigation. At Lake No, where the Bahr-el-Jebel or Gondokoro river forms a junction with the Bahr-el-Ghazal (Gazelle river), there is a huge grass dam, mostly formed of a water fern of the species Azolla, and of the Pistia stratiotes, with which travellers on African rivers are only too familiar. Above the territory of the Nuehr tribe we come to the first wooded land on the Bahr-el-Ghazal, where grows the tree-like euphorbia, whose branches, like those of a candelabrum, shoot straight up into the air. 230 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. 6. The Dinka Tribes. On the southern limits of the Nuehr district we come upon the Dinka Negroes, whose domain occupies the whole of the low-lying tract stretching round the Nuehr from the Bahr-el-Arab, across the Ghazal and Jebel, to the lower Sobat. This is a vast alluvial land, the monotony of which is unbroken by a single hill or prominence of any sort, and the few wooded patches them- selves are of very limited extent. But, according as they approach the Dyur and Bongo districts on their south- western borders, these Dinka steppes lose much of their monotonous character. Their true limits are formed by high table-lands, mostly ferruginous, which stretch away to the equator, interrupted only by slight undulations or isolated granite peaks. The land is covered with farmsteads and " seribas," properly meaning thorn fences, as the stations of the merchants are called in the Negro regions. A great many of these seribas, mostly be- longing to Nubian traders, have in recent years been established in the region of the upper Ghazal, which has on this account come to be known as the " Seriba country" — a convenient name for the whole territory between the Bahr-el-Jebel and Bahr-el-Arab, watered by the Eolil, Dyur, Dembo, and many other parallel tributaries of the Ghazal. In a few of the Dinka tribes the men are of large build, but their average size does not exceed 5 feet 6 inches. They are of the very darkest colour, and they shave off all their scanty hah' except a small tuft on top, dandies alone wearing it full and as long as possible. With both sexes it is customary to extract the front incisors, in consequence of which their speech contains some very inarticulate sounds. Herds form their principal wealth, and, besides horned EGYPTIAN SUDAN. 31 cattle of the Zebu breed, they possess flocks of sheep and goats, to say nothing of the dogs. In the art of cookery the Dinkas contrast favourably with the Nubians, their fari- naceous and milk food being equal in flavour to the best European preparations of the same nature. Iron, which here has a higher value than copper, is largely used in manufacturing their arms and other implements, and even their ornaments ; but as the country, especially in its western parts, produces no iron-ore, the people are less skilled in its preparation than are their neighbours. On the other hand, their religious views are of a far more enlightened nature than those of their Nubian con- querors, and they are especially remarkable for their rejec- tion of the Eastern belief in the potency of the evil eye. 7. The Byur and Bongo Tribes. The Dyur, occupying the lower slopes and terraces of the central elevated plateau, are distinguished for their skill in the smelting of iron-ore, and in every branch of 232 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. the blacksmith's trade. They are also eager and adroit fishermen, and before the sowing time in March, old and young are in the habit of leaving their settled abodes and devoting themselves either to smelting or to fishing. The Dyur families are generally numerous, and the love of the children for their parents is more marked than in any other Central African tribe. At present, besides the produce of the hunt and of fishing, these industrious and intelligent Dyurs support themselves chiefly on their poultry and goats, as well as on the tillage of the land, the yearly returns of which, however, fall a prey, for the most part, to the Nubians. The third very important tribe in the Seriba district is that of the Bongo or Dor. Their country lies between 8° and 6° K latitude, on the southern limits of the low- lying land of the Ghazal basin, and reaches from north- west to south-east, from the banks of the Eohl to those of the Pango, comprising the middle course of most of the rivers feeding the basin of the Ghazal. Its area is about equal to that of Belgium ; but it is thinly peopled, and tins tribe seems to be dying out. They are confined on the north by the Dyur, on the north-east by the Dinkas, on the south-east by the Mittu, on the south by the Babukur, the Bellanda, and the Nyamnyam, on the west by the Sere and Golo. The Bongo live partly by cattle-breeding, fishing, and hunting, but mainly on the produce of the soil. Of all the tribes in the region of the Ghazal, the Bongo bestow the greatest care on the construction of their houses ; these are invariably cone-shaped, but at the same time present a great diversity of form. On the apex of the conical roof a well-formed straw bolster is placed, and this serves as an elevated seat whence the surrounding level country, hidden from those on the ground by the tall growmg corn of the fields, can be surveyed. To every hut is attached a corn EGYPTIAN SUDAN. 23 store, or granary, raised on high stakes to preserve the harvest from damp, rats, and termites. The Bongo are of an earthy red-brown complexion, like that of the neighbouring Mittu, Nyamnyam, and Krej tribes ; compared with them, the Dinkas, Nuehrs, and Shillooks seem of a deep black colour. In their physical build, also, these two groups differ considerably, the Bongo and the tribes south of them being mostly of smaller size, with a more compact muscular development, much longer upper thigh-bones, and a broader cranium. Their hair is short, crisp, and woolly, but little attention is paid to its decoration. The men always wear an apron of skin or some woven fabric made fast with a cord round the loins, while the women bind herbs or foliage round their hips ; the rest of the body is mostly left ex- posed, even the head-dress of plumage being worn only on festive occasions ; but both sexes display a great love of finery, such as glass beads worn in strings round the neck. The Bongo women are also distinguished by a pecu- liar adornment. Soon after their marriage they begin to bore the under lip, and by introducing wooden plugs', gradually expand it to five 'or six times its natural size. The upper lip is also pierced, and a copper nail or a ring attached to it. Nor do the nostrils escape, each of them being generally stuck with from one to three little straws, while a copper ring is inserted in the perforated cartilage of the nose, as in the BONGO WOMAN. 234 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. case of buffaloes and bulls to render them more manage- able. The upper arm, breast, and stomach, also, are tattooed ; so that altogether the outward appearance of a Bongo woman does not quite correspond to our ideas of grace and loveliness. The adults become so excessively corpulent that the contrast between them and the thin, sinewy bodies of the men produces the greatest astonish- ment in strangers. Even well-to-do Bongo men marry at the most three wives only, while the poor content themselves with one. The bridegroom purchases his bride from her father gener- ally for ten iron plates weighing two pounds each, and twenty spear-heads ; but " elderly females " may be had at a lower price. Marriages thus contracted are easily dissolved, the husband having always the option of send- ing his wife back to her father ; though divorce seldom takes place except on the ground of sterility, for, as a rule, their unions are blessed with a numerous offspring. The dead are buried, the men with their face turned to the north, the women to the south. Of a belief in a life beyond the grave, or even in the transmigration of souls, not a trace can be detected among the Bongos, though a belief in ghosts, the devil, and witches, is widely diffused. 8. The Bahr-el-Ghazcd Water System. Dr. Schweinfurth, to whom we are indebted for these details regarding tribes hitherto almost unknown, also visited the regions west and south of the Seriba dis- trict, throwing much light on their intricate water system. The central river of the Seriba region is the Dyur, the sources of which Schweinfurth discovered at Mount Baginze in the east of the Nyamnyam country. It is one of the most considerable tributaries of the Bahr-el-Ghazal. The farther we proceed westwards from the Dyur the EGYPTIAN SUDAN. 23 more the land rises, thus indicating the approach to the limits of the Ghazal basin towards the central elevated table-land of the continent. The spacious district between the upper Dyur and the Tonj, which flows also from near Mount Baginze, serves as a pasture-land for the elephant and the antelope, a peculiar appearance being given to it by the numerous mushroom-shaped termite or ant hills, constructed by the little Termes morclax. A MITTU. 9. The Mittu Tribes. Still farther east of the Tonj we meet the river Eohl. Though there are several tribes with special names occupy- ing the country between these two rivers, still they all resemble each other so much in appearance, language, and habits, that Schweinfurth considered himself justified in 236 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. comprising them all under the general name of Mittu, in accordance with the practice of the Nubian traders. These Mittus appear to be most nearly akin to the Bongo, by whom, however, they are surpassed both in their physical and mental characteristics. The land occu- pied by them is fertile, but of domestic animals they pos- sess only the goat, the dog, and poultry ; hence to the Dinkas, rich breeders of cattle, they also are known by the term of reproach Dyur or savage. 10. The Nyamnyam Cannibals. Schweinfurth's most important undertaking was his journey southwards to the land of the Nyamnyam, in which he remained for a long time about the sources of the Dyur. Thence he made his way through a hilly dis- trict, and after passing the last streams flowing towards the Gazelle river northward, he found that he had reached an elevation of 2900 feet above the sea. At his feet lay a new valley, through which a stream was flowing south- westward to a completely different system of drainage, distinct from that of the Nile. Here Schweinfurth stood on the water-parting of the Nile basin, the first European that had penetrated thither from the north, following the course of the Egyptian river itself. The greater part of the Zandeh or Nyamnyam country lies between 4° and 6° north latitude, its central line coinciding for its whole length from east to west with the water-parting between the basins of the Nile and that of an interior system, which is perhaps that of the Chad. Its area is estimated at 5400 square miles, and the population at about 2,000,000. The Nyamnyams wear long plaited tresses and queues often hanmnor over the shoulders down to and below the NYAMNYAM COUNTRY. 237 waist, the hair being of that fine crispy quality peculiar to the true negro type. Their great almond-shaped eyes, standing eye- wide apart, overhung with sharply-curved brows, and betraying an un- usually broad cranium, impart to their features an inde- scribable expression of mingled brutal wildness, martial intre- pidity, and a frankness at once inspiring confidence. A nose broad as long, a small mouth with very wide lips, and seldom exceeding the line of the nose, a round chin and ; full cheeks, a short, earthy-red « . coloured figure, inclined to cor- y pulence, and a not very strongly -- : marked muscular system, com- m plete the physical picture of the ?J Nyamnyam type. In this district towns or villages are nowhere to be seen. The huts, grouped in little hamlets, and occupied each by a single family, are found scattered widely over the cultivated land ; even the court of a chieftain con- sists merely of a larger number of huts, in which he and his wives reside. In appearance these huts resemble those of the Bongos above described, only the conical roof is higher and more pointed. Peculiarly constructed little huts, or " bamogih," as they are called, with bell-shaped roofs, are set apart as sleeping-rooms for the half-grown-up youths of the more distinguished classes. The women attend to the tillage of the land and the household affairs, but live a much more secluded life than NYAMNYAM. 238 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. their Bongo and Mittu sisters. The dignity of chieftain, which is inherited by the eldest son, brings little with it beyond a greater share of the produce of the hunt, such as more of the ivory and half the elephant's carcase ; and it is attended with no particular outward show, although the chieftain has the privilege of carrying out capital sentences with his own hand. The scanty costume of these people consists of an apron made up mostly of various skins patched together, and in their eyes producing a very picturesque effect. Tattooing is limited in both sexes to a few simple figures scratched on the surface of the skin ; and, with the exception of filing the lower incisor teeth to a sharp point, to use them, it is said, as a weapon of offence at close quarters, the Nyamnyams do not disfigure themselves in any way. With all their fierceness the Nyamnyam display a tolerably sociable and sensitive disposition, and especially take great pleasure in music, for which they have invented several national instruments. Professional singers also, though perhaps not gifted with particularly fine voices, go about from place to place, and are always welcome at feasts and evening revels. The Nyamnyam call themselves Zandeh, and their language, like those of all the tribes in the region of the upper Gazelle, belongs to the great Libyo-Nubian family. It possesses scarcely any expressions for abstract ideas, and Schweinfurth failed to discover a special name for the deity, though there are words for prayer and worship. The belief in evil spirits and apparitions is widespread ; ordeals also are recognised in criminal cases, and sooth- saying is practised on important occasions, especially before entering on any warlike expedition. The general reputation of the Nyamnyam for canni- balism is well founded. They themselves make a boast of it, ostentatiously wearing the teeth of the human beings MONBUTTU COUNTRY. 239 devoured by them strung round their neck, and decking the stakes of their dwellings with the heads of their victims. Not only do they eat all the captives taken in war, but also all those dying a sudden death. Some Nyamnyam tribes, however, would seem to have renounced the practice of cannibalism. 11. The Monbuttu Country and its People. From the water-parting, Schweinfurth descended to the valley in which rises the Mbruole, a river which has a westerly course, flowing ultimately into the Welle, the central drain of the new system. The land is here so marshy that goods can be conveyed across it only by human labour. Farther south lies the territory of the A-Banga, dif- fering perceptibly from the Nyamnyam, and forming a certain connecting link between them and the Monbuttu. The land sinks sensibly, and becomes more and more uneven the nearer we approach the Welle. The district lying on the northern limits of the Mon- buttu country is covered by dense virgin forests, inter- sected by innumerable streamlets and river-beds, among which the largest is that of the Welle, formed of two great sources, the Gadda and the Kibaly, which must take their rise in the Blue Mountains seen by Baker on the western shore of the Albert Nyanza. From the Welle to the residence of the Monbuttu King Munza (since dead), the way leads through a country of marvellous beauty, an almost unbroken line of the primitively simple dwellings of the Monbuttu people extending on either side of the caravan route. A bold feature of the scenery is formed by two hills of gneiss rising to a height of upwards of 3 feet. King Munza received Schweinfurth with a great show 240 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. « >f barbaric pomp and ceremony in a high and roomy hall, of such an elegant and yet substantial construction as one could scarcely believe to be possible in Africa. The nobles of his kingdom sat in long rows, each on his own chair, in full war costume. After long waiting the king at length appeared, ushered in with clang of kettle-drums and horns. He was a fine powerful man, and, for an African, had a remarkably full beard. He was dressed in the fashion of a Monbuttu warrior, whose suit, woven from the bark of the fig-tree (Urostigma Kotschyana), covered the greater part of the body above and below the waist. On his head he wore a cylinder-like cap of papyrus cane, ornamented with red parrot feathers. Arms and legs were loaded with copper rings and chains, and in his hand he carried a short sickle-shaped sword of polished copper. The complexion of the Monbuttus is considerably lighter than that of their neighbours the Nyamnyam, and it is remarkable that Schweinfurth, coming from the north, repeatedly makes the same observation as Livingstone, approaching from the south, that in the very heart of Africa light-coloured races are met with. Amongst the Monbuttus Schweinfurth found many individuals with light hair, and otherwise betraying the symptoms charac- teristic of albinos. The Monbuttus also show certain Semitic features, such as the long hooked nose, which entirely separate them from the true negro type. Both polygamy and cannibalism prevail to an un- limited extent, and the Monbuttus are perhaps the worst cannibals in all Africa. 12. The Al-ka Dwarfs. One of the most remarkable results of Schweinfurth's visit to Munza's residence was the actual verification of the existence of that race of dwarfs in Equatorial Africa THE AKKA DWARFS. 241 kind's residence. so often alluded to both by ancient writers and modern travellers, but never before placed beyond all cavil or doubt. Schweinfurth himself saw at Muuza's court live specimens of the Akka, those African pigmies whose average height does not ex- ceed 4 feet 10 inches, and some of whom have settled in the neighbourhood of the Schwein- furth looks on them as be- yond question an aboriginal race of Central Equatorial Africa. Especially remark- able is their huge head, unsteadily supported by a weak, slender neck. With them the projection of the jaw reaches its extreme limit, producing a facial angle of 60°. Corresponding with this feature are the lips, greatly protruding, yet not pouting, which encircle the half-open mouth in a sharply defined out- line, altogether imparting to them a decidedly ape-like appearance. The joints of their limbs are angular and prominent, the knees alone being of a round, plump form, and, in contrast with the habit of other African races when walking they turn the toes inwards. According to their own statement the Akka, also called Tikki-tikki, are a hunting people, possessing no domestic animals except poultry. Their country is re- ported to extend to the hilly lands of the Xemeigeh, the Bissanga, and the Domondu, which may with some pro- bability be identified with the inner slopes of the Blue Mountains on the western shore of the Albert Xyanza. On his return journey from the Nyamnyam country, R AKKA TYPE. 242 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAYEL. Schweinfurth was able to make a number of excursions in the vicinity of the source of the Dyur, one of which was to the high mountain mass of the Baginze. From the summit of this peak he could count about a hundred hill-tops, while to northward the view extends over the level country watered by the Tonj, and the lands of the hostile Babukur, who share the reputation of cannibalism with the Nyamnyam and Monbuttu. 13. The Golo, Nduggu, and Sehre Negroes. Later he visited the lands much farther west, where Dar Fertit is partly uninhabited, partly occupied in its eastern portion by the Golo, a tribe in many respects outwardly resembling the Bongo, but speaking a totally different dialect. Here the Dembo and Biri, large tribu- taries of the Bahr-el-Arab, gather their supplies from a hilly country in which a huge mass of gneiss, nearly 500 feet in height, called Mount Ida, and the Kosanga moun- tain, are prominent points. To the west of the Golo are the Xduggu, a Krej tribe, whose territory stretches northwards as far as that of the Baggara-el-Homr, a people on the banks of the Bahr- el-Arab. The Krej people of Dar Fertit are described as the lowest in the scale of all the tribes of the Seriba region of the Bahr-el-Ghazal rivers. Their forms lack propor- tion ; mouth and lips show the negro type in its most exaggerated shape ; and not content with this, the Krej further vilifies his aspect by sharpening his teeth to a point, or knocking out the upper ones altogether. On the south-east of Dar Fertit is the region of the upper Pongo, peopled by the Sehre negroes, who show a much greater affinity to the Xyamnyam than to their neighbours the Bongo. UPPER NILE BASIN. 243 14. Gondokoro and Lado. We must now return from the remarkable regions and peoples west of the Nile, in order to trace the upper course of the great river farther south. Excepting to note the military stations of Shambi in 7° K and of Bohr in 6° 10', the Bahr-el-Jebel presents no features of great interest till we reach Lado, the chief military station of the Egyptians in this region, and the future head-quarters of the government of the Upper Nile. Six miles higher up, on the opposite or right bank, is the site of Gondokoro and of the former station of Ismailia, 1525 feet above the sea, a memorable point in connection with African discovery. Owing to the unhealthiness of the place, the want of fuel for steamers in the vicinity of Gondokoro, and the deficiency of durra, which the natives about it do not cultivate, it was decided by Colonel Gordon to abandon it, and the evacuation was complete in January 1875; Lado and Regiaf, the former below, the latter fifteen miles higher up on the opposite bank, having been chosen as points to supersede it. These stations are situated in the territory of the Bari, a tall active race, who occupy the banks between 4° and 5° K They cul- tivate durra, and their productive lands serve for grazing their numerous herds of cattle. Their disposition is, how- ever, intractable and treacherous, and they go about well armed with bow, arrows, and lance. From Gondokoro and Lado a number of travellers have made excursions westward through the Bari country towards the upper courses of the Ghazal tributary rivers as far as the borders of the Nyamnyam country. Among the most recent of these was the expedition of Colonel Long in 1874, to open a way through the territory occupied by the hos- tile tribe of the Yanbari, who barred the passage to the ISTyamnyam country. The country near Lado is described 244 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. as beautiful and park-like, dotted here and there with great sugar-loaf-like trees, beneath the shade of which are neat villages of circular straw huts of the Bari, and well-filled corn bins raised on stakes to keep out the rats and white ants. Soon, however, the landscape changes and a wild jungle is entered, and the territory occupied by the Yan- bari farther on is savage in the extreme, penned in by abrupt chains of the Eego mountains across which the rocky track passes. Here the " seribas " of the natives, surrounded by a palisade of impenetrable cactus, are dotted about in great numbers. The Yanbari speak the Bari language, and differ from these chiefly in not following the custom of shaving the head. South of the stations of Lado and Eegiaf the Nile is rendered almost innavigable by cataracts. The first of these occurs at a distance of twelve miles above Eegiaf, and others follow, but still it has been found possible to take vessels up as far as the mouth of the Asua tributary. For ten miles above this, however, the passage is per- fectly impracticable. At the Fola or Mekacle cataract in 3° 40' N. latitude, the river narrows between the advanc- ing mountains to a width of less than 400 feet, and rushes through a narrow ravine over and through rocks of thirty to forty feet in height. At Dufli, a station established in 1874, nearly opposite the post of Ibra- hamia or Apuddo formed by Sir Samuel Baker, the river again becomes navigable, and at this point the steamer in which M. Gessi examined the Albert Lake was put together and launched on the Nile. The rapids below Dufli are thus the only insurmountable obstacle to the navigation of the Nile for vessels of considerable size from the Mediterranean to the Albert Lake. 15. The Victoria Nile. That the Bahr-el-Jebel, as the White Nile is here UPPER NILE BASIX. 245 called, really flows from the Albert Nyanza has been placed beyond doubt by Eomolo Gessi and Colonel Gor- don, who sailed up the river into the lake as far as Ma- ffungo. a village on its north-east shore at no great distance from the outlet. But at this point another great stream also flows into the lake from the south-east, and this has, in its turn, been traced back to the Victoria Nyanza. It has been named the Somerset Eiver, or Victoria Nile, and flows from the shore of the Victoria Nyanza a little north of the equator, immediately forming the Eipon Falls, and thence flowing northwards and losing itself in a lake or marsh from twenty to twenty-five miles in width, discovered by Colonel Long in his adventurous descent of the river by canoes in 1874, and named by him Ibrahim Pasha Lake. Again emerging from this lake, the Victoria Nile forms the Karuma Falls at Foweira, and farther down, before entering the Albert Nyanza, the Murchison Falls, where in a space of ten or fifteen miles the river descends fully 700 feet. Between the Karuma and Murchison Falls, among many others, are the rapids of the Aufina islands. It will be more convenient to treat of the lands and peoples of the Victoria Nile, when we come to describe the regions of the great equatorial lake system. Mean- time it will be enough to state that here also Egypt has set her foot, garrisons having been stationed at various points in the country. The Khedive now rules without a rival from the shores of the Mediterranean to the Som- erset Eiver or Victoria Nile, at 2° north latitude ; his equatorial government begins at the Bahr-el-Ghazal and the Sobat, and embraces the region of the Bahr-el-Jebel as far as Unyoro. This last district is still partly inde- pendent ; while Uganda, bordering it on the south, has already entered into friendly relations with the Egyptian authorities. 246 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. CHAPTER XVII. THE COAST OF THE RED SEA. 1. From the Arabian Desert to Perim. The Xile region is severed from the dangerous reef -bound coast of the Eed Sea by a series of barren hill and moun- tain ranges, forming on the north the Arabian, and, south of the Tropic of Cancer, the Nubian Desert ; thence rising along the coast to a decidedly mountainous district, the advanced spur of the great Abyssinian highlands. It may give a general idea of the height of these ranges forming the backbone of the Arabian and Nubian Deserts if we note that Jebel Attaka above Suez, which may be consi- dered as the terminal point of the whole line, attains 2640 feet ; Jebel Kharib, opposite the entrance to the Gulf of Suez, rises to between 6000 and 7000 feet; Elba and Soturba, on the Red Sea coast of the Nubian Desert, attain nearly the same elevation ; and Mount Hager and Debr Abi, on the inner border of the Habab country north of Abyssinia, each rise to 8000 feet. Along the sultry shore of the Red Sea there lies a narrow strip of level land, where are situated the three most important ports on its western side — Kosseir to the north, on the same parallel as Kenneh on the Nile, and farther south Suakin, the corresponding point to Berber on the Nile, and Massowah, the port of northern Abys- sinia. This last place lies opposite the Dahlak group of islands, famous for their pearl fishery. This coast properly ends at the famous strait of Bab- RED SEA COAST. 247 el-Mandeb, the " gate of tears," where the opposite point of the Arabian peninsula approaches so near as to constitute the Red Sea a natural cul-de-sac, though it is now con- nected northwards by the Suez Canal with the Mediter- ranean. In the Bab-el-Mandeb strait is the little barren islet of Perim, in the hands of the British, who have here erected a fortified lighthouse. The channel is so narrow, that the guns of the fort completely command the navi- gation on both sides, rendering Perim at once the real key both of the Red Sea and of the Suez Canal. 2. Conformation of the Land — Suakin and the Nubian Desert. The northern corner of the little frequented Arabian Desert has been recently crossed by Dr. Schweinfurth and Dr. Paul Giissfeldt, who visited it in March 1876. It is furrowed by numerous systems of wadys, diversified by various hills, and interspersed with barren " serir " plains, broad elevated table-lands, and valleys often clothed with a surprisingly luxuriant vegetable growth. In this lime- stone region there flourishes especially a white flowering ginger plant (Retama Raetam), which is not again met with either north or south of the district between 28° and 29° 30' north latitude. The southern portion of this hilly region has been repeatedly visited by Schweinfurth, and again recently by Ernest Marno towards the end of 1874. Marno took the most northern of the three desert tracks between Suakin and Berber on the Nile, leading through the Wadi Aben and a hitherto unknown pass of the Jebel Abdarak. Suakin, the only port on the African coast of the Red Sea between Ivosseir and Massowah, is in regular steam communication with Suez, and has a further im- portance as the starting-point of the frequented caravan track across the Nubian Desert to Berber and Khartum on 248 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. the Xile. In reaching its harbour an intricate passage between coral-reefs has to be passed. The principal part of the town, which, with Kef on the mainland, has about 8000 inhabitants, stands on a little coral island about one hundred yards from the shore. Its square flat-topped houses have no pretence to architectural beauty, but some are adorned With latticed windows of carved wood, which stand out in bold relief from the dazzling white of the coral walls under a blazing sun. Quantities of sacks of gum piled on its quay, and occasional arrivals of ivory across the desert, give activity to its traffic, and the harbour is filled with native trading vessels, painted in gaudy colours, with low pointed bows and high carved sterns, and thick forward-raking masts. A wide level plain, on which the sun beats fiercely, stretches inland from Suakin, separating it from the moun- tains which must be crossed in the fortnight's march required to reach Berber. Several passes lead westward through these ranges of wild barren mountains, which are deeply cut into by torrent-beds ; afterwards a labyrinth of lower hills, with occasional amphitheatres of sand of twenty or thirty miles in circumference, is entered ; here and there a few stunted thorn-bushes and tufts of desert grass are seen, all withered and dead. Before Berber is reached, the more level desert is covered with yellow sand, mottled by the action of the wind, into which the camels sink at each step. As is usual on all frequented caravan-routes, the path is strewn with carcases of innumerable dead camels, shrivelled and dried in the sun. Now and then a party of Arabs, mounted on trotting hygeens, or dromedaries, are met with, or it may be a solitary Nubian Arab belonging to the Bisharin or Amri nomads of the desert, striding across the plain, with "graceful sinewy figure, erect and unconfined save by the kilt of home-spun cotton twisted round his loins, his leather buckler at his back, his spear in hand, KED SEA COAST. 249 and his long black ringlets flowing behind him." It has been remarked that, just as the Norwegian hare turns white when snow is on the fjeld in winter, so the gazelles, birds, lizards, and even insects, found in the African deserts take the same colour as the sands. 1 In the north of the Abyssinian highlands, about 15° north latitude, several streams take their rise, and be- come greatly swollen during the summer rains. Amongst them are the Mareb, which, as the Khor-el-Gash, flows in a north-westerly direction towards the Atbara ; but about ten miles above the mud-walled town of Kasala, the chief place of the province of Taka, the stream is remarkably divided, one branch taking the direction of Filik and the lower Atbara, the other a westerly course, irrigating a considerable tract of country before it reaches the Atbara, opposite the town of Goz-regiab, in 16° X. This portion of the Gash, however, is only periodical in its filling with water. Opposite Kasala, according to the late Captain Eokeby, its bed is 400 yards wide, and it begins to flow about the end of June, continuing for three months. From the northern apex of Abyssinia also de- scend the Ivhor Barka, or Baraka, the periodical stream of which has cut a broad bed northwards to the sea not far from To-kar ; and, lastly, the Anseba, a considerable tribu- tary of the Barka. 3. The Beni- Amer and Hahab Tribes. The semi-insular region, bounded on one side by the Pted Sea, and on the other by the Barka, is inhabited almost entirely by the shepherd tribes of the Beni- Amer and the Habab, the former, however, reaching much far- ther towards the province of Taka in the direction of the Atbara. Both tribes speak a dialect of the Ethiopic or Gheez, a branch of the Semitic family of languages : whereas 1 De Cosson, The Cradle of the Blur Nile, 1S77. 250 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. the people of To-kar, south of Suakin, and those of the north-west of the Barka, speak the Beja or To-Beclawieh language. In their physical appearance, as well as in their habits and customs, the Habab and Beni-Amer resemble their Beja neighbours on the north more than the Abys- sinians, but may on the whole be regarded as a mixture of these two races, though some older and more recent foreign elements are also to be detected amongst them. The Beni-Amer have long adopted Mohammedanism, while a great part of the Habab, as well as their neigh- bours on the south, the Mensa, Takue, and Bogos, were, at least in name, till within recent years, Abyssinian Christians. Since the provinces of Massowah and Suakin have been annexed to Egypt, both of these otherwise not very warlike tribes have been induced entirely to adopt peace- fid ways. They were visited by Munzinger in 1871, and as recently as the spring of the year 1875 by Theodore von Heuglin, to whom we are indebted for these details. 4. Massowah — Berber ah — Political Changes. Massowah, like Suakin, stands on a coral island, and was famous in olden times for the gold, ivory, and slaves exported from it. Opposite it, also, are the pearl fisheries of the coral Dahlak islands. It came into pos- session of the Porte after the conquest of Arabia Felix, and used to be governed by a Pasha from Constantinople. It was also the starting-point of several expeditions in which attempts at the conquest of Abyssinia were made. When the Turks found they could not conquer Abyssinia, they withdrew the pashalik, and the native tribes appointed a Naib, or governor, who entered into treaty with Abys- sinia, becoming tributary to that state, and giving it EED SEA COAST. 251 the claim which it still maintains over this port. The Turks, however, continued to exercise authority over the governors of Massowah, and still nominally held the whole coast-line. In 1866 the Turkish Government handed over Massowah and the intervening shores as far as Suakin to the Egyptians, who took possession of them at once, establishing military stations at several points. Massowah is a place of 4000 or 5000 inhabitants, one of the hottest on all the Eed Sea coast. Even in mid- winter the thermometer is often above 100° Eahr. in the shade ; and agues, fever, and dysentery combine to give its inhabitants a most sickly appearance. The trade is chiefly in the hands of the resident Banyans, or Indian Mohammedan merchants, who act as " go-betweens." Twice a year, as a rule, caravans come to the port from the interior of Abyssinia. Gradually the Mohammedans have been closing round the great table-land of Abyssinia, isolating it more and more completely from communication with the outer world. In 1872 the small frontier countries of Bogos, Mensa, and Takue, at the northern apex of the table- land, which were nominally possessions of Abyssinia, and the country of Marea in the same region, which had paid tribute to Egypt for thirty years previously, were taken possession of by the Egyptians. Previous to 1874 the whole of the Kunama country on the Mareb was sub- jected to Egypt, and farther south-westward the border- land of Galabat, which in 1862, at the time of Sir Samuel Baker's visit to it, was fully recognised as a part of Abyssinia, is now held by a strong force of Egyptian soldiers. Still farther in the same direction, Fazokl, on the Blue Nile, has been incorporated in the Egyptian Sudan. The Egyptians have also been advanced along the coasts of the Eed Sea southward of Massowah. In 1873 the town of Berberah, on the Somali coast of the Gulf of 252 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGEAPHY AND TRAVEL. Aden, was occupied by the troops of the Khedive ; and in 1874 the whole coast of the Danakil country, between that and Massowah, with most of its ports, was taken pos- session of by Egypt. The harbour of Zeila, at the entrance to the Bay of Tajurrah, was made over to Egypt by the Porte in July 1875, and later in the same year the Khedive's troops marched thence inland, and took pos- session of Harar. Not content with this, the Egyptians grasped the ports of Brava, Juba, and Kismayu, on the east African coast of the Somali country, possessions of the Sultan of Zanzibar, and only retired from these on the intervention of England. An actual inroad into Abyssinia by the Egyptian troops in 1875 had a disas- trous issue, but since no treaty of peace or definite un- derstanding as to territorial limits has yet been arrived at, the whole border-land surrounding the wedge-like pro- montory of Abyssinia remains a debateable land. 5. Taka and Kedarcf. In the Egyptian portion of the basin of the Atbara, one of the most important and fertile provinces is that of Taka, which extends from near the Atbara across the lower portion of its tributary the Khor-el-Gash. It is a steppe land, dotted with granite knobs, and covered with low mimosa bush and grasses, which after the rainy season grow up to a man's height. When this is dry it is burned off by the nomad Arabs to make way for the planting of durra in the following rains. This corn grows to a height of ten feet, and affords a splendid harvest. The inhabitants of Taka belong to the Shukurie Arabs, an important tribe. Kasala, its capital, on the right bank of the Gash, is the residence of the governor, and a place of about 5000 inhabitants ; it is surrounded by fine vegetable and fruit gardens, but from the accumula- tion of filth within it, left to the hyenas and pariah dogs, it is exceedingly unhealthy. COUNTRIES NORTH OF ABYSSINIA. 253 Going southward from Taka, the country of the Hamran or Homran Arabs is reached, lying within the middle bend of the Atbara, where it is called the Bahr Setit. These Arabs are the great hunters of this part of Africa ; splendid horsemen, who boldly pursue the largest game armed only with their straight double-edged cross- handled swords, which they are said to wield with such dexterity as to be able to hamstring an elephant or rhi- noceros, or cut a man through with a single blow. Kedaref, or Gadaref, with its town called the " Suk," or market of Abu Sin, is an important district within the vast prairie country lying between the Atbara and the Eahad tributary of the Blue Nile. The district of Galabat, recently incorporated with Egyptian territory, lies on the first slopes of the Abyssinian heights on each side of the Goang tributary of the Atbara. Its capital, Metemmeh, is a considerable market town, one of the most noted of this region, composed of round, grass- thatched houses after the Abyssinian model. On market days it is filled with natives of all parts, and in all the various costumes of Upper Nubia, and of all shades of colour, from yellow to jet black, and it has, besides, a strong Egyptian garrison. Takrouris, or Negroes from the Sudan who have settled here on their way back from their pil- grimage to Mecca, Abyssinians, Arabs, Gallas, and even a few Greek and Armenian traders, mingle with the Negroes from the White Nile. Camels laden with wax, coffee, cotton, gum, hides, and other products, from Abyssinia chiefly, are led about everywhere in the market. A public slave- market was in full operation in Galabat at the time of M. De Cosson's visit in 1874, and probably still exists, notwithstanding the professed abolition of slavery by the Egyptian Government. Here Galla and Abyssinian slaves, some of them Christians, are openly bought and sold. 254 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. CHAPTEE XVIII. THE ABYSSINIAN HIGHLANDS. 1. Physical Aspect of the Country. Between the eastern tributaries of the Blue Nile and the east coast of the Bed Sea south of Nubia, and between 8° and 16° north latitude, rise the lofty highlands of Abys- sinia, with their alpine ranges, mountain states, and elevated table-lands arrayed on their outer slopes in all the glories of the tropics, but above assuming the charac- ter of a wild highland scenery. This is a land differing completely in its physical configuration as well as in its inhabitants from all the western regions of Africa lying between the same parallels of latitude. Everywhere, ex- cepting on the south, encircled by unhealthy and burning sands and steppes, the country rises more gradually from the west, but on the east descends most abruptly to waterless plains which lie between it and the Bed Sea. Northward it is continued by mountain spurs to the lower hilly districts of the Habab and of the Nubian and Arabian Deserts stretching along the coast of the Bed Sea. Southward the wedge-like table-land of Abyssinia has no definite physical limit, for it is only as it were a great promontory of the table-land which extends all along the eastern margin of Africa. To the peoples of the surrounding lowlands this highland region is known by the various names of El- Mokadah, Makadoh, and Mekyadeh, but Habash was the name given by the Turks to Abyssinia. It is derived ABYSSINIA. 255 from an Arabic word meaning confusion, and was perhaps applied on account of the mixture of races there. The north-western slopes of Abyssinia are separated from the plains of Eastern Senaar by a neutral belt of land mostly uninhabited, humid, and overgrown with the bamboo and forest vegetation. The eastern edge of the highland, which runs almost due north and south near the 40th meridian, and along which the British expedition of 1868 marched on its way to Magdala, is at a generally higher level than any other portion of the plateau. It rises here steeply from the low eastern plains to an average height of 7000 to 8000 feet, and all the Abyssinian tributaries of the Nile flow eastward from this side of the plateau. No rivers break through this edge towards the Eed Sea. Yet the highest points of the whole plateau occur irregularly over it, some of them rising nearer the western than the eastern side. The highest alpine knot of all is that of the mountains of Semyen, round which the Takazze river, or the Upper Atbara, flows in a vast ravine. In this the summit called Eas Dashan, the highest known point of all Abyssinia, attains a height of 15,160 feet above the sea, and Mount Abba Jared 14,700 feet. Another high knot of mountains rises immediately over the sources of the Takazze on the eastern margin, and in this Mount Abuna Josef, close to the base of which the British expe- dition passed, is 13,770 feet in altitude. Bias Guna, another summit rising very nearly in the centre of the plateau between the Takazze and the Abai or Upper Blue Nile, reaches a height of 13,950 feet; and the Talba Waha mountains, the nucleus of the province of Gojam in southern Abyssinia, round which the Blue Nile turns, have several points which exceed 13,600 feet. As giving an idea of the general elevation of the plateau, it may be remembered that the city of Adowa, the capital of the 256 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. northern division of Tigre^ is 6270 feet above the sea, and that the surface of the great lake Tzana or Dembea, the reservoir of the Blue Nile, is at an elevation of 6100 feet. Three regions or zones are distinguished by special native names in the Abyssinian plateau, just in the same maimer as the different levels of the Bolivian or Mexican table-lands are separated. The Kollas, or lower skirt of the plateau, between elevations of 3000 and 4800 feet, has a temperature ranging from 70° to 100° F., and is characterised by luxuriant vegetation. Within this belt, cotton, wild indigo, gum-yielding acacias, ebony, baobabs, tamarinds, sugar-cane, coffee-trees, bananas, and date-palms flourish in perfection ; while animals are abundantly represented by lions, elephants, panthers, zebras, giraffes, antelopes, and gazelles, huge snakes and deadly scorpions. The Waina- Degas, a second zone, between the heights of 4800 and 9000 feet, is the richest and most habitable region, with a temperature like that of Spain or Italy, varying between 60° and 80° F., in which the European grasses, corn, and shell fruits, are native. Many kinds of sycamores, the kolkwal or tree-like Euphorbia abissinica, the juniper, the kosso and zegba or podocaiyus, which attains a height equalling that of the tallest northern pines, are characteristic of this zone, and along all the river banks the bamboo cane is observed. The terebinth, vine, orange and citron, peach and apricot, also flourish. Everywhere the soil is capable of cultivation, or yields rich pasture, and all the domestic animals of Europe, except swine, are known. The Degas, a third or highest belt, between 9000 and 14,000 feet, has an average temperature of 45° to 50° F., and not unfrequently at the greater elevations the thermo- meter falls to below the freezing-point. The Degas are, generally speaking, the higher plains and mountain slopes, ABYSSINIA. 257 with little wood and generally meagre vegetation. The hardier corn plants alone can be cultivated, and the natives appear clad in skins. Herds of oxen, goats, and long-woolled sheer), however, are pastured on the highest plateaux. The low-lying tracts along the eastern edge of Abys- sinia, where it descends to the deserts of the DanakQ country, are everywhere overgrown with light shrubs and THE SYCAMORE. bushes, clumps of larger trees, especially of the sycamore, growing only about the deeper ravines watered by running streams. Even in the vicinity of some waterless river- beds, however, we meet with baobabs of a medium size, and here and there an occasional gigantic sycamore. In contrast to this the hot valley of the foaming Takazze, in the western descent, is well wooded with large timber. On the lower belts the rainy season lasts from April to September ; on the plateau, though the Azmera, or time of the intermittent rains, begins simultaneously with the rainy period of the lower zone, the rains proper begin only 258 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. in July, lasting till October. More to southward there are two rainy periods — the earlier in January or February, the later from June to September. Hail and thunder accompany the rains in the higher regions of the plateau, and in winter the brooks of the Degas are covered with ice, and snow lies on the higher summits. Eas Dashan in the Seniven group is always snow-capped, the limit rising in the dry season to 13,200 feet, and descending during the rains to 10,500 feet. 2. Lake Tzana — The Bahr-el-Azrah, and other streams. Nearly all the rivers of this well-watered land belong- to the Nile region ; the Blue Nile itself, which may be called the right arm of the father of waters, takes its rise in Abyssinia, its source streams being found in the basin of Lake Tzana. The beautiful Lake Tzana or Tana, covering a space nearly as large as our English county of Kent, about 40 miles long by 30 broad, is surrounded by wooded valleys running clown to it between mountain spurs. A number of islands rise from its clear waters, the largest being the basalt mass of Dek. A smaller one called Mitraha, near the eastern shore, was the scene of one of King Theodore's acts of vengeance. The people of this island "had revolted against him, and having collected all their canoes on its beach, believed themselves safe, and laughed at the royal despot who stood grinding his teeth on the shore. Like the ancient Eoman general, however, he soon organised a swimming legion, and having captured a number of the islanders, burned them alive as an example to the people of the Tzana never again to raise the wrath of their king. About thirty streams flow to the Tzana, the largest being the Abai, the source of the Blue Nile, which rises on the northern slopes of the mountains of Agaumeder and ABYSSINIA. 259 Dainot, south of the lake. Its outlet from the lake is through a narrow opening in the rock at its south-eastern come" ; thence it winds round the provinces of Gojam and Damot, separating these from Shoa, and turns westward and north-westward to reach the lowland at Fazokl and the plains of Senaar, crossing these in a direct line to its con- fluence with the White Nile at Khartum. It is very characteristic of the large Abyssinian rivers, that most of them pursue a great spiral course, whereby considerable tracts of country assume the appearance of peninsulas. No- where else is this peculiarity developed on such a large scale. Each of the three great drams of the plateau — the Mareb in the north, the Takazze in the centre, and the Abai or Blue Nile in the south — has cut its way down into deep valleys, and each of the thousands of tributaries of these rivers, formed into roaring torrents during the deluges of the rainy season, has furrowed out deep and narrow ravines and gullies, leaving isolated heights with precipitous sides and tops as flat as billiard-tables, girding with walls of stone the valleys often a thousand feet below them. Some of the native villages perched on these table-lands cannot be reached except by ascending to them with ropes. In the rainy season the Takazze, " the terrible," rises in a foam- ing torrent fifteen to eighteen feet above its usual level, and forms an impassable barrier between the provinces which it separates. Describing the view from the northern side of the Takazze across to the mountains of Semyen, De Cosson says, " From the brow of the hill we could see a great chain of mountains on the other side of the river, which we were to cross to-morrow. Nothing could be more imposing than the vast panorama of jagged peaks that extended before us as far as the eye could reach, bathed in the cold calm beams of the moon. Far below wreaths of poisonous white mist floated over the Takazze as it wound its way through deep glens, whose sides were clothed with 260 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. impenetrable forests, the favourite haunts of elephants and other large African game; while on the lower spurs of many of the mountains the hush had been kindled, and great fires were burning which sent up spiral columns of smoke into the still ah', and threw a lurid light over the surround- ing crags and precipices. The tempest of the preceding- evening had subsided entirely, and no sound now disturbed the silence of the night save the occasional baying of the watch-dogs, keeping guard over the native villages, which stood perched like eagles' nests high up on the sides of the mountains overlooking the great valley that divides Tigre from Amhara." 3. Population. There is no reliable information regarding the numbers of the population of Abyssinia. The country is on the whole fairly, in some parts densely, inhabited, the low-lying insalubrious belt of the Kollas being the least populous. There are no large towns, none of them possessing at present more than from 8000 to 10,000 inhabitants. Including Shoa, the population of Abyssinia may be set down approximately at three millions. 4. The Abyssinian Races — Tigre', Lasta, Amhara. Within the limits of the ancient Abyssinian realm there dwell several distinct peoples, not, as might be sup- posed, one homogeneous race. This is clearly seen in the complexion of the different sections of the population, varying from black through different shades of brown and copper to the olive. But the Abyssinians proper may be regarded as the lineal descendants of the great Ethiopian race by which the country was originally settled. These Abyssinians dwell in the northern uplands, as well as in Shoa and ABYSSINIA. 261 Guragwe in the south, but nowhere at a lower level than 3000 feet above the sea. They show so much diversity amongst themselves, that it is difficult to group them under one general classification. Still, their physical features point to one common type, and to a blood relationship with the Arabs. The prevailing colour is the pure brown, becoming in the north almost white, in the south very nearly black. The Abyssinians are subdivided into three principal tribes : — (1.) The inhabitants of Tigre, in the provinces of Ham- asen and the districts of Enderta and Geralta. They have long, remarkably narrow craniums, a long curved nose, rather thick lips, animated and slightly oval eyes, some- what like those of the Arabs, prominent cheek-bones, woolly hair, and symmetrical figures. They are brave, active, and adroit. (2.) The people of Lasta, a pro- vince on the eastern border of the table-land, distin- guished by their small cranium, j Grecian forehead, open features, small hands and feet, elegant build, a rela- tively light complexion, and an intelligent, lively, even impetuous, but by no means trustworthy character. Although residing in very elevated uplands, they are reckoned amongst the best horsemen and warriors of Abyssinia. (3.) The inhabitants of Amhara, Shoa, and Guragwe in the south, mostly bearing the impress of half- breeds, with broad craniums, fine large eyes, pleasant ex- pression, high cheek-bones, curly hair, symmetrical figures, and generally a dark olive-brown complexion. They are hospitable, cheerful, obliging, and winning, but withal vain, indolent, and boasting ; the men very lazy, in this con- trasting unfavourably with the women, who everywhere in Abyssinia also far surpass the male sex in personal appearance. 262 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. 5. Languages. These various peoples speak mainly two different lan- guages ; those on the south and west of the Takazze" the Amharic, those to the east the Tigre* or modern Gheez. Both differ widely from each other. Amharic is very old, has gradually gained ground in southern and central Abyssinia, and has also become the court language. 6. The Agau, Dandkil, Gonga, Shangallas, and other Tribes. Besides the Abyssinians properly so-called, we meet with the Agau still residing chiefly in Lasta and Agaumeder; the Falashas, who retain many Jewish characteristics, in the northern uplands, especially in the mountains of Semyen ; the black Gallas in the arid table-lands of the south, now also partly in Kaffa and Gojam ; together with the kindred Danakil and Adal tribes inhabiting the dry lowlands along the shores of the Eed Sea and Indian Ocean, and extending inland as far as the foot of the Abyssinian highlands. Farther, the Gongas, on the most southern uplands, extending in isolated tribes as far as the Abai in Gojam ; and lastly the Shankala, or Shan- gallas, in the woodlands and swamps of the north-western skirts of the plateau. Besides the Danakil and Adal, we have also the. Teroa and Asaorta in the waterless plains and mountain spurs on the east. These are Mohammedan shepherd tribes, speaking partly a Gheez idiom and partly Galla dialects. On the uplands of the northern frontier dwells a branch of the Beni-Amer, and in the north also the little tribe of the Bogos belongs to the Abyssinian peoples. The Wito, fishermen and hunters of the hippopotami round the shores of Lake Tzana, are a remarkable, and ABYSSINIA. 263 perhaps aboriginal, race of Abyssinia, remaining distinct and separate and despised by the other tribes. They have a very peculiar type of face, with retreating forehead ; the outer corners of their eyes and eyebrows slope upward, the nose is sharp and aquiline, curved like a beak over the upper lip, and their chins are prodigiously long. Their ears end in a point, and their hair — which they wear unplaited — is short and woolly. They dwell in tiny conical huts made of reeds from the lake, and are a harmless race. Some of the Wito women, strange to say, are very beautiful. 7. Religion — The Abuna. By far the greater number of the people profess Christianity, belonging, like the Kopts and orthodox Syrians, to the sect of the Monophy sites, who recognise but one nature in Christ. The head of the Abyssinian church bears the title of Abuna, that is, Our Father, and takes rank as a patriarch. He is consecrated in Alexandria, where, however, he seems to be regarded only as an archbishop. He resides in Gondar, and under him are the other bishops and lower clergy. The whole country swarms with priests, monks, and nuns, who are far from enjoying a reputation for sanctity, being rather distinguished for their immorality and indo- lence. Their whole religion consists in the performance of empty and utterly unintelligible ceremonies. Little is done, at least by the clergy, for the education of the people, those intended for the service of the church alone receiving a superficial instruction. 8. The Mohammedans and Jews. The few Mohammedans and native Jews, or Falashas, 264 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. in respect of morality stand on a much higher level than the Abyssinian Christians. The Mohammedans are mostly traders and contractors for the public revenues ; the Jews, in contrast to their European brethren, chiefly agricultu- rists and manufacturers of all sorts of goods. They boast of being directly descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of having preserved their blood pure from all foreign taint. They number altogether about 250,000, and their strict exclusiveness has hitherto preserved them from the excesses and immorality universally indulged in by the Abyssinian Christians. 9 . Purs u its — Literature — Character. The Christian population of the towns are mostly engaged in trade, in their mercenary spirit showing them- selves not at all inferior to their Semitic brethren, the Mohammedan Arabs and the Phoenician Jews. The Abyssinians are generally shrewd speculators, their elastic conscience here standing them in good stead. The rest of the people are devoted to agriculture and cattle-breed- ing, the men, however, showing a decided predilection for the profession of arms. They will rather serve, for a trifling stipend, under any powerful chieftain, than devote them- selves to learning a trade. Still it cannot be denied that the Abyssinian pos- sesses a high degree of intelligence, and, however indolent and disinclined to work, he always bears himself with a certain dignity, and displays great vivacity in conversa- tion. The national literature, besides a number of learned works, especially of a theological and ascetic nature, mostly translations from the Greek, comprises also some historical records, though mainly composed and continued in the form of simple chronicles. The people show a great thirst for knowledge, are fond of reading whatever ABYSSINIA. 265 comes in their way, and the students in Gondar display a remarkable degree of assiduity and a restless activity in their devotion to letters. Yet they are, on the other hand, extremely superstitious, still blindly adhering to the most extravagant theories and doctrines. In other respects, also, the people show themselves in a decidedly unfavourable light. They are hard drinkers, untruthful, and fanatical. Their wives, slaves, and animals they treat kindly, but their enemies with great barbarity. The wealthy and distinguished classes live in idleness, leaving their domestic concerns to their wives and slaves. Their dwellings reek with filth, and are nothing but huts of the rudest type, constructed of earth and branches, and exposed to wind and weather, with but one opening, serving both as a door and an out- let for the smoke. The fire stands in the centre, causing everything soon to become black and sooty. Marriages are contracted either by the church or before witnesses, the latter, however, not being absolutely binding. Those who can afford it keep concubines, and morality altogether stands on a very low level, some accounts representing the Abyssinian character as stained by all the vices of Christendom, despicable beyond ex- pression, without a trace of shame or decency, and all classes most importunate beggars and contemptible dingers. Their warfare is mere brigandage. They surprise the un- wary, slaughter, sack, burn, and plunder indiscriminately, but seldom come to a fair stand-up fight. Under such circumstances it is not to be wondered at that the cultivation of the land has hitherto made but little progress. Tillage is carried on in the rudest way, and is limited to the growing of cereals and cotton. Mining, also, is little practised or understood ; but more important than either agriculture or mining is cattle- breeding for which the magnificent meadow lands of the 266 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. hilly districts and the savannahs of the southern parts of Abyssinia are so well adapted. Even in the neighbourhood of Lake Tzana, otherwise so capable of tillage, vast herds of cattle are met with, and very little of the land is under cultivation. Cattle are raised more especially in the alpine pasture lands, horses by the Gallas, camels on the plains along the coast, and sheep by the natives of Begemeder. The local industries are of little importance, the most skilled artisans being the Falashas, who are almost exclu- sively masons and builders or smiths, and, in the northern districts, iron-smelters. The chief seat of the manufactures, such as they are, is Gondar, though fine woven fabrics and a good deal of common cotton cloth are produced in Adowa and a few other places. Leather of a good quality is also prepared in some districts. 10. Government — The present Ruler. From time immemorial Abyssinia has been ruled over by a king, or Xegous, who associates himself with the religious traditions of the country by claiming descent from Solomon, and bears the title of King of kings. His power is limited by an unalterable book of laws, but over the lives and property of his subjects he is absolute. The three great divisions of the country, Tig-re in the north, Amhara central, and Shoa in the south, include a great number of provinces and minor principalities. The provinces are divided into districts, each with its chief, and almost every village has its shoum, or head man, who is responsible to his chief for the taxes, gathered partly in money, partly in kind, such as salt and cotton cloth. Of these divisions Shoa is at present an independent state ; and though all the princes and chiefs of the other provinces nominally owe allegiance to the Xegous, many of them bear the title of king in their own ABYSSINIA. 267 territories. The history of the country presents a continued series of internal and external wars and struggles for mas- tery ; now a crusade against the Mohammedans, now an invasion by a foreign power, or the king fighting against the increasing power of some of his rebellious feudal princes. After the final overthrow of Lij Kasa, or Theodoras, by the British expedition of 1868, the country was again split up into various sovereignties. Prince Kasa of Tigrc, however, had the sagacity to cultivate the friendship of the British ; he obtained a supply of muskets for his followers, and, soon after, with comparatively little bloodshed, mas- tered the division of Amhara, and caused himself to be crowned as King Johannes of Ethiopia. The following sketch of the appearance of this potentate is given by Mr. De Cosson : — " The king and all his court were simply clad in the white blanket with a crimson stripe down it, called a huarie, which forms the ordinary costume of all the people of Tigre and Amhara, from the king to the humblest peasant. He wore no covering on his head or feet, but each of his ankles was adorned with a small string of silver beads, and these, with a diamond pin stuck in his carefully plaited hair, were the only ornaments about him. I had now a good opportunity of studying his face, and rarely have I seen a more intelligent countenance, or one that a physiognomist like Lavater would have examined with greater interest. The brow was beautifully moulded, though small, and slightly retreating; the nose aquiline, with very delicately formed nostrils ; the eyes deep set, and not very large, but singularly courageous and penetrating; the cheek-bones high for an Ethiopian ; the mouth and chin sharply chiselled, and the ears almost as tiny and shell-like as a woman's. His Majesty's age was about thirty-five, and his stature somewhat under the middle height ; but his figure was perfectly proportioned, and he 268 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. seemed possessed of great strength and endurance, though his hands and feet were exceedingly small and delicately shaped." 11. Chief Towns. The great northern division of the country, the prin- cipality of Tigre, has its capital and chief town in Adowa, which lies on the plateau between the Takazze and Mareb. The greater part of it is built of loose stones and mud, in narrow unpaved streets. Many of the houses are of primi- tive circular shape, with high conical thatched roofs ; but others, on the model set by the Portuguese colonists of the sixteenth century, are square, and even two-storied. A great market is held close to Adowa every Saturday, when crowds of men and women, clad in all the fantastic costumes, or want of costumes, of Inner Africa come hither from long distances. Tawny maidens with leopard skins round their loins, bringing baskets of Indian corn and lentils ; armed mountaineers with hides for sale ; donkeys laden with fine kuaries and cotton cloths from Western Abyssinia — are among the crowd in the market. On a rising ground in the centre of the town a large stone church, circular and double-walled, has newly been built by the present king. The population of the market town of Adowa is naturally a fluctuating one ; when the king is there with his troops there may be 20,000 people ; when he leaves the normal population is about 4000, out of which number about a fourth are ecclesi- astics of one sort or another. Axum, about twelve miles west of Adow^a, was anciently the capital of Tigre and a great emporium of African and Indian trade. It possesses a cathedral built by the Portuguese and many interesting ruins and monu- ments. Adigerat and Sokota in eastern and south-eastern Tigre are the most important salt-markets of Abyssinia. ABYSSINIA. 269 The salt is brought hither up the steep eastern edge of the table-land from the low-lying salt lakes of the Afar country, and the little uniform blocks of it are used as a money currency all over the country. Gondar in Amhara, the capital of all Ethiopia,? is perched on a spur of grey rock at the verge of the wall- like edge of the table-lands of Woggara, from the base of which the fertile vales and plains of Dembea stretch southward encircling the northern margin of Lake Tzana. The city is divided into two quarters, one Christian the other Mohammedan, and has a population roughly esti- mated at about 6000, though in former times it had per- haps 50,000 inhabitants. Filigree silver and leather work, introduced here by the Armenians, are perhaps the only elegant arts known in Abyssinia. The most interesting feature in the dilapidated city is the ruin of the magnifi- cent towered castle, the palace of the kings of Ethiopia, built by Indian architects under the direction of the Portu- guese settlers, and the noblest monument of their stay in the country. It was burned by King Theodoras when he believed the British troops were coming to invade 270 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. Abyssinia from the Egyptian side. Its towers and corridors and long battlemented walls of solid masonry, decorated with fanciful tracery in red stone, now over- hung with gorgeous foliage of creeping plants, are abandoned to the leopards, the bats, and night-birds. The royal camp of the king of Abyssinia is at present situated on the slopes of Mount Ambachara not far from the north-east side of Lake Tzana. On an elevated spot just below the grey craggy cone of the mountain stands the king's tent and audience-hall, enclosed by a stout fence. Debra Tabor, in the district of Begemeder, south-east of this, is a hill-fort and town memorable in the story of events which preceded the British Abyssinian expedition. 12. Shoa. Shoa, to south-east of Abyssinia proper, and separated from Amhara by the AVollo Galla country, in which the hill fortress of Magdala is a notable point, is included between the Jamma and the Muger rivers, tributaries of the Blue Xile where it turns round the district of Gojam, and the upper Hawash river, which, rising in the country of Guragwe, south of Shoa, Hows north along the base of the table-land, and afterwards turning eastward in the direction of the gulf of Tajurrah, is evaporated in the salt lakes of Aussa before reaching the sea. This province consists of meadow-covered plateaus reaching up to an elevation of 10,000 feet on the south-east and south. Cot- ton plantations, citron groves, and strong-growing aloes are also characteristic of this fertile land, which, however, has been repeatedly devastated by the turbulent Gallas. Ankober, the capital, chosen recently as the starting-point of the Italian expedition for the exploration of the countries south of Abyssinia, consists of about 3000 scattered huts covering the summit and western slopes of PLATEAU LANDS SOUTH OF ABYSSINIA. 271 a mountain not far from the edge by which the table-lands descend towards the valley of the Hawash. Angolalla, farther west, is noted as the site of the royal camp during some months of the year. The direct route to the country from the bay of Tajurrah leads across the Danakil and Somali country and the middle course of the Hawash, " the rebellious," the rapid current of which is crossed by a raft. This track has been followed by a number of European travellers — Harris, Beke, Krapf, Rochet d'Heri- court, and most recently by the Marquis Antinori and his staff. The powerful young king Menelek of Shoa is in friendly relations with several European powers. He received a French embassy most hospitably in 1875, and has given full permission to the Italian explorers to travel throughout his territory. He has introduced law and order in his kingdom, though threatened wars with Johannes of Abyssinia, and the steady advance of the Egyptians closing round and cutting off the outlets to the sea-coast, keep the country in an agitated condition. 13. Countries south of Abyssinia. Little is definitely known about the plateau countries southward of Abyssinia and Shoa ; as yet the information possessed about them is mainly drawn from the reports sent to the Geographical Society of Paris by the missionary M. Leon des Avanchers in 1866. Guragwe, south of Shoa, is a mountainous bush- covered country. Its inhabitants, speaking Amharic, are said to be for the most part Christians with a large admixture of Mohammedans and heathen. The remark- able Zooai Lake near the head streams of the Hawash but not in its basin, is in this district, and its five islands are said to have 3000 Christian habitations on them. South of the basin of the Blue Nile opposite Gojam begins the Z , '2 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. country of Enarea, the mountainous source country of the Gibbe or Uma, flowing to southward, and probably form- ing the head stream of the Juba river, which reaches the Zanzibar coast of Africa, dividing between the Galla and Somali lands; this, however, remains as yet a conjectural point. Enarea is described as a land of dense forest- covered hills ; its capital town is Saka. Still farther south rises the high cool country of Kaffa or Gomara with the chief town of Bonga (7° 12' 1ST.) said to be one of the largest cities of all Ethiopia. Mount Mata Gera and several other summits in this region are believed to attain an elevation of over 12,000 feet. The mountain slopes here as in Enarea are covered with the wild coffee plant ; indeed this seems to be the original home of the Arabian coffee. The regions between this and the equatorial mountains of Kenia and Kilimanjaro have never yet been seen by Europeans, but from native report of snowy mountains and highlands, there is every reason to believe that the Abyssinian plateau is continu- ously united by a highland, descending steeply on the east, with the great snowy peaks which have been discovered inland from the Zanzibar coast, and to which we shall afterwards refer. THE EASTERN HORN OF AFRICA. CHAPTEE XIX. THE EASTERN HORN OF AFRICA. 1. Limits — The Somdli Country. Beyond the abrupt eastern ridge of the Abyssinian high- land lies the eastern promontory of Africa, which still appears on our maps as a dreary empty waste. Here, opposite the entrance to the Eed Sea, are spread out the Samhara and Danakil lands, nominally under the rule of Egypt, bordering on the domain of the Somali, and, still farther south, on that of the Gallas. It may be at once stated that almost nothing is known beyond mere report about the interior of the triangular region which extends towards the Eed Sea from the base of the Abyssinian plateau, and north of the route from Tajurrah to Shoa, the coast-line and its immediate vicinity having alone been hitherto explored, and even this far from thoroughly. Its extreme northern corner, for a distance of about 7 miles inland along the base of the Abyssinian heights, has indeed been visited and described by several travellers — by Munzinger in 1867, by Hildebrandt in 1872, and by Schimper in 1875 — and is one of the most interesting regions of all Xorth-Eastern Africa. About two days' journey south of Massowah a remarkable depression, esti- mated at 200 feet beneath the sea-level, is reached, and here the salt which supplies all Abyssinia, and forms the currency on the plateau, is quarried by the independent native Taltals, and formed into the little blocks of the size of a whetstone which are taken hence by mule cara- T 274 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. vans to the Abyssinian markets. Hildebrandt describes this as a volcanic region, and mentions a mountain called Oerteale, from the summit of which thick clouds of smoke issue. Schimper, on the other hand, gives an account of the periodical changes of aspect in this region, and ascribes them to a chemical action. The annual rains, which occur here at the time of the dry season on the plateau, give sufficient moisture, Dr. Schimper believes, to cause a chemical action to take place in the materials gathered in the depressions. Mud cones, four to ten feet in height, are then thrown up, and from the tops of these smoke, and sometimes even flames, break out. While some are rising, others sink and disappear, to be thrown up again in altered shapes, so that the whole district appears as if boiling. This appearance continues until the end of the rainy season, or, more correctly, till the whole depression is flooded with water, which then comes down in the torrents from the plateau, and puts an end to the com- motion. At the end of the rainy seasons the water evaporates from the flooded country, and leaves a covering, of several inches of depth, of hard, coarse-grained salt. The Danakils (sing. Dankali), of Arabic descent, but now much mixed and scattered, inhabit the Red Sea coast south-east from Massowah as far as the Bay of Tajurrah, and are traders, sailors, and fishers. The Taltals, inland, are a degenerate branch of the Adal Gallas, always in feud with the Abyssinians on account of their robbing propensities. The Shohos are nomadic herdsmen of the heights and valleys of the northern plateau slopes. Speaking generally, and as far as present knowledge goes, the western limit of the Somali country lies along a curved line drawn southward from the head of the hot gulf of Tajurrah, passing the eastern side of the small territory of Harar, and thence almost due south to meet the lower Juba river, which forms the definite boundary of the Somali and Gallas on the sea-coast. so MALI-LAND. 275 Captain Richard Burton in 1854, and the Swiss traveller Haggenmacher in 1874, succeeded in penetrat- ing the farthest into the Somali country, both setting out from the Gulf of Aden, as that part of the Indian Ocean is called which is bounded on the north by the south-west coast of Arabia, and on the south by the eastern horn of Africa, narrowing towards the Strait of Bab-el- Mandeb. Burton, starting from Zayla and returning to Berberah, reached, and, so to say, discovered the town of Harar, which no European had previously visited, and which, on October 11, 1875, was occupied by the troops of the Khedive, and annexed to the Egyptian govern- ment. During the same year Lieutenant (afterwards Captain) Speke, endeavouring to reach the fertile Wady Nogal, reported by Lieutenant Cruttenden, explored a portion of the mountains and table-lands which face the Somali coast of the Gulf of Aden. In 1872 Captain Miles made an excursion inland farther east on the same coast-land from Bander Marayah to the Wady Jaeel ; and, in 1874, Haggenmacher made his way southward from the port of Berberah, and reached Libaheli, at a direct distance of about 130 miles inland. Beyond these com- paratively short excursions on its borders, no extended journey has been made as yet in Somali land. Zeila, or Zayla, on an exposed roadstead near the southern entrance to the bay of Tajurrah, is surrounded by a dilapidated wall of coralline rubble and mud, and has five gates. A dozen large whitewashed stone houses, and upwards of two hundred thatched huts surrounded by a fence of wattle and matting, and six mosques, constitute the town. By position this is the port of Harar. Two routes connect Zayla with Harar : one in a direct line of ten long or twenty short stages through the country of the Eesa Somali and the Nole Gallas ; another in a more winding track along the coast south of Zayla. and thence south-westward through the territory of the 276 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. G-udabirsi and Girlii Somal, who extend to within sight of Harar. 1 To the hard, stoneless, alluvial coast-plain, of 40 to 45 miles in width, succeeds pastoral land covered with stiff yellow grass, where long lines of camels, waving their vulture-like heads, patches of sheep with snowy skins and jetty faces, and herds of goats, are tended by hide-clad Somali shepherds. As the hills are approached the land rises in folds, and some of the numerous torrent-beds that intersect the country are crossed, and these, though dry, are full of vegetation. Troops of gazelles bound away over the country as the caravan advances, and a few ostriches appear. Bough, and deep, and stony ravines lead through the hills. Then the Barr, or prairie, of Marar is crossed, rolling ground covered with tall, waving, sunburnt grass, so unbroken that from a distance it re- sembles the nap of yellow velvet. In the frequent wadys which carry off the surplus rains of the hills, scrub and thorn-trees grow in dense thickets ; the largest of these in this region is the Harawwah valley, which tends north- ward towards the saline depressions which lie inland from Tajurrah. At the head of this valley, in a rugged pass, the border land of the Gallas and Somali is reached, the scenery of which is thus described by Captain Burton : " The hill-sides were well wooded and black with pine ; their summits were bared of earth by the heavy monsoon which spreads the valleys with rich soil ; in many places the beds of waterfalls shone like sheets of metal upon the black rock ; villages, surrounded by fields and fences, studded the country; and in the distance was a mass of purple peak and blue table in long vanishing succession." 2. Harar. Harar, the ancient capital of Hadiyah, one of the seven 1 Burton, First Footsteps in East Africa: London, 1856. SOMALI-LAND. 277 members of the Zayla empire founded by Arab invaders in the seventh century, is about 175 miles south-west of Zayla, and at an altitude of perhaps 5500 feet above the sea. Its site is the slope of a hill which falls gently to the east, with cultivated fields and orchards about it. An irregular wall, pierced by gates, surrounds it ; the houses, or long flat-roofed sheds, within, are of rough granite and sand- stones of the hills cemented with clay. The only large building is the Jami, or cathedral, like a long barn, with two whitewashed minarets built by Turks from Mocha. The streets are narrow lanes, strewn with great rubbish- heaps, upon which repose packs of mangy clogs. " Harar," says Burton, " has not only its own tongue, unintelligible to any save the citizens ; even its little population of about 8000 souls is a distinct race." Generally the com- plexion of the inhabitants is a yellowish brown, the beard short, stature moderate, and all extremities large and ill- made. Up to the city gates the country is peopled by Gallas. The whole government formerly rested with the Amir, but his rule has probably been superseded since the Egyptian expedition of 1875. One of the members of the Egyptian expedition, Mohammed Moktar, who made a minute plan of the city, estimates its present population at 35,000. Harar is essentially a commercial town, export- ing slaves, ivory, coffee, tobacco, saffron, tobes (garments which resemble the Eoman toga), and woven cottons, mules, holcus or soft grass, wheat, honey, gums, and tallow. The slaves are gathered from the inland Galla countries, Guragwe and Abyssinia, the Abyssinian being the most valued. Three caravans leave Harar every year for the Berberah market, the first starting in January, the second in February; the third conveys slaves, mules, and other valuable articles, and numbers about 3000 souls. 3. Coast Towns — Berberah. The only secure harbour all along the northern Somali 278 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. coast from Zayla to Cape Guardafui is that of Berberah, which is capable of sheltering' perhaps 500 large craft, and is safe in all winds. Berberah has therefore been the chief outlet of the trade of the interior of this region of Africa from the earliest times. During the past ten years, indeed, the coast town of Bulbar, forty-two miles west, has risen to great importance as a market, but the advantageous position of Berberah, combined with the safety of its harbour, will always maintain its superi- ority. It is only during the season of the great annual fair, however, that the town of Berberah can be said to exist. The owners of the land forming its site, the Ber Achmet Nob, carry on the business of the market for six or seven months of the year, and scatter again as nomads in the surrounding country after the close of the fair. The first caravans come in with the season of the gentler rains called Dair, which begins in the end of October and lasts till January. The market-places are then divided out and the dwelling-huts and sale-booths set up. In less than a week the formerly bare ground is covered with several hundreds of huts, as well for the natives as for the mer- chants, who now come hither by sea from Arabia, Persia, and India. After the first and most wealthy merchants have settled down, the nomads begin to bring their produce from the surrounding country, and every day there arrive caravans of 20 to 200 camels, till, at the height of the fair, Berberah has swelled out to cover a large space, and has become a perfect babel of upwards of 20,000 people, of the most various nationalities. 4. General Physical Aspect of the Somali Country. The greater portion of northern Somali-land, from the Gulf of Tajurrah round to Cape Guardafui, appears to form a table-land which falls by steep edges to the coast-land which skirts the Gulf of Aden, now approaching the coast closely in a rugged sea-face trenched down by deep SOMALI-LAND. 279 ravines, now retreating suddenly and leaving a wider maritime plain. South of Berberah, on the route followed by Herr Haggenmacher, a double range is formed. The inner one is the higher, and close to where he crossed it the mountain called Gan Libah, " the lion's paw," has a height of about 9500 feet. He describes the wonderful panorama which opened out in crossing this range. To the north, in the far distance, the blue ocean could be distinguished rolling its waves against the low coast-line, and nearer the bare and furrowed maritime chain wound in and out along the sea-coast. In contrast to the heat and aridity of the coast the inner range shows a splendid green, and the mountain air is fresh and bracing. Towards the south, the hills slope gradually into a vast limitless plain, covered for a wide space with mimosa bush, and afterwards opening into treeless prairie. Farther east, where Speke crossed the plateau edge from the coast at Bander Gori, he gives a very similar description. There the steep and irre- gular sea-face of the plateau approaches at some points to within 200 yards of the shore of the Gulf of Aden, and is composed of bare brown rocks and earth, with little or no vegetation, as uninviting in appearance as the light-brown hills which fringe the coasts of the Bed Sea. In the central folds of the heights, which here attain elevations of 6000 to 7000 feet, this sterility changes for a warm rich clothing of bush, jungle, and grass. Gum, myrrh, and frankincense, as well as the aloe plant, from which the Somali manufacture strong cordage, appear in great pro- fusion. The northern faces of the highest ranges are steep and precipitous, well clad with trees and jungle, but the southern side is the opposite in all its characteristics : in- stead of having a steep drop of 6000 to 7000 feet, it falls by gentle slopes and successive terraces scarcely half that depth to the high plateau land of Nogal, which again is 1 >are and without much vegetation, excepting such trees as the hardy acacia and jujube in the sheltered water-courses. 280 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. There does not appear to be any permanently flowing stream in all the Somali country excepting its southern boundary river the Juba. As far as it is known the whole of the Somali country has a gradual slope from the height* which border the Gulf of Aden south-eastward towards the Indian Ocean. The two most important watercourses in the heart of the country are said to be the Tug Jered and the Tug Fafan. The first of these rises west of Harar, and gathers the waters which flow down from the great plateau edge of the Galla country south of Shoa and Guragwe ; the second takes up the waters which flow south from eastward of Harar. These two watercourses are said to unite in the midst of the central country of Ogaden, a famous grazing country of the Somali, where they have large herds of camels, ponies, cows, and fat-tailed sheep, and where gazelles and ante- lopes roam about in vast herds ; there they probably form the Wobbi, a river which loses itself in a marsh behind the coast hills of Brava, north of the mouth of the Juba on the east coast. 5. Climate. The climate as well as the character of the low coast- land differs greatly from that of the high interior of northern Somali-land. The periods of the rains are also different. On the coast-land the rains begin in December and close in May, and are generally beneficent showers. The rains of the highland and interior, on the contrary, begin in March or April, and heavy downpours last till June, with only now and then one or two days' intermis- sion. This is called the " Gu " by the natives. From July to October, in the " Hagu" season, though the sky is clouded, little rain falls. The second season of showers, called the " Dair," extends from the end of October till January ; thence onward to the end of March is the " Jilal " or dry summer of the Somali plateau. SOMALI-LAND. 281 6. The Somdli. The tribes inhabiting the Somali country appear to be of various origin, and to have no very markedly predomi- nant type, though in a few points this nation of robbers is alike throughout. Their language, composed almost wholly of words borrowed from the Arabic or Galla tongues, the latter predominating, and their religion, show the great influence which has been exerted by the Arab im- migrations which began in the fifteenth century, and con- tinued for several hundred years later. Mixing with the Gallas these invaders multiplied and drove back all lvho refused to comply with the Mohammedan religion, and thus occupied the country. The Somali are to this day separated by religion from the Gallas, and are hostile both towards these and to all other foreigners ; they are fanatical Mohammedans ; murder and theft are with them no crimes that shut the gates of paradise. They are boister- ous and turbulent, and particularly notorious for their cheating and lying propensities. In their general appear- ance they retain certain characteristics of their Hamitic and Semitic origin. Tall, slender, light and agile as deer, they are slightly darker than the Arabs, with lips and noses rather Grecian, but with woolly heads like true Negroes. Their costume is simply a single sheet of cloth eight cubits long, thrown over the shoulder, much after the fashion of a Scotsman's plaid. Their chief tribes are the Eesa or Isa, Gudabirsi, and Habr Awal, occu- pying the country between Zayla, Harar, and Berberah. The Habr Gerhajis, who have a perpetual blood-feud with the Awal, extend along the inner side of the mountain ranges south of Berberah. The Dulbahanta, Warsingali, and Mijjerthain follow in succession eastward in the interior country to the shores of the Indian Ocean ; and the southern portion of the lands occupied by the last- 282 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGEAPHY AND TltAVEL. named is famed as the best myrrh district of the Somali country. The Bahauadla occupy the central country of Ogaden, and in the south, approaching the Wobbi and lower Juba rivers, are the Haweea and Abgal Somali. One group of tribes called the Achdam, formed by the intermixture of all tribes with the slaves from surrounding countries, are considered as outcasts. Among these the Tomalod are the blacksmiths of Somali-land. 7. Wild Animals of the Somali Country. The wild animals of the Somali country include the elephant, which is hunted at great hazard. The plan adopted is that of riding on horseback to within a spear's- tlirow of the animal, and to wound it. The enraged elephant chases the horseman, who flies in the direction of a hidden comrade armed with a sword, who hamstrings the beast as it passes him, after which it can be easily despatched. Zebras appear in large herds, and the wild ass is as plentiful ; while the giraffe, the rhinoceros and hippopotamus, wild pigs, gazelles and antelopes, the lion and leopard, are widely distributed. The ostrich is found all over the Somali country. Vultures, eagles, and falcons are the scavengers of the settlements and of the slaughtering places. On the coasts the fisheries are very productive, and the dugong, which is taken by net and harpoon, is especially valued for its skin and ivory- like teeth. South winds sometimes bring up with them great flights of locusts. 8. Other Coast Towns — Socotra. Eeturning now to the north coast of the Somali country, and passing eastward of Berberah, the most im- portant, perhaps, of a large number of smaller settlements and markets, is that of Bander Marayah, the chief fort of the Mijjerthain tribe, situated at the foot of a range of SOM ALI-LAXD. 283 heights which rise behind it to a height of 4000 feet. Its permanent population is only some 600 or 700, but, as at Berberah during the trading season, when the cara- vans arrive with gums and other produce from the interior, and the Arab merchants come across from the opposite shore, this number is greatly increased. The commerce of this part of the coast is considerable. Its exports are frankincense, gum arabic, indigo, and mats, for which cloth, dates, rice, and metals are imported in return. East of Bander (" port or anchorage") Marayah is Bas Ulula, the most northerly point of the Somali pro- montory, and still farther east Cape Guardafui, or Bas Asir, the extreme east point of the continent — a well-wooded table-land, and abounding in valuable resins. Opposite this point is the island of Socotra, about as large as the county of Cornwall, like the African mainland rising in terraces to a considerable elevation in the interior. The greater part of its surface is a pastoral table-land, from 700 to 800 feet above the sea, with infertile borders, in which the streams from the interior flow only at certain seasons. The aloe plant and the dragon's blood tree are the chief commercial products of Socotra, which has an Arab popu- lation of about 4000, under a governor appointed by the Sultan of Keshin, on the opposite south coast of Arabia, to whom the island belongs. In January 1876, General Schneider, British political resident at Aden, visited Keshin and Socotra, and negotiated a treaty with the sultan, by which he agreed never to cede Socotra to any foreign power, and never to allow any settlement to be made on it without the consent of the British Govern- ment. A small subsidy is now paid by Britain to the Sultan of Keshin and the Governor of Socotra. Between it and the cape is the little rocky island of Abd-el-Knii, whose woodless hills are occupied by some seventy Arabs with their flocks of half- wild goats. 284 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. 9. The Ports of the East Coast. The line of coast from Cape Guardafui southwards to ( Jape Hafun is bare and unfruitful ; but on the latter penin- sula itself, camels, horned cattle, horses, and sheep find a rich grazing ground during the favourable season, and the 1 >a vs north and south of it afford good anchorages. As far as Eas Awad (Cape Changeful) the coast continues steep and rocky, after which, stretching for some distance farther south, is a dreary coast fringed by coral reefs separated from the mainland by channels of still and shallow water. On this coast are the four southern Somali settlements of \Varsheikh, Mogdesho or " Magadoxo," Marka, and Brava, which together constitute the " Benadir," or the ports of the angle of country formed between the lower Juba and the sea. These are places of considerable commercial activity, the more opulent permanent inhabitants living in substantial stone houses. The coral island of Warsheikh marks the most northerly point of the scattered dominion of the Sultan of Zanzibar, and the ports have Arab governors and garrisons under his rule. Hides, orchilla weed and oil seeds, horses, donkeys, and camels, are at present the chief exports, with a little ivory and some ostrich feathers from the far interior. At Mogdesho, during a recent visit by Dr. Kirk, twenty vessels of from 50 to 200 tons were lying at anchor off the town, being filled with the native grain, black sesame. This is largely grown on the banks of the lower Wobbi, near Geledi or Jilledy (an important place on the caravan route to Gananeh, on the Juba, the residence of a sultan of the Somali), and is brought thence on camel-back. From the crest of the sandhills behind Brava a view opens out over a noble plain which has been compared to that of Damascus, only that it is more level and extensive ; it is covered to the distant line of the horizon with low trees, chiefly mimosas. In this direction, COUNTRY OF THE GALLAS. 285 also, is seen the great marsh in which the Wobbi river loses itself, for though it periodically floods this plain, it never reaches the Juba or the sea. 10. Course of the Juha River — Harder a. The course of the river Juba, disemboguing almost under the equator, forms, as far as it is known, the frontier of the Somali and Galla lands. The Juba rises undoubt- edly far inland, and its sources are probably the Gibbe and Gojeb, tributaries of the Umo river of Enarea and Kaffa, in the high land south of Abyssinia and Shoa. It has been traced, however, as a navigable stream only as far as the town of Bardera, where its explorer, Baron von der Decken, met with his death in 1865. Bardera lies on the high and precipitous left bank of the Juba, at an elevation of 350 feet above the sea-level, and beyond it spread the interminable plains of the Somali country. The style of its architecture betrays its Arab origin ; but its inhabitants, occupying some 120 or 130 hive-shaped huts, have but little trade, as the place lies off the great commercial high- way connecting the far more important town of Brava with Gananeh, higher up the Juba, a place occupied partly by Somali, partly by the Borani Gallas, whose country extends westward from this point. 11. The Galla Country. South of the mouth of this river begins the proper territory of the sultanate of Zanzibar, which stretches along the coast southwards to Cape Delgado, at 10° 45' S. lati- tude. The northern strip between the mouths of the Juba and the Sabaki river may be regarded as the Galla coast, as these western and southern neighbours of the Somali here spread eastwards to the ocean. A series of undulating hills, averaging 300 feet in height, continues the coast-line to 2° S. latitude, after which it becomes farther south a dead 286 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. level. The monotony of this low-lying coast, overgrown by swampy mangrove woods, is broken, indeed, by the little archipelago of the Witu islands. Along the river-beds extends the virgin forest land. The southern Galla country consists of fine extensive plains, thickly dotted with verdant copse and jungle ; but at intervals the plateau spreads out for miles, affording a magnificent view, only intercepted by a few bushes and trees. Water is rather scarce ; but the beds of deep gullies and watercourses show that fine streams How through it in the rainy season. The contour of the land apparently forms a succession of elevated plains, each rising in altitude north and westward. The elephant, buffalo, and giraffe, lion, leopard, and hyaena, qnaggas and antelopes, roam through its pastures and jungles. 12. The Galla Races. The Somali and Galla people are as closely related as they are hostilely disposed towards each other, and both must be carefully distinguished from the Negroes proper. We have previously noticed the probable line which sepa- rates these peoples, confining the former to the eastern horn of the continent. The Gallas, in many tribes and innu- merable clans and subdivisions, occupy a much larger terri- tory, but one which cannot as yet be very clearly marked out. In the north they appear in southern Abyssinia, in Shoa, and southern Amhara, in Gojam, Damot, and Enarea. Their eastern limit is conterminous, as we have seen, with that of the Somali from the country inland from the bay of Tajurrah due south to the mouth of the Juba, where they appear on the coast of the Indian Ocean. About Melinde the Gallas meet the mixed race of the Wanika on the coast, and from this point their limit appears to turn westward along the Sabaki river for some distance, and to embrace the wilderness south of that river, and inland from Unikani as far as about 3° 30' S., which THE GALLAS. 287 may be considered as the extreme south point of the GaQa territory. The country of Ukambani, lying midway between the great equatorial mountains of Kenia and Kilima-Njaro and the coast, limits the Galla area on the south-west. Farther northward the Gallas appear to be conterminous with the Masai and Wakwavi, who migrate over the plains east of the Victoria Nyanza ; and they are the ruling people of all the country north-eastward of the great lakes as far as Abyssinia. The immense territory of the Gallas extends, then, between 10° N". and 3° to 4° S. of the equator, or over a length of more than 900 miles from N. to S. Dr. Krapf estimates the number of the Gallas at between six and eight millions, in not fewer than sixty tribes. The Gallas take high rank physiologically, and have nothing in common with the negroes. They are of a very dark brown complexion, generally tall and well formed, and have deep-sunk lively eyes, and less thick lips than the negro. They are warlike nomads, and surpass the average negro very considerably in intelli- gence. Their clothing consists of a mantle of coarse cotton ; for ornaments in some tribes the men wear brass necklaces, the women iron armlets and anklets. Their weapons are spears chiefly, and a kind of spiked " knuckle- duster " is sometimes worn on the right hand, and is a deadly weapon in the hand-to-hand fights which are the most frequent forms of warfare. The women enjoy ex- ceptional freedom and respect, young girls possessing the privilege of rejecting undesirable matrimonial offers, and monogamy being the rule amongst them. Their political organisation, as with the Somali, is somewhat patriarchal, and at the head of each tribe is a Heiitch, or sultan, with a limited authority. The northern Gallas of Abyssinia are hospitable, brave in battle, and intelligent traders. Some are Mohammedans, some profess Christianity. The southern Gallas are heathen, but profess a belief in a 288 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. AVaka, or supreme being, whose definition corresponds somewhat closely to the idea of the Deity entertained by more highly civilised nations. 13. Beg ion of the Kilima-Njaro — Dana and Rufu Rivers. It will be convenient next to group together for de- scription the countries which occupy the great coast slope of Eastern Africa, where it descends from the remarkable snow-clad mountains of Kenia and Kilima-Njaro to the Indian Ocean, taking as the limit northward the Dana river, which rises in the slopes of Mount Kenia, and reaches the sea at Formosa, or Ungama, Bay (2° 40' S.), and for the southern boundary the Eufu or Pangani river, which follows a similar course to the sea from the base of Mount Kilima-Njaro. This space of the East African slope may be considered as a great meeting- ground of the East African and foreign races. Along the coast-land the mixture of the original Bantu blood with the Arab immigrants has formed a half-breed race of coast men who take their name from the Arabic word Sahel or sea coast, and are called the Wasuaheli. 1 The southern point of the vast Galla territory extends southward across the Dana into this region. Between these southern Gallas and the base of Mount Kenia are the Wakamba in their country of Ukambani, derived from more southern lands, and contrasting with the nomad Gallas in their village communities, as well as in their settled agri- cultural and pastoral life. Southward of Ukambani is the hill country of the Wateita, and between the slopes of Mount Kilima-Njaro and the coast-land there occurs a vast uninhabited wilderness, subject to the raids of the 1 Throughout East Africa the prefix Wa or Ba denotes a tribe ; M or Mu, a single individual of the tribe ; U, the country ; Ki, the language. Thus, Wasuaheli, the coast people ; M'Suaheli, an individual coast man ; TJsuaheli, the Suaheli country ; and Kisuaheli, the Suaheli language. EQUATORIAL EAST COAST. 289 "Wamasai and Wakwavi, the mutually hostile nomads of the plateau behind the great snowy mountains, who de- scend to plunder the plains ; in appearance and language these marauders resemble most the Somali and Abys- sinians. Finally, along the north-eastern side of the Eufu are the hill countries and separate states of Chaga on the slope of Kilima-Njaro, of Pare midway, and of the table-land of Usambara between the lower Pangani and the coast-land, inhabited by peoples quite different from those of the plains, always on the alert and keeping watch over their cattle against a surprise from the insati- able Masai or Wakwavi. The Dana is the most important river of this portion of the East African coast. Its head streams gather their waters from the slopes of the plateau near where Mount Kenia, also called Doenyo Ebor, the " White Mountain," rises on the edge of the highland, and bring down a constant flow of water, the river being filled to over- flowing in the hottest season, from the melting of the mountain snows. From the Wapokomo, a tribe living on its northern banks as vassals of the Gallas, it takes the name of the Pokomo river, and reaches the sea partly by a northern branch called the Ozi, united to the main stream by a natural canal, and by its main out- let which is known as the Dana, In February 1865 Baron von der Decken navigated the Ozi branch in his small steamer as far as the town of Chara, but was prevented from going farther by the Gallas of Chaffa. A little farther south the Sabaki or Galana river, the chief upper tributary of which is named the Adi, flows from the mountains between Kenia and Kilima-Njaro across the country of Ukambani. It is navigable for boats for at least forty miles upward from the coast. A little way south of its estuary is the historical Arab settlement of Malindi or Melinde, at which u 290 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. Vasco de Gama landed in 1498 after doubling the Cape of Good Hope, and obtained a pilot, under whose guidance he crossed the ocean to India. The port and town are now ruinous and overgrown with vegetation, but there is a great influx of people to Malindi in autumn, to a great market chiefly for millet and rice. The Eufu disembogues at the indifferent seaport of Pangani, which carries on a considerable trade with the interior and especially with the Masai country, whence it receives large quantities of ivory, considered superior to any on the coast. The river flows through the salt-yielding land of Kahe and round the south of the two more ex- tended hilly districts of Pare and Usambara. It cannot be ascended for more than a distance of ten miles from its mouth, or beyond the town of Tongwe, or Chogwe, immediately above which there are fine waterfalls. Usambara may in a general way be described as a wilderness of hills, rising precipitously on one side and dipping ruggedly on the other, with intervening valleys and extremely fertile dales. Fuga or Vuga, the capital of this highland, which has been visited at various times by the travellers Krapf, Burton, and New, is a town of about 3000 inhabitants, built on the top of a rounded peak at an elevation of about 4500 feet above the sea. Valleys drop down to great depths on all sides of it, and it can only be approached by the steepest acclivities. It commands a fine prospect of mountain peaks reaching up to 7000 feet in every variety of shape, ridges upon ridges, rocks and crags, and enormous valleys and gloomy ravines and glens as romantic as Glencoe. " There are dark majestic forests, compact woods, wildernesses of brown jungle, expanses of tall wav- ing grass, beautiful slopes of short green turf, and every- where patches of cultivated land fresh and verdant as an Eden : brooks and streams and torrents trickle and murmur, EQUATORIAL EAST COAST. 291 tumble and splash and roar on all sides." The population of this south-eastern Abyssinia is not large, and appears to be becoming less and less, owing to intestine feuds and the sale into slavery of all prisoners captured in battle. The present people of the highland comprise three dis- tinct tribes : the Wakilinde, the ruling section ; the Wam- bugu, who appear to be naturalised subjects from other parts ; and the aboriginal Wasambara or hill people. 1 4. Lands of the Wanika and Wateita. North of Usambara and Pare the country of the Wanika stretches along the coast. Here is situated the important town and fortress of Mombas or Mombasa, on an island in the middle of an inlet of the sea forking off into two branches and running deep into the land. The island, which is about three miles in length, is low-lying and covered with splendid mango, guava, and coco palms, and is inhabited by about 3000 Wasuaheli, by a number of slaves, and about 250 Arabs. The town proper of Mombasa consists of the ancient fort built by the Portuguese in 1594, the ruinous Portuguese town of Gavana, and the black or old town in a still more wretched condition, with fields and gardens among the ruins. A number of villages on the shores of the inlet are dependencies of Mombasa. It is the starting-point of a number of important caravan routes to the eastern portion of the lake region of the Nile, and carries on an important traffic in ivory, copal gum, corn, rhinoceros' hides and horns, hippopotamus' teeth, and slaves. Some miles north of it on the Wanika plateau is the mission- station of Eibe, whence Krapf and Eebmann, Wakefield and New, have made those journeys into the interior to which we are indebted for most of our knowledge of this part of East Africa. South of this place and at no great 292 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. distance from the coast rise the Shimha hills, with an elevation of about 1000 feet. Farther westwards stretch undulating grassy plains varied with solitary groups of timber, and growing at every step more rocky and barren, until we descend into the wilderness of Nika limited on the north by the Galla country and Uteita, on the south by Usambara, and westward by the Pare and Chaga hills. This tract rises very gradually inwards to a height of from 2000 to 2300 feet, with occasional mountains and ridges springing directly from the surrounding plain. The hills are here everywhere peopled, while the level country is uninhabited. The three hilly clusters of Kadiaro, Bura, and Ndara, may be described generally as the Teita land, which is peopled by the Wateita, about 150,000 in number, and distributed over 600 villages. The monotonous plain, varied by some very low undulations, stretches westwards from these hills to Lake Jipe, (a shallow sheet of water about the size of Lake Zurich, with its shores overgrown with rushes), and to the Kilima-ISTjaro and its offshoots. Instead of the thorny acacia and thickets of the euphorbia we here meet with loftier wood- lands, while the ground is overgrown with a very trouble- some prickly grass. This wilderness is frequented by numerous herds of elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, and ante- lopes, and also harbours the rhinoceros and the lion. Farther westward the land assumes the appearance now of an open heath, now of a grassy steppe. It is crossed by the river Lumi flowing into Lake Jipe, and beyond that stream we enter the cultivated land of Chaga. North and north-east of the steppe we see the ISTgolia and Kikumbuliu or Julu ranges situated on the frontiers of Ukambani. On the south rise the moderately elevated hills of Ugono, with peaks attaining a height of 6000 feet. West of L T gono is the mountainous district of Arusha, separated from it by the Kahe lowland, in the valley of EQUATOEIAL EAST COAST. 293 the Kufu. Inland from Chaga and Arusha stretch the plains inhabited by the nomad tribes of the Masai and Wakwavi, famous warriors and dreaded freebooters. And this brings us to the base of the Kilima-Njaro. 15. Mount Kilima-Njaro. This gigantic mountain knot (from Kilima = mountain, and Njaro = greatness), in extent about equal to the Bernese Alps, rises on the east of the Masai plains. It was dis- covered and explored by Eebmann, visited by Yon der Decken, and ascended to the snow line in 1871 by Charles New. This traveller describes its whole mass as culminat- ing in two peaks covered with eternal ice — on the west a sublime cupola, clothed with a dazzling mantle of white, and rising to an elevation of 18,700 feet, on the east a mass of rugged and colossal pillars 2500 feet lower, and only by a little overtopping the line of perpetual snow, both connected by a long sweeping mountain ridge. The Kilima-Njaro would seem, most probably, to be an extinct volcano, whose crater has been partly disturbed by the falling in of its sides. Separated from it by a plain is Mount Mero, on the west, 14,700 feet high, an isolated conical peak not reaching the snow line. Only the southern slope of Kilima-Njaro, and there only the belt between the elevations of about 3000 and 5000 feet is inhabited; the banana plantations reach 1000 feet higher up the slopes, but above this belt follow m succession the unclaimed wildernesses of forest, grass, stony ground, and lastly of snow and ice. The inhabited zone is divided into several little kingdoms, some of them not larger than an ordinary revising barrister's circuit in England. The chief of these is Chaga. °The Kilima-Njaro is the forerunner of a number of 294 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. similar and perhaps even higher snow-capped mountains stretching northward beyond the equator, towards Abys- sinia, one only of which, the Kenia of the Wakamba, and Doenyo Ebor (White Mountain) of the Wakwavi, has been seen with his own eyes by the intrepid missionary and traveller Krapf. It reaches a height of at least 18,000 feet. The country which extends between the plateau edge which is marked by the snowy mountains of Kenia and Kilima-Xjaro, and the Victoria Nyanza, is as yet only known by native report, and mainly through the accounts gathered by Mr. Wakefield, one of the zealous missionaries of the Eibe station. As far as its general character can be judged of from native information, the greater portion of it is a high plateau land, on which rise several moun- tains as elevated perhaps as the two colossal summits which have been seen by European travellers. Among these are the great Doenyo Ngai, a summit which stands perhaps sixty miles west of Kilima-Njaro. Sadi-bin-Ahecli, the intelligent native informant of Mr. Wakefield, describes this frequently reported mountain as higher than Kilima- njaro though not so massive, and its summit exhibits the same coruscant appearance; " one moment it is yellow like gold, the next white like silver, and again black." Between this and Kilirna-Njaro the broad belt of table-land run- ning north and south appears to enclose a number of large lakes or marshes, most of which have no outlet to the sea. Lake Arusha, and a great swamp of nitrate of soda lying between Kilima-Njaro and Doenyo Ngai, are two of these ; far to the south in the same line, Lake Manyara or Eo has been frequently reported ; northward, inland from Mount Kenia, the salt lake iSTaivasha has been described ; and much farther north the position of a great lake called Samburu, in the country of the Eendile Gallas, has been indicated to travellers approaching this region both from MASAI COUNTRY. 295 the east coast and from the lands south of Abyssinia. This great plateau is the home of the Masai and Wakwavi, warlike and turbulent races, to the former of whom the Wandorobo are vassals. The country, however, appears to be rich in cattle, to have numerous plantations and cidtivated spots where beans, millet, and sweet potatoes are grown, and to be well stocked with all kinds of large game. Nearer the Victoria Nyanza the land seems to descend again to some extent, and here a number of more settled and peaceable states are reported. Among these are Ukara on the shores of the great lake, a country in which the people clothe themselves with goat and sheep skins, and live in circular huts thatched with grass, culti- vating the ground and growing maize, bananas, and cas- sava, and also employing themselves in fishing. Between Kenia and the Nyanza a remarkable volcanic region is said to occur in the Njemsi country, near the reported lake Baringo; but it is not yet very clear whether this is a portion of the Victoria Nyanza or a separate and independent lake. There are thirty or forty craters in this region, from which pillar-like columns of smoke are constantly rising, and at their base hot springs are constantly bub- bling — so hot that the fingers cannot be borne in them. The Wa Saku, a people inhabiting the north of the Baringo country, are feared on account of their ferocious and bar- barous character ; they do not hesitate, it is said, to give battle to the warlike Masai, who pay them predatory visits and carry off their cattle ; and they in turn make raids on the Masai country. 20 G COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. CHAPTEE XX. THE SUAHELI COAST. 1. Extent — Commercial Importance — Islands. Between the equator and Cape Delgado lies the Sua- lieli or Zanzibar coast, commercially beyond all doubt the most important section of the entire east coast of Africa. Facing it, and close to the mainland, are the islands of Pemba, Zanzibar, and Mafia, which, together with the whole Suaheli coast, are subject to the Sultan of Zanzibar. Formerly this tract of country belonged to the Imam of Muscat in south-eastern Arabia ; but, after the death of the last Imam fourteen years ago, his states were divided between his two sons, one of them becoming the independent ruler of the Zanzibar territory, which since that time has been practically independent of Muscat. On the mainland the domain of the sultan nowhere extends far inland, being restricted to a narrow strip along the coast, in which, besides other not inconsiderable places, are situated Mombas, Pangani, Saadani, Bagamoyo (opposite the town of Zanzibar), Dar-es-Salam, and Quiloa or Ivilwa. The extreme limits of his rule are the settlement of Warsheikh on the southern Somali coast north of the Juba, and the village of Tungue immediately south of Cape Delgado (10° 43' S.), where his dominions touch those of Portugal. Towards the north, especially in the Galla and Somali lands, the rule of Zanzibar scarcely ex- tends beyond the walls of the coast towns garrisoned by Arab troops. "GANYIBL nile «• Kaeera 1\ . t V IV T O j „ X Y A X P ^^e«374C-StanH AdBambireh I . 10 X^ it ii i nix f -H^& •CpiawV^\;.. S^atn MX _or- l ' JlandM. 5Na '■ 6ttnda« ~5J| TT, KlJl B A\$T I r ^ Kvprrpiuey-.. ."I V . Ukontfu XkW ^^jf '' .r'jia Senagonqn fv^pe I.- - ^Vrungw, ^> -*^Tt*aungu < • tinndft xnaB. \ .FOKMOSA BAY /F^mbal. Chak X > . AMu t'# . X^/L^^*''"- / -'■*??• . /tfUtonduA \ChuakcL jfr. ■r'-.. x ITnyaai^l^ W^yVBiifooMr tf| ZANZIBAR I. ^°*w °m ----- ^^v^^ani) •/•$ Zanzibar | ? es Salaam S R.Lwigwa. hJionyeriWo ..- Ju *^ ,K HfiCr» m ai-i T ^ ^/eMathmoirtf)OiTu7idajC.Bouiqj?7i liege laWwra, Kistfic % %. f •Xoiuul j ^ IJitep Stanford^ Gcxig 1 EstoCb" ZANZIBAR TO THE TANGANYIKA it VICTORIA LAKES. ZANZIBAR COAST. 297 2. The Suaheli Race. Both the mainland and the islands are inhabited by the half-caste Suaheli ; the Arab intermixture is, however, so strong, that they now most commonly speak of them- selves as Arabs. All are zealous Mohammedans, endea- vouring to propagate the faith of Islam wherever their influence extends inland. They are, moreover, an ener- getic and enterprising commercial people, and have mono- polised nearly the whole of the trade on the eastern shores of the continent ; but the chief centre of this trade is the island of Zanzibar, with the capital of the same name lying on its western side over against the mainland. 3. Island and Town of Zanzibar. This island is situated 2400 nautical miles from the southern point of India, and about the same distance from the Cape of Good Hope and the Suez Canal. It is very flat, the land rising only a few feet above the sea-level, and none of the few hills being more than 350 feet high. The population is estimated at from 300,000 to 350,000, or about 375 to the square mile, and of this number about 60,000 live in the city. During the north-east monsoon the arrivals of foreign traders increase the population by 30,000 or40,000. The basis of the population is formed by the Arabic owners of the soil, and the numerous half-castes of mixed Arabic and African blood. The Comoros, born at Zanzibar, number about 4000, and are much more diligent, as well as pleasanter to look at, than the Suaheli. Many natives of Madagascar are met with : Arabs from Hadramaut live as porters ; those from Oman, called Suris, are a restless and thievish race. Natives of India, chiefly Banyans, are in considerable numbers, and Lascars or Indian seamen, and African slaves, complete the motley population. ZANZIBAR COAST. 297 2. The Suaheli Race. Both the mainland and. the islands are inhabited by the half-caste Suaheli ; the Arab intermixture is, however, so strong, that they now most commonly speak of them- selves as Arabs. All are zealous Mohammedans, endea- vouring to propagate the faith of Islam wherever their influence extends inland. They are, moreover, an ener- getic and enterprising commercial people, and have mono- polised nearly the whole of the trade on the eastern shores of the continent ; but the chief centre of this trade is the island of Zanzibar, with the capital of the same name lying on its western side over against the mainland. 3. Island and Town of Zanzibar. This island is situated 2400 nautical miles from the southern point of India, and about the same distance from the Cape of Good Hope and the Suez Canal. It is very flat, the land rising only a few feet above the sea-level, and none of the few hills being more than 350 feet high. The population is estimated at from 300,000 to 350,000, or about 375 to the square mile, and of this number about 60,000 live in the city. During the north-east monsoon the arrivals of foreign traders increase the population by 30,000 or 40,000. The basis of the population is formed 1 >y the Arabic owners of the soil, and the numerous half-castes of mixed Arabic and African blood. The Comoros, born at Zanzibar, number about 4000, and are much more diligent, as well as pleasanter to look at, than the Suaheli. Many natives of Madagascar are met with : Arabs from Hadramaut live as porters ; those from Oman, called Suris, are a restless and thievish race. Natives of India, chiefly Banyans, are in considerable numbers, and Lascars or Indian seamen, and African slaves, complete the motley population. 293 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. Fevers are still prevalent and dangerous at Zanzibar, though not to the same extent as in former times. January and March are the hottest months of the year ; March, April, and May are the months of heavy rain, in which upwards of 100 inches fall, and there are moderate showers in September and October. The temperature of the year ranges between 70° and 90° Fahr. In December, January, and February the north-east monsoon prevails ; during the rest of the year south-westerly and easterly winds are most frequent. In the town itself, the fine appearance of which takes the stranger by surprise, the houses are all built of white stone, and much animation is imparted to the place by its varied trade in ivory, cloves, pepper, hides, cotton goods, and, till recently, slaves. The sultan maintains an excellent and sumptuous establishment of brood mares, at the entrance of which lies a huge sow, whose mission is to guard the horses against the mischievous pranks of the evil spirits. Nor are these strict Mohamniedans at all disin- clined to procure for Europeans the enjoyment of a dinner of roast pork, of course for a reasonable consideration, and any white so disposed may always purchase a little porker in the sultan's stables. The women are here kept under vigilant guard, though intercourse with Europeans has already had a certain mitigating influence, and the salutations of the latter are now often responded to in a very friendly way. The members of the sultan's family also show themselves well disposed towards strangers, especially when these are con- siderate enough to bring presents with them. 4. Trade of Zanzibar. Since it is commerce especially that gives Zanzibar and the Suaheli coast its importance, it may be opportune here to take a rapid glance at the general state of East ZANZIBAR COAST. 299 African trade, and to notice briefly along with that the slave trade of this coast, which is so intimately bound up with its commerce. Since the opening of the Suez Canal, the east coast of Africa has been brought into much nearer and closer relations with European states, and although two coal-fields which were discovered in the neighbourhood of the coast at a recent date have not yet been developed, they are none the less of eminent importance to the increase of steam navigation in this region. The first point to be noticed in connection with East African trade, is, that both in its retail and wholesale branches it is almost entirely in the hands of East Indians ; these Indian merchants are met with not only all along the continental shores, but also on the islands, as in Pemba, Zanzibar, Mafia, Comoro, and Madagascar. In 1873 there were over 4000 Indians on this coast, of all castes and of every trade and calling. The natives of the coast them- selves — the Wa-Suaheli, Somali, Comoros, etc. — only carry on a little trade in provisions, chiefly in fish, flesh, poultry, corn, sweet potatoes, and cassava, while the Arabs take to agriculture, if they are not engaged in the more lucrative slave trade ; it is indeed almost a thing unknown for an Arab to have a shop or store of any kind. From the apathy of the natives and people of other nations, it has come about that the Indians are the traders of the East African coast, and their dhows are seen in all harbours. They are in general termed Hindi or Banyans. The Hindi are more specially Mahommedan Indians, Khojahs, Bohrahs, and Mehmons; the Banyans areBhattias and Johannas. The diligence and perseverance of the Indians in commercial affairs is extraordinary ; they live so simply and economic- ally that no European can compete with them. Although many of them receive goods directly from Europe, they are also the retail dealers for European houses. Their goods are chiefly derived from Germany, France, Britain, and 300 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. America ; the cotton goods and beads come chiefly from these countries, yet blue cotton stuffs from Surat and Guzerat are now and then met with. When an Indian has gathered a fortune he returns to his native country with it, and only in very rare instances settles in Africa, or in one or other of the islands ; a few who have thus settled are Bohrahs and Khojahs, of whom there are several families in Madagascar, who have lived there for four or five generations. The head of the family, however, goes once a year, with the south-west monsoon, to India, and returns with Ins laden dhow, with the north-east monsoon. Their children are sent to India to be educated, and if the family be from Cutch or Surat, the youths are almost always sent to Bombay. After all, the rich trading resources of Eastern Africa are far from being fully developed by the Indian merchants, and a wide and productive field lies open here to enterprise. The increase of traffic on the East African coast is shown most clearly by the fact that since January 1873, when the British Indian Steam Ship Company opened a direct monthly line of steam communication between Aden, Zanzibar, and Madagascar, the freights have steadily increased. 5. The Slave Trade. Since the Indians, who are sharp men of business, never let an opportunity pass where money is to be made, it is only natural that they should have taken kindly to the lucrative slave trade. This, for them a new branch of industry, which was introduced sixty or seventy years ago, had so enor- mously increased inrecent times, as to draw to it the attention of the British Government. The details of this traffic have only come to light within a period of a few years back. The trade is carried on in two-masted Arabic " Cutch-Buggalos," and the Indian firms in Africa have houses and regular ZANZIBAR COAST. ;301 agents in the interior of the continent. The trading house proper carries on the wholesale business, while the agents occupy themselves with the retail. Arabs and Somali from Egypt, Arabia, and Muscat, come with buggalos to the East African coast to buy slaves, and the Indian merchants are secretly in correspondence with these. The Arabic slave-buyer goes generally to the head man of an inland village, who may also be an Arab, or African, and through him does business with the Indian firm. These head men also carry on the traffic for their own account, bringing slaves from the interior to market on the coast. Thus it happens that the merchants of Bunnia and Bhattia are almost always in commercial relation with the Arabs ; but the Indian slave-dealer never goes himself into the in- terior ; remaining on the coast, he sends African or Arab agents with goods into the continent, to barter or sell these, and bring back slaves. These caravans, striking deeper and deeper into the continent every year, carry powder, guns, cloth, false pearls, and other similar goods. As soon as they have reached the interior they negotiate with the chiefs or others for the capture and conveyance of slaves, and these last always undertake to bring the slaves for a contracted price to the coast. Every individual who is head of a village of twenty huts is styled " Mukhi," or chief. These always contrive to have ready a number of slaves to supply the market ; while the agents on their part are always ready to buy a few slaves from a chief to show that there is a constant demand for them. The owners of these slaves are generally in the lowest scale of civilisation ; they have no idea of the value of money, and exchange the slaves for guns and trinkets, using the former to attack and terrify other villages, and to capture whole families from them. The slave traffic thus intro- duces a continual state of warfare in all parts of the interior to which its curse penetrates. Powder and guns 302 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. become the most desirable of all possessions, and for these slaves are readily handed over. A keg of about five pounds of gunpowder is considered about the value of one slave ; for a gun two may be had. The head men, or chiefs, accompany the slaves to the coast, and there, through the medium of the Indian traders, the human wares pass on to the Buggalo- Wallahs. Each slave at this stage has cost on an average from 24s. to 48s., and the Arabs pay from 72s. to 90s. It is not surprising that many Indian merchants have gathered fabulous wealth through this traffic in mankind. For the suppression of the slave trade in East Africa, England concluded a treaty in 1873 with the Sultan of Zanzibar — a point which was gained after much trouble, and which was considered a great diplomatic victory ; as yet, however, the chief result obtained has been that of giving the traffic a new direction. Here, as in the Egyptian Sudan, where Sir Samuel Baker and his successors have effectually closed the highway of the Nile to this traffic, the trade has been driven to land routes. Thousands of slaves are now sent northward from both regions ; and slowly it begins to be apparent that, so long as the demand for slaves all over the East does not cease, and the system is deeply rooted in all Mahommedan coun- tries, the slave traffic from Africa cannot be effectually put down. It is quite patent that domestic slavery in Egypt has in no way decreased during the past few years, and the demand for slaves in Arabia, Persia, and Madagascar re- mains as great as ever ; on the contrary, a new slave market on the Somali coast, near Cape Guardafui, was recently opened. The immense difficulties with which the efforts at the suppression of the slave trade have to deal, also become evident when it is remembered that in the in- terior of Africa there is no means whatever of restraining the Africans themselves from taking part in it. During ZANZIBAR COAST. 303 that period of the year at which it is almost impossible for European cruisers to approach the African coast as far as 2° or 3° N. latitude, the slave trade is openly carried on at Brava and the other ports north of the equator. Formerly it was supposed that Brava was a depot at which the slaves were landed at the close of one monsoon, to remain there till the other set in, and then to be taken to the Eed Sea and the Persian Gulf; now, however, it appears that the demand is in the Somali country itself, and that the trade has its real terminal point in Brava, Merka, and Mokdishu. Unfortunately, as in other branches of trade, so long as the demand continues the supply will not be wanting ; and in order that both of these may cease, it is evident that nothing short of the gradual advancement of Africa into the category of civilised countries is required. Yet it is not only the Negro, but all his neighbours in surrounding countries in the East, that must be civilised ; and this is a task which is not for years, but for centuries, to accomplish. 6. Natural Products — Bagamoyo, Konduchi ; the Lufiji and other navigable rivers. While the slave trade has almost entirely monopolised the energies of the traders on the Zanzibar coast, destroy- ing confidence and driving legitimate trade out of its way, its immense natural resources have lain for the most part undeveloped. The whole stretch of country, however, is capable of producing the most valuable commodities in unlimited quantity, including cloves, sugar, cocoa, coffee, nutmegs, cinnamon, Guinea pepper, sesame, indigo, cotton, and copal gum, and the ivory trade from the interior remains an important branch of traffic. Already the abo- lition of the export of slaves from this part of the coast is compelling the merchants to seek other investments, and 304 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. it is probable that the establishment of plantations such as those belonging to the Sultan of Zanzibar at Dar-es-Salaam will be extended. The navigation of the rivers of this region of the coast also remains to be developed : among these the \Vami river, which reaches the sea opposite Zanzibar island, which was examined by Mr. Hill, of Sir Bartle Frere's mission, in 1873, is probably navigable for light-draught steamers for a distance of 200 miles; the Kingani, its neighbouring river southward, reaching the sea close to Bagamoyo, is also available for navigation ; but the most important of all is the Lufiji, or Eufiji, the broad delta of which occupies the coast opposite the island of Mafia. This delta was first explored by Dr. Eoscher in 1859; Dr. Kirk and Captain Wharton ascended it for 2 miles in 1872 ; and Captain Elton crossed it at a higher point in 1874, and found it 260 yards wide, flowing in a deep channel between scarped banks of red alluvial soil. Mr. Stanley more recently ascended the river to the same point. Dr. Kirk is of opinion that the river might be ascended for a very long distance by steam launch, in July, before the water has fallen ; but sandbanks and shoals in the dry season, and a strong current, are formidable obstacles. Bagamoyo, on the mainland opposite Zanzibar, is the chief point of departure and arrival of the caravans which pass inland to Unyamuesi and the lake region by one or other of several parallel routes, and carries on a very brisk ivory trade. Konduchi, farther south on the coast, is the name given to a group of villages surrounded by cocoa-nut trees on the shores of a shallow bay. The inhabitants are described by Captain Elton as hard-working fishermen and cultivators. Cattle thrive and are exported to Zanzibar ; maize and millet grow well ; and as amicable relations are maintained with the Washenzi, the copal-diggers of the coast-land farther south, large quantities of this gum are brought hither for export. Immense numbers of slaves ZANZIBAR COAST. 305 pass northward through Konduchi from the south. At the town of Dar-es-Salaam, in 6° 49' S., built on the north side of the large creek of the same name, the Sultan of Zanzibar has extensive cocoa-nut, rice, and maize planta- tions, worked by about 300 slaves ; the oil-palm intro- duced here by Dr. Kirk, appears also to thrive. Beyond it the country stretches away inland to the base of the Marui hills in an undulating succession of woodlands and broad open glades, and, like the corresponding coast belt south of the Luflji, is inhabited by the Washenzi. This is the chief copal-yielding district of Zanzibar, and the trees are very abundant. In the villages Indian merchants monopolise the trade, which is principally in copal and grain, with a little ivory and wax. The gum is collected by parties of natives, consisting mainly of women and lads carrying baskets, led by a few men armed with guns or bows ; and it is taken both from the tree directly and from the ground beneath the branches ; while by digging with rude hoes and pointed sticks in little shafts three or four feet deep, the " fossil copal " is mined. The scene on the Lufiji river immediately above its delta, where Captain Elton crossed it, is described by him as thoroughly African : — " Broad flats bright with crops, and dotted over with villages shaded by clumps of baobab, tamarind, and fig trees, spread away to the north-west, to the lower hills beyond which the Matumbwi range forms a noble background. In the north and north-east the hills and high lands behind Kikunia bound the landscape, whilst through the centre of the wide alluvial plain winds the river, bending westward until lost in the distant mountains. A steep green island overgrown with brushwood rises in the nearest reach, and here and there a few sandbanks mostly overgrown with rank grass and weeds. To the eastward fields of maize stretch to the Hat wooded distance bordering on the delta." The x 306 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. natives of the Lufiji are intensely black, by. no means good- looking, and rather below the average stature. A skin or piece of blue cloth round the waist, and iron armlets, are worn by the men ; the women are mostly dressed in aprons of hide. Near every village bark hives are fixed on cross branches about six feet from the ground, bees being very numerous ; and the wax, which is taken down to the coast at Samanga, south of the delta, is of good quality. Kilwa Kivinja and Kilwa Kisiwani, a little north of the ninth parallel, are the most important points in the south of the Zanzibar possessions. The former is a town of scattered stone houses and thickly-peopled native huts facing the broad sand and mud flats of the beach. These places are notorious in the slave traffic of East Africa ; the whole country inland behind them as far as Lake Nyassa has been depopulated and desolated by the slave trade. Skele- tons lie all along the routes leading inland, and the beach is strewn with them. The transport of slaves by sea from these points, indeed, appears to be at an end ; but the stream has not been dried up, only diverted into other channels and more toilsome paths along the coast-land. Lindi and Mikindani bays, north of the mouth of the Eovuma, are also important points of departure for the interior ; from the former Bishop Steere started for his " Walk to the Nyassa country" in 1875. SLAVE-D HIVING. CHAPTEE XXI. THE EQUATORIAL LAKE REGIONS. 1. General Survey. It is not so very long ago since Africa was looked upon as a continent almost destitute of water ; nor was it without the greatest surprise that during the last two 308 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. decades the restless spirit of modern research gradually revealed a vast lake system, stretching from about the equator southwards to the river Zambesi, which, with the exception of the North America chain, is nowhere else equalled in extent and volume of water. The latest chart of these regions shows us the magnificent Victoria Nyanza as the queen of these great inland seas, with the smaller Albert Nyanza to the north- west, and the long and comparatively narrow Tanganyika nearly due south of it, besides a series of other lakes, great and small, amongst which the most striking are the Bangweolo to the south-west, and the Nyassa on the south-east. All these great bodies of fresh water with the inter- mediate lands we shall endeavour to describe, following in the footsteps of the most recent explorers. For the geographer no other country in the world can surpass in interest this immense lake region, whose bosom conceals the sources of Africa's two mightiest streams, the Nile and the Congo. Taking as our guides Captains Burton and Speke, the discoverers of the Tanganyika and the Victoria lake, Commander Cameron, who in 1875 was the first to cross on foot from the Suaheli coast to Benguela, and Henry Stanley, who in 1876 was the first to circumnavigate the Victoria Nyanza, we shall penetrate from Zanzibar inland, and examine in succession the problems in the geography of Central Africa, winch were so long unsolved, and which keep our curiosity still partly in suspense. 2. The Regions between the East Coast and the Tanganyika. Captain Eichard Burton, one of the boldest pioneers on the still virgin soil of Central Africa, divides into five regions the whole country from the East Coast to Lake Tanganyika, discovered by him in 1858. First comes EQUATORIAL LAKE REGIONS. 309 the coast-line reaching to the Usagara hills, a highland country bearing the same relation to East Africa that the Ghats do to Western India. The second comprises the Usagara hills themselves, bordering on which is the third, a level plateau between the western limits of Usagara and Tura, and embracing the Ugogo territory roughly esti- mated at 140 miles in breadth. Arid, dry, and barren, this tract extends to the leeward of the mountain ridge which arrests the humid south-east trade-winds. The fourth section contains the hilly table-land of Unyamuesi and Uvinza, also some 140 miles broad, and reaching to the eastern bank of the river Malagarazi, the upper course of which is still but little known. The fifth and last divi- sion is formed by the alluvial valley of the Malagarazi, stretching for about 100 miles to the shores of Lake Tanganyika. Nearly all the explorers of Central Africa, including Lieutenant (now Commander) Cameron himself, set out from Bagamoyo, a village situated on the mainland over against the island of Zanzibar, and a little to the south of the outlet of the Kingani, which is an unnavigable river. About thirty miles north of Bagamoyo, and close to the little port of Whinde, is the mouth of the river Wami, to which we have formerly referred, and which, according to Stanley, is navigable for light steamers as far as Mbumi. From Sadani, another small port to the north of the Wami, Mr. Price, of the London Missionary Society, suc- ceeded in opening a new and most important route to the interior in 1876, proving at the same time the practica- bility of taking bullock-waggons from the coast as far as the country of Ugogo, through a line of country which is free from the plague of the tsetze-fly ; and thus preparing the way for the substitution of cattle-power for that of human beings, who have hitherto been the only means of communication and carriage in Equatorial Africa. 310 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. 3. The Various Routes inland from Bagamoyo. Several routes lead inland from Bagamoyo. In 1857-8 Burton and Speke, and in 1860 Speke and Grant proceeded by Kidunda and Zungomero along the Kingani to the high- lands of Usagara and Ugogo, where they met the tzetze fly, whose sting is fatal to cattle. But Stanley in his search for Livingstone in 1871 crossed the Kingani in quite a new direction, and one of his discoveries is the route from this river through Bosako and across the middle course of the Wami to the Usagara hills. Cameron's expedition, also intended to bring aid to Livingstone, took the road between that of Stanley and the Kingani through an open park-like country varied with jungle and woodlands. But as no villages lay in their path, it was soon found necessary to cast about for provisions. After leaving Msuwah the land began to rise ; between the Makata river and the Usagara hills it was level, and, with the exception of one or two swamps, perfectly practicable. Cameron thus describes the country on his route : — 4. Cameron's Route to Ugogo. The track led now over the Usagara mountains, up hill and down dale, over slippery faces of quartz and granite. In spite of their rocky character, however, these heights are wooded to the tops, and chiefly with acacias. In the hollows water gathers, and in the vales the mparamasi raises its majestic head. " The mparamasi is one of the noblest specimens of arboreal beauty in the world, having a towering shaft sometimes 15 feet in diameter and 140 feet high, with bark of a tender yellowish green, crowned by a spreading head of dark foliage." After the first ridge had been crossed he reached a pass through which the Mukondokwa rushes, and EQUATORIAL LAKE REGIONS. 311 HIPPOPOTAMUS-HUNTING. here the camp had to be placed on such a steep declivity that it seemed like the side of a roof. Next day the stream was forded at a point where it was fifty yards wide and thigh-deep to reach the former village of Kadetamare, and thence the way was through luxuriant fields of mtama and caffircom, the stalks of which were 15 to 18 feet in height. Farther on the traveller passed along the right bank of the Mukondokwa by a steep and dangerous rocky path, the least slip in which would have been followed by a plunge into the foaming river. The hills consist chiefly of granite, yet here and there masses of red sandstone are seen, forming a fine contrast to the dark green of the trees, to the creepers and dull colouring of the weathered 312 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. granite. Twice more the river had to be crossed before the lake of Ugombo was reached, in which hippopotami and waterfowl find a congenial home. In the two long- marches through Mpwapwa the country is waterless, parched, and dusty, with outcrops of granite and quartz all bleached and weathered by the scorching sun. The vegetation here is sparse and dry, consisting of a few baobab trees and kolqualle and some thin wiry grass, much of which had been burned down by the sparks from the pipes of passing caravans. On the second day the sandy bed of the Mpwapwa was reached, and proceeding up this watercourse, bounded on both sides by very large trees, the travellers found water becoming more and more plentiful, and pitched the tents under an enormous acacia, one half of which afforded ample shelter. Mpwapwa, lying on the eastern slope of the hill range which prolongs that of the Eubeho mountains northward and limits Usagora on the west, rising above 3000 feet, is a land of plenty, but provisions were very dear since the Wadirigo, a plundering mountain tribe, had placed the neighbouring villages under heavy contribution. The Wadirigo, whose characteristics recall those of their northern neighbours the Wamasai, in contrast to the Wampwapwa, are a tall, manly race, despising all clothing, except, perhaps, a string of beads round the neck or wrist. They carry enormous shields of hide five feet high by three wide, with a heavy spear for close quarters, and a bundle of six or eight slender assegais, winch they can throw upwards of fifty yards with force and precision. They go about like superior beings among the villagers, openly telling them that their crops and herds will be plundered whenever they think fit. At Mpwapwa the first temhe was seen. This is a habitation forming a square of double walls round a pen in which the cattle are secured at night, and it is the usual form of house EQUATORIAL LAKE REGIONS. 313 throughout Ugogo. Mpwapwa is a favourite halting-place, since it lies midway between the lake of Ugombo and the desert of Marenga Mkali, another waterless tract of thirty miles in width, which lies on the other side of the mountains. The Marenga Mkali is a high sandy plain, separating the Usagara mountain edge from the eastern border of the country of Ugogo, over which are scattered a number of little granite hills, many of them conical in form ; but the country is intersected by many beds of periodical streams, and Cameron was of opinion that water might be got by digging. The Wagogo are reputed NATIVE OF UGOGO. thieves and extortioners, and since the caravans in passing- through their country are dependent entirely upon them for food and water, they bully and fleece those who are at their mercy ; before a strong party, however, they show 314 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. themselves the Veriest cowards. The tribute they levy is not altogether unjust, for without their services in keeping the watering-places in repair it would be impossible to traverse this region in the dry season — the best time for travelling. Ugogo extends over about 100 miles square, and is divided into numerous independent chieftainships, in each of which tribute has to be paid in passing. The Wagogo are easily distinguished from other tribes by their custom of piercing the ears and enlarging the lobes to such an extent that they frequently descend to the shoulders. They wear in them pieces of wood, earrings of brass wire, gourd snuff-boxes, and a variety of other articles. Their hair or wool is twisted into the most fantastic strings, artificially lengthened by working in fibres of the baobab, and to the ends of these strings, which often project wildly in all directions, little brass balls or different- coloured beads are attached. Their arms are double-edged knives, spears, bows, arrows, and knobsticks. Their country is only very partially cultivated, and in some places is so sterile as to produce nothing but stunted acacias and thorns. 5. Stanley's Route to the Victoria Nyanza. But we must for the moment leave Cameron in Ugogo, in order to accompany Stanley to the northern lakes. Towards the end of 1874 tins enterprising travel- ler had reached the western limits of Ugogo at Mukondoku. Proceeding thence along the western frontier of the country of the fierce Wahumba, through an almost per- fectly level country, which would seem to stretch all the way to the Victoria Nyanza, two days' journey northwards brought him to the borders of Usandawi, a land famous for its elephants. Here he turned to the north-west, until he reached the north-eastern corner of Ukimbu or Uyanzi ; and after a harassing march through EQUATORIAL LAKE REGIONS. 315 euphorbias and thorny acacias, a wide plain brought the expedition to the district of Suna in Urimi. Here dwell a people remarkable for their physical beauty and noble proportions, and utter nakedness. But with all their fine appearance they were the most suspicious tribe Stanley had yet come across. They acknowledged no chief, but respected the commands of their elders. Chiwu, the next station, lies at the foot of the water- parting, whence the streams begin to flow towards the Nile ; and at the village of Yinyata, the river which gathers all the rivulets between these two places, was reached. Tins river is called Leewumbu, and flows from this valley westwards ; even in the dry season it is some twenty feet in width and about two feet in depth ; but in the rainy months it becomes a formidable stream. In the country of Ituru, in the valley of the Leewumbu north of Urimi, the expedition w T as suddenly attacked by about 100 natives in full war costume. " Feathers of the bustard, the eagle, and the kite waved above some of their heads ; the mane of the zebra and giraffe encircled their swarthy brows ; in their left hands they held bows and arrows, while in their right they bore spears." Three clays of fighting ensued, and brought down a more than ample revenge on the Waturu, whose villages for eight miles round were set fire to and burned ; yet with considerable loss, for in a review of the expedition at Mgongo Tembo, in the country of Iramba, a day's march farther north-west, it was found that the 300 men who had started with Stanley from the coast were reduced by disease, desertion, and war to 194. With various fortune the expedition now traversed the whole length of the country of Usu- kuma near its western frontier, and in February 1875 reached the southern shore of the Victoria Nyanza, at a point named Kagehyi, after 720 miles of marching through perfectly unknown country. 316 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. The country "between Ugogo and the great lake on this line appears to rise into a vast plateau of an altitude of from 4000 to 4500 feet above the sea, the southern edge of it being reached a short distance north of Mukondoku, in Ugogo, which is at an elevation of about 2800 feet. Thence to the west and north-west the way lies apparently up the slope of an inclined plane leading to a broad wooded table-land, rising from a height of 3800 feet on its eastern side to 4500 on its western. The table-land comprises the whole of Uyanzi, Unyanyembe, Usukuma, Urimi, and Iramba — in a word, the whole of Central Africa between the upper valley of the Kufiji on the south and the Victoria Nyanza on the north. The average height of this great plateau cannot be estimated at more than 4500 feet, the aneroids at no point between Mzanza, in Ugogo, and the Nyanza (300 miles) showing a greater elevation than 5100 feet above the sea-level. From its eastern limits to Urimi the plateau is overgrown with acacia thickets so dense as to stifle all other vegetable growth. Nothing else is seen but an occasional gigantic euphorbia in some rocky cleft as solitary lord of this sterile domain. Following up the footsteps of recent explorers, the Church and London Missionary Societies are now engaged in founding mission stations in this region of East Africa, and their pioneer parties have been farther examining the routes and rivers winch lead into the interior. Mr. Price, as we have previously noted, has made a great advance in taking bullock-waggons from the coast inland to Ugogo, by a route which is free from the tsetze fly, thereby doing away with the necessity for native porters ; and a Church Mission party, aiming at founding a station in Karagwe, have marched over the Stanley's route through Mpwapwa north-westward to Kagehyi, on the Victoria lake, without meeting any hostility from the natives. The six months KALULU,' Stanley's faithful Young Companion. To face page 316. At Unyanyembe, in September 1871, an Arab presented Mr. Stanley with a little slave boy, named Ndugu M'hali = "my brother's wealth;" but he was re-named Ka-lu-lu, which is Kisuaheli for the young of the blue-buck. He came to England with Mr. Stanley, and was at school there for more than a year. He was lost in one of the furious cataracts of the Lower Congo, in Mr. Stanley's latest expedition. EQUATORIAL LAKE REGIONS. 317 from July 1876 to January 1877 were occupied in their march to the Victoria from Bagamoyo. 6. The Leewumhit or Shimeeyu. In the heart of Urimi the Nile receives its first tribute from Equatorial Africa. If we draw a line on the map in the latitude of Ujiji, on the Tanganyika, eastwards to 35° east longitude, we shall strike the source of the Leewumbu, the most southern affluent of the Victoria Nyanza. In Iramba, between Mgongo Tembo and Mombiti, Stanley came upon the Luwamberri plain, which may at some re- mote period have been an arm of the Victoria, as its level is somewhat below that of the lake. In Usukuma the Leewumbu takes the name of Monangah, and after a farther course of 100 miles it again changes to Shimeeyu, under which name it flows into the Victoria Nyanza to the east of the port and station of Kagehyi. It may have alto- gether an approximate length of some 350 miles. After penetrating the forest to the west of the Luw- amberri we enter Usukuma, a land thickly peopled and rich in herds of cattle. It consists of a series of rolling plains, out of which here and there rises a ridge of serrated hills ; but the descent to the lake is very gradual. 7. The Equatoi*ial Lake System — Uganda and TJnyovo. According to Stanley's observations the Victoria Nyanza lies at an elevation of 3800 feet above the sea- level. It was discovered on July 30, 1858, by the late Captain John Hanning Speke, and by him declared to be the main reservoir of the Nile. On the occasion of a second journey with Captain (now Colonel) James Augustus Grant in 1860-1863, Speke, who saw the lake at various points, endeavoured to show its vast extent and its connection with the Nile, but only partly sue- 318 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. ceeded in doing so, and his view of the unity of the great Victoria lake was for a long time questioned. It was reserved for Stanley fully to confirm Speke's conjecture THE VICTORIA NYAXZA. by completely circumnavigating the lake in eighty days in the spring of 1875. He thus demonstrated the unity of this vast inland sea, which is greater in superficial area than Bavaria or Scotland. VICTORIA NYANZA. 319 We shall now follow rapidly Mr. Stanley's adventurous voyage in Ins boat the " Lady Alice " round the coast of the great Nyanza, the largest of African lakes, noting the chief points in his cruise. Sailing from Kagehyi, where he launched out after the long overland inarch, and turning eastward into the gulf of the lake, which he named after Captain Speke, the mouth of the Shimeeyu, the largest tributary of the lake from the south, and in all probability the longest source stream of the Nile, is reached. Here it rushes into the lake by a mouth winch is a mile in width, but which contracts at some distance upward to 400 yards. At the head of the gulf, the south-eastern corner of the Nyanza, we come to Ututwa, a country inhabited by a tall and slender people carrying formidably long knives and por- tentous spears. The rugged and hilly country forming the southern side of the gulf sinks clown at the eastern extremity to a flat marshy land where the Euana, a powerful stream, discharges itself into the lake by two mouths. Turning westward along the northern margin of Speke Gulf, the Eugeshi strait is discovered, separating the insular from the continental portion of Ukerewe. The island of Ukerewe is nearly forty miles in length, and has high bold shores ; north of it lies the island of Ukara, eighteen miles long, which gives its name to that part of the lake which is enclosed between it and Uker- ewe, probably the lake or sea of Ukara winch Mr. Wake- field heard of from native traders coming to this country from Mombas on the east coast. Making for the eastern shore of the Nyanza again, the high table mountain of Majita is seen. It rises, according to Mr. Stanley's estimate, to about 3000 feet above the lake level, while on each side of it are low brown plains, but a few feet apparently above the water. From Majita northward we sail along the coast of Ururi, indented with bays and 320 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. creeks extending far inland through a level plain. Ururi is remarkable for its wealth of cattle and fine pastoral lands. Crossing the bay of Kavirondo (a name with which we are also familiar from native information gleaned on the east coast), the mountainous country of Ugeyeya comes into view, its bold, irregular, and cliffy shores forming a strong contrast to those of Ururi. About fifteen days' march eastward of this the people report a wonderful district called Sasa in the Masai country, a region in which low hills spout smoke and sometimes fire. Here again is a corroboration of the truth of the native information received on the east coast by Mr. Wakefield, who was informed of the smoking hills of the Njemsi country west of Mount Kenia. The Wageyeya are a timid and suspicious race, much vexed by their neighbours the Waruri on the south, and the Wamasai on the east. North of Ugeyeya, in the north-east corner of the Nyanza, begins the country of Nduru or Baringo, with deep bays indenting its lake coast, along which numbers of islands are scattered. This country probably gives its name to the north-eastern corner of the Victoria, as Ukara does to the southern, accounting thus for the lake Baringo, which Captain Speke believed to be united to the Nyanza by a strait, and which, following the reports received by Mr. Wakefield on the east coast, has been supposed to be a separate and independent lake. This part of the Victoria Nyanza lies immediately on the equator. Near this, Mr. Stanley says, "we anchored close to a village and began to court the attention of some wild- looking fishermen, but the rude barbarians merely stared at us from under pent-houses of hair, and hastily stole away to tell their wives and relatives of how suddenly an apparition in the shape of a boat with white wings had come before them bearing strange men with red caps. . . . VICTORIA NYANZA. 621 This will become a pleasant tradition, one added to the many marvels now told in Ugeyeya." Unyara, a land of hills and ridges, through which the Yagama river flows to the lake, follows Baringo, and after that on the shores of Ugana the northern coast of the Nyanza turns westward. Beyond the large island of Usuguru the country of Usoga begins and stretches westward to where the Nile flows out over the Bipon Falls. As the falls are approached through the Napoleon channel, named by Captain Speke, the sound of the rushing waters is heard loud and clear. Here the limit of the great kingdom of Uganda is reached, the country of the powerful King Mtesa, which stretches all round the north-western margin of the Xyanza. Murchison Creek or bay, discovered by Captain Speke, is the largest inlet of the northern shore of the Nyanza ; it leads up nearly to Mtesa's capital, and is his naval station on the lake. Here Mr. Stanley saw a grand naval review of eighty-four canoes, each manned and propelled at great speed by from thirty to forty men. The canoes are described by Colonel Long as made of thick bark sewed together with rope made of banana-tree ; they vary from thirty to forty feet in length, having at the prow the antlers of the " tetel," or deer. After a stay at Mtesa's residence Mr. Stanley again set out to complete the examination of the western shores of the lake, and was accompanied by ten large canoes lent by the king. The general position of this side of the Nyanza was already known through Speke and Grant's discoveries in their march along it, but Mr. Stanley's voyage determined a number of new features. The most notable point in the north-western portion of the lake is the great island of Sasse, as large if not larger than that of Ukerewe in the south-east. The Katonga river joins the lake immediately north of this island, and midway on the western coast the Kagera or Kitangule river, one of Y 622 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. the most important affluents of the lake, comes down from the western mountains, forming the dividing line between Uganda and Karague. Among the numerous islands which skirt the south-western shores, that of Bam- bireh is the largest, and the scene of a well-remembered adventure. As Mr. Stanley approached it, the green slopes, garnished with groves of plantations and dotted with herds of fat cattle, promised good things for famish- ing, men. But the boat had no sooner touched the shore than the hostile natives, armed with spears and bows, rushed down upon it in large numbers, and the voyagers only escaped destruction by a desperate effort. A few days later the " Lady Alice " was again in the waters of Speke Gulf, at the point whence the circumnavigation was begun fifty-seven days previously. After the discovery, in July 1862, of the Bipon Falls, where the river overflows from the Nyanza by a descent of twelve feet between protruding rocks of gneiss, Captain Speke followed the " Somerset," as he then named it, downward in its northerly course for thirty-five miles to Urondogani, but there was obliged to leave it and turn north-westward to the country of Unyoro ; he did not again see the river till Mrooli, the capital of Unyoro, had been passed, so that an extent of about sixty miles remained unexplored. It was not till 1874, when Colonel Long made a perilous canoe voyage down the river from Urondogani to Mrooli, that the gap which had been left in the river course was filled up, and all possible doubt as to its being the true head stream of the Nile cleared away. This portion of the river flows through the territory of Keb-a-Bega, the ruler of southern Unyoro, between whom and King Mtesa a perpetual feud exists, all but closing the route to the Nyanza to travellers from the north. After two or three days' paddling down stream, between banks covered with a thick impenetrable growth UGANDA. 323 of papyrus, a high mountain called Jebel M'Tingi was discovered on the right, and not long after the canoe entered a sheet of water in which the river lost itself. " I looked in vain," says Colonel Long, " for the opposite shore. Stretching away to the eastward a scarcely visible line seemed to indicate land, certainly twenty miles away. Was this the basin from which, as Mtesa told me, ' the river went eastward ' ? " 1 As he advanced into the lake, since named Lake Ibrahim, what seemed to be land was descried in the westward, but it proved on approach to be an immense sea of lilies whose heads floated like great hats on the water, and which grew up from great depths. A great papyrus jungle, growing upon a floating "sod" of matted vegetation, surrounds the lake, which extends N.W. and S.E. over a distance of about thirty miles. Detached islets of floating vegetation move out with the current of the river from the north-western corner of the lake, whence the stream flows on north-westward past Mrooli, then north to the Karuma fall, discovered by Speke and Grant, then due west over the fine Murchison Falls (120 feet high), seen by Sir Samuel Baker in 1864, to the Luta Nzige or Albert Lake, up to winch we have previously traced the course of the Nile from Egypt. North and west of the Victoria Nyanza, as we have noticed, lies the land of Uganda, where Kino- Mtesa holds court not far from the lake. Between Uganda and the northern portion of the Albert Lake is the country of Un- yoro. On both of these states fresh light has been thrown by the Egyptian expedition under Colonel Long in 1874, and by Colonel Gordon's more recent explorations. Ugan- da is rolling and picturesque ; groves of banana trees that abound everywhere, adorn the verdant landscape ; the soil is rich in iron, rock crystals, and granite ; but the climate is unhealthy and weakening for Europeans. The 1 Central Africa. Colonel C. Chaille Long ; 1876. 324 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. valleys are interspersed with swamps and morasses fre- quented by herds of elephants and buffaloes. Jungle fever also prevails, and the natives themselves are not always proof against its deadly attacks. The products of the land are — coffee, which grows wild and is chewed instead of boiled by the natives ; tobacco of excellent quality, and largely cultivated ; sugar-cane, maize, potatoes, yams, beans, and bananas in vast quantities. 8. King Mtesa and his People. Mtesa is an absolute sovereign. For the last six years he has adopted Mohammedanism, introduced into the country by some Zanzibar traders ; but how far his practice KING MTESA S DAUGHTER. may correspond with his profession has not been ascer- tained. By one conversation with him, Mr. Stanley be- lieved that he had converted King Mtesa to Christianity. Some of his people go about with little wooden tablets inscribed with passages from the Koran in Arabic char- acters, and the fortunate possessors of these talismans are regarded with a sort of veneration by their neighbours. UGANDA. 325 In honour of Long's first visit to the court, thirty of King Mtesa's subjects were beheaded, and from eight to ten on each successive visit. Simi- lar atrocious practices pre- vail in the adjoining state of Unyoro. King Mtesa's capital of Ulagalla, close to the Mur- chison gulf of the Nyanza, centres in the royal quarters, a large collection of build- ings crowning an eminence, round which five several palisades and circular courts are built, and separated by a broad road from the town, through which six or seven imposing avenues lined with gardens and huts radiate outward. The population of Ugan- da proper, not including the adjacent tributary tribes, is estimated by Long at about 500,000; Mr. Stanley esti- mates the number of Mtesa's subjects at 2,000,000. The people are mild and child- like, superstitious and timid, and not at all martial. The industries of the country consist in skilful tanning of skins, the cultivation of the soil by the women, the weav- ing of bark cloth, and working in iron. The chase of the elephant occupies many of the men, the ivory being sent UGANDA BOY. 326 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. out of Uganda both by way of the Nile and to the Zanzibar coast ; but if work is to be avoided the Waganda do very- little, or nothing at all ; their pipe and merissa beer form their earthly elysium. 9. Stanley s Discoveries between the Victoria and Albert Nyanza. Due west from Mtesa's capital a water-parting 5500 feet high rises in the great Mount Kabuga, between the Vic- toria and the Albert Lakes. Eastwards from this ridge the river Katonga flows into the Victoria, and westwards of it the Eusango into the Albert Nyanza. This lake is bor- dered on its eastern shore by table-lands 1000 feet high. A deep inlet (the Beatrice Gulf) is formed between a spur of the Usongora range, in which Mount Gambaragara is estimated by Mr. Stanley to reach 13,000 feet, projecting in a south-westerly direction into the lake, and the south- eastern coast, where are the lands of Irangara, Unyampaka, Buhuja, and Upororo. Here the coast-line runs nearly in a south-westerly direction. Between Upororo and the promontory of Usongora lie the islands of the maritime state of Utiunbi. West of Usongora, and on the western shore of the Albert Nyanza, is the land of Ukonju, supposed to be inhabited by canni- bals. North of Ukonju is the great Ulegga country — Baker's Malegga and Livingstone's Balegga. On the southern shore of the lake we find the country of Buanda stretching southward between Upororo to Ukonju, and therefore comprising the whole south and south-east coast of the Albert. Unyoro embraces the whole eastern side of the lake from the Murchison Falls of the Victoria Nile to L^pororo ; Unyampaka, Toro, Buhuja, and Irangara being merely districts of Unyoro. The great promontory of Usongora ALBEKT NYANZA. 327 has a vast salt field whence all the surrounding lands pro- cure this article. It is said also to contain a burning moun- tain, a salt lake of considerable extent, several rock-salt hills, and a great plain thickly covered with salt and alkali. The natives are remarkable for their long legs, are very- brave, and possess a very savage breed of dogs. They live quite apart, never intermarrying with strangers ; their sole nourishment is milk, and they accordingly possess vast herds of cattle. For these details we are also indebted to Stanley, who, on January 1, 1876, marched from Uganda in a westerly direction to the Albert Nyanza. 10. Gessi' s Circumnavigation of the Albert Nyanza. This second reservoir of the Nile was discovered by Sir Samuel Baker on March 14, 1864, after Speke had reported its existence in 1862, and it lies at an elevation of about 2500 feet above the sea-level. Its extent was approximately determined by the Italian Eomolo Gessi, of Colonel Gordon's Egyptian expedition, who in March 1876 almost completed its circumnavigation. He found it to be about 40 miles wide and 150 miles in length, in the direc- tion from N.E. to S.W., from the outlet of the Nile to where he came upon an impenetrable growth of ambatch forest growing out of shallow water and filling the whole southern end of the lake. " From the mast of the boat," says M. Gessi, " I observed that the forest of ambatch extended very far, and that beyond it there succeeded a field or valley of herbs and vegetation which reaches to the foot of the mountains." A difficulty must remain till the lake is more completely examined in reconciling Mr. Stanley's account of Beatrice Gulf, the great mountains of Usongora, and the inhabited islands of Uthumbi, with M. Gessi's account ; for he does not describe any one feature which resembles these in the course of his voyage. It 328 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. would appear, indeed, either that the Albert Lake has a much greater extent southward beyond the ambatch shal- lows than M. Gessi supposed, or that Mr. Stanley going west from Uganda had struck upon an altogether new lake. 11. The Kagera River and Karague. The southern frontier of Uganda is formed by the Kagera river flowing from the west into the Victoria Nyanza. Captain Speke, who discovered this tributary in 1862, after inarching from the south through the country of Karague, called it the Kitangule — a name which applies, however, only to a place on its banks. After his excursion to the Albert Lake, Mr. Stanley turned southward, and during the early part of 1876 made an examination of a large portion of this most copious of all the affluents of the Nyanza. From his account we learn that the Kagera, or ''Alexandra Nile," has its sources probably far in the west, in the mountainous country between the Albert and Tan- ganyika Lakes. At a distance of about 230 miles upward from its mouth it enters the Akanyaru Lake, a sheet of water of 30 miles in length by 20 miles in width. Turn- ing northward it flows for full 60 miles along the eastern frontier of Karague in a series of marshy lagoons, vary- ing from 5 to 14 miles in width, covered with floating fields of papyri, large masses or islands of which drift to and fro. At the northern end of this lagoon the river contracts, becomes tumultuous and noisy, and dashes into foam and spray against the opposing rocks, till it finally rolls over a wall of rock 10 or 12 feet deep with tremen- dous uproar ; on which account the natives call it Morongo, or the " Noisy Falls." From this point the Kagera winds eastward to the Victoria with a width of 50 yards and a depth of as many feet. Westward of the Kagera and of Karague the most KARAGUE. 329 important country, known as yet only by hearsay, is that of Buanda, a land of lofty mountain ridges and broad valleys inhabited by a people who are hostile and exclu- sive to all strangers, and even to their neighbours of Karague. Here the great sugar-loaf-like cones of Ufum- biro mountain are seen from a great distance. Captain Speke estimated the height of their summits at 10,000 feet, Mr. Stanley at not less than 12,000 feet. Karague is the country of the gentle and friendly King Kumanika, who received Speke and Grant so hospitably, and gave every possible assistance to Stanley in his ex- plorations. Among the wonders of Kumanika's country are the hot springs of Mlagata,~ which are renowned throughout all the neighbouring countries for their healing properties. " Two days' severe marching," says Mr. Stanley, " towards the north from the king's residence brought us to a deep wooded gorge, wherein they are situated. I dis- covered a most astonishing variety of plants, herbs, trees, and bushes, for here nature was in her most prolific mood. She shot forth her products with such vigour that each plant seemed to strangle the other for lack of room. They so clambered one over another that small hills of vegeta- tion were formed, and through the heaps tall trees shot upward an arrow's flight into the air, with globes of radiant green foliage like crowns surmounting their steins. The springs were visited at this time by numbers of diseased persons, who were seen lying about in the hot pools half asleep. The hottest waters issued in streams from the base of a rocky hill, and when Fahrenheit's thermometer was placed in these the mercury rose to 129°. Four bubbled upward from the ground through a depth of dark muddy sediment, and had a temperature of 110°." 12. Ugogo to Unyanycmud. Eetracing our steps to the arid highlands of Ugogo, we 330 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. resume our description of Cameron's famous expedition from this point to the shores of Lake Tanganyika, and thence to the western seaboard. The route from Ugogo westward as far as Unyan- yembe has been traversed by all the African explorers who have penetrated to the lake region from the east coast. Burton and Speke first marched along it in 1858 ; Speke and Grant followed nearly the same line in 1861; Stanley went inland by this route in his search for Livingstone in 1871 ; and Cameron in 1873 also made for Unyanyembe. The chief points in Cameron's journey over this portion of the caravan route to the Tanganyika may be noted as giving the most recent account of it. After leaving the Marenga Mkali desert the aspect of Ugogo is that of a brown, dried-up country, with occa- sional huge masses of granite and stiff euphorbise clinging to their sides. There are no vivid greens to be seen, the only trees being the gigantic and grotesque baobab, and a few patches of thorny scrub. The formation is of sand- stone, in some cases overlaid with clay, and water is only to be obtained from pits made by the natives to store the surplus rainfall. In the rainy season, however, all is dif- ferent, and the whole country becomes green and verdant. A peculiar feature of Ugogo is that of the small ziwas, or ponds, surrounded by verdure, affording, like the oases of the Sahara, the watering places for the herds and cattle. A march through a broken country, covered with jungle, led to the district of Kanyenye, or Great Ugogo, a flat plain lying between two parallel ranges running north and south. Particles of natron glisten in the water- courses and dried-up pools of this district, and these the natives collect and make into cones like sugar-loaves for sale among their neighbours. From the summit of the range of hills on the west of Kanyenye another level plain of forest and grass land meets the eye, and through UNYAMUESI. 331 a chain of rocky hills, formed of the most fantastic masses and boulders of granite, the track leads on to Usekhe. A strip of jungle separates Usekhe from Khoko, a place remarkable for a species of sycamore or fig, which grows to an enormous size. Though inhabited by Wagogo, this may be considered as the border of a new territorial division. When Captain Burton went from Khoko to the next petty sultanate of Mdaburu, a long tract of jungle had to be passed. This has now all but disappeared, and the ground has almost entirely been brought under cultiva- tion. Mdaburu is another fertile district, extending as far as the eye can reach, with a large population, owning great herds of cattle. Between Mdaburu and Unyan- yembe lies the tract of country which is known as the Mgunda Mkali, the " fiery field," which the earlier tra- vellers found to be an unbroken mass of forests, with few watering-places, and without any supplies. Now all is changed. Much of the forest has been cleared away by the Wakimbu, a branch of the Wanyamuesi, driven from their former homes by war ; and though long weary marches have still to be endured, water-holes have been dug, and provisions can be obtained at the settlements. A village of the Wakimbu, named Pururu, situated in a picturesque valley, is described by Cameron as clean and tidy. The huts are flat-roofed, and built in the form of long parallelograms, the whole being surrounded by a heavy stockade, with only two entrances. Over each of these is a sort of crow's nest, where the defenders of the gate take up their position, and are furnished with a supply of large stones to be used on the attacking party coming to close quarters. Several tortuous water- courses cross the Wakimbu country, but as this is the region of the water-parting between the Nile tributaries flowing north to the Victoria, the tributaries of the Tanganyika running west, and those of the liwaha, or 332 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. Lufiji, in the south and east, it is difficult to say to which Bystem they belong. At four marches from Unyanyembe^ on the border of the wilderness, lies Urguru, the most cultivated spot of all this region, at which, for the first time since leaving the coast mountains, rice is seen growing in the damp hol- lows. When within a day's march of Taborah, or Kazeh, in Unyanyembe, the chief station of the Arab traders in East Africa, messengers were sent on to inform the Arab governor of the arrival of the expedition, etiquette requiring the formal announcement. Unyanyembe, the " country of the hoes," or " cultivated country," the most important district of the country of Unyamuesi, is inter- sected in the south by numerous rocky hills, but to the north is more level, and is dotted over with innumerable villages surrounded by impenetrable hedges of the milk- bush. The Arabs of Taborah live in great comfort, having large and well-built houses, with gardens and fields in which they cultivate wheat, onions, cucumbers, and fruits introduced from the coast. They maintain constant communication with Zanzibar, and thus obtain supplies of coffee, tea, sugar, soap, curry powder, and various luxuries. A thousand Baloochees, in the pay of the Sultan of Zanzibar, were quartered here during Cameron's visit, and during his stay the force was strengthened by the arrival of two thousand coast people. " The distinguishing tribal marks of the native \Van- yamuesi are a tattooed line down the centre of the fore- head and on each temple ; the two upper front teeth are chipped so as to show a chevron-shaped gap, and a small triangular piece of hippopotamus ivory or of shell, ground down white and polished, is hung round the neck. Their ornaments consist principally of beads, and brass and iron wire. Chiefs and headmen wear enormous cylindrical bracelets of ivory extending from wrist to elbow, winch UXYAMUESI. 3 3 3 are used also as signals in warfare. The noise occa- sioned by striking them together is heard at a long dis- tance, and is used by the chiefs as a call for their men to rally round them. The men usually shave the crown of the head, and wear their hair twisted into innumerable small strings. . . . The women follow no particular fashion in dressing their hair. Sometimes they allow it to remain in its native frizziness, often using it to stick a knife, pipe, or other small article into. Others have their hair dressed in innumerable small plaits, lying close to the head, and having something of the appearance of the ridges of a field, and occasionally they make it into large cushion-like masses padded out with bark fibres." 1 Their huts are usually built of stout posts planted in the ground, and the interstices filled with clay. The roof is flat, with a slight slope to the front, and the rafters are covered either with sheets of bark, or with bushes and grass, over which is spread a thick coating of earth. In the interior there are generally two, and sometimes three, divisions, the first containing the small bed-places, covered with hides, and the universal African fireplace of three cones of clay, with earthen pots beside it. The second space is given over to the lambs and kicls, and the inner- most is the granary, in which corn is carefully stowed in large bark bandboxes closed with clay. Light is only admitted through the door. Walls and rafters are black and shiny, and the cobwebs with which they are fes- tooned are loaded with soot. Among the rafters bows, spears, knobsticks, and arrows, are stored to be seasoned by the smoke. 13. UnyanyemM to Tanganyika. For many years Unyanyembe, and the country west- ward of it on the line of the direct route to the Tangan- 1 Cameron's Across Africa ; 1877. 334 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGHAPHY AND TRAVEL. vika, lias been harassed and kept in a disturbed state by a restless chieftain named Mirambo, whose followers are the terrors of the whole region. Mirambo was originally the headman of a small district of Unyamuesi, through which the direct trade route to TJjiji on the Tanganyika passed. Having been defrauded of a large quantity of ivory by a trader, and having been refused redress by the Arabs at Unyanyembe\ he took the law into his own hands, closed the caravan route, and invaded the Arab settlements, carrying on a desultory but determined war- fare, and destroying the villages wherever the natives refused to join his bands. On this account Mr. Stanley, in going to the Tanganyika in 1871, and in returning with Dr. Livingstone to liny any erube in 1872, as well as Cameron, were compelled to make a long detour south- ward round the disturbed country, instead of keeping to the direct route winch Burton first followed in 1857. From Unyanyembe westward the whole country lies in the basin of the Malagarasi river, the largest known affluent of the Tanganyika lake, which drains all the country of Unyamuesi, and a large extent of country lying towards the Victoria Nyanza. Cameron made his way south-westward through the cultivated country of Uganda, the " country of farms," beyond which lies a broad plain, bounded on the west by the southern Xgombe, one of the feeders of the Mala- garasi. Open and park-like country here forms the feed- ing ground of innumerable herds of game ; and the rhino- ceros, lion, and buffalo are abundant. In the dry season the southern N'gombe' consists of long pools of open water, separated by sand-bars, like the Australian rivers, but during the rainy season these unite into a noble river. Ugara, lying beyond the southern Ngombe, is a flat plain covered with forest and jungle, except in places where the natives have made a clearance, and formed a settlement. From LAKE TANGANYIKA. 335 the summit of some hills an unbroken horizon of tree-tops was seen in almost every direction. Still farther westward the country begins to ascend in wave-like hills, sloping gradually on their eastern slopes, but falling precipitously on the west ; and beyond Ugara the granite mountains of Kawendi rise in some points to 7000 feet above the sea- level, with cliff-like sides and jutting peaks. The south- ern part of Uvinza is very similar to Kawendi, but to- wards the north it descends to the wide green plain of the Malagarasi, away to the north of which the blue hills of Uhha are seen. At the pass of the Malagarasi, a " swift swirling brown stream," running at the rate of four or five miles an hour, with a width of about thirty yards, the " lord of the ferry " exacts a heavy toll for permission to cross the river in log canoes. The soil of Uvinza north of the Malagarasi is strongly impregnated with salt, which is obtained here in large quantities by filtering the saline mud with hot water, the whole country, from the Victoria Nyanza round the Tanganyika to Manyuema, west of that lake, being supplied from the salt pans of Uvinza. 14. Lake Tanganyika. At length, from the heights of Ukaranga, " the country of the ground-nuts," the expanse of the vast Tanganyika comes into view. Captain Burton, who discovered it in 1858, thus graphically describes the first impression of the view of Tanganyika : — " Ascending by the deep tracks of stony watercourses, and threading a straggling forest, the travel- ler tops the crest, and suddenly descries through the feathery foliage of the trees below him first glimpses of a prospect which, after the close jungle and the monotonous features of the scenery left behind, fill him with admiration, wonder, and delight. Nothing, indeed, can be more picturesque than this first view of the Tanganyika Lake as it lies basking in 336 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. the gorgeous tropical sunshine. Beyond a short foreground of rugged and precipitous hillfold, down which the footpath painfully zigzags, a narrow plot of emerald green shelves gently towards a ribbon of glistening yellow sand, here bordered by sedgy rushes, there clear and cleanly cut by the breaking wavelets. Farther in front stretches an ex- panse of the lightest and softest blue, varying from 30 to 35 miles in breadth, and sprinkled by the east wind with crescents of snowy foam. It is bounded on the other side by tall and broken walls of purple hill, flecked and capped with pearly mist, or standing sharply pencilled against the azure sky. To the south, and opposite the " cynosura," or long low point behind which the Malagarasi river dis- charges the red loam suspended by its violent stream, lie the high, bluff headlands and capes of Uguhha ; and as the eye dilates, it falls upon little outlying islets speckling a sea horizon. Villages, cultivated lands, and the frequent canoes of the fishermen — and, at a nearer approach, the murmur of the waves breaking upon the shore — give a something of life, of variety, of movement to the scenery which, like all the beauties in these regions, wants but a little of the neatness and finish of art, contrasting with the profuse magnificence and wondrous lavishness of nature, to rival, if not to excel, the most admired prospects of classical regions. These riant shores, and the broad open prospect of this vast crevasse, appear doubly charming to the tra- veller after the silent and spectral mangrove creeks on the eastern main, and his melancholy monotonous experience of jungle scenery, tawny rocks, and sun-parched plains, or rank herbage and flats of black mire." The Tanganyika was discovered by Burton to be an enormous trough stretching from the north-west towards the south-east for nearly seven degrees of latitude, through a length comparable to that of the British coast from Aberdeen to Dover. It lies at about 2700 LAKE TANGANYIKA. 337 feet above tlie sea. That such an immense body of water should have an outlet somewhere, had been long taken for granted ; but great uncertainty prevailed as to where such an outlet was to be sought for. Burton and many others conjectured that it lay northwards, where the Eusize river was supposed to flow out of the lake. This Eusize was thought to be connected with the Albert Nyanza, in winch case the Tanganyika would be the most southern feeder of the Nile ; but when its northern shore was ex- plored by Livingstone and Stanley in 1871, no such outlet was discovered, and nothing detected beyond an enclosed basin with a few inconsiderable mountain streams, as indeed had already been represented by Speke. The Eusize, or Lusise, flows not out of but into the lake ; and as Gessi has, on the other hand, made it almost certain that no large river disembogues into the southern part of the Albert Nyanza, it follows that there is no connection at all between these two lakes, and that the Tanganyika cannot possibly belong to the Nile system. In his journeyings between 1869 and 1872, Living- stone had mapped out the greater portion of the lake ; and though he failed to discover an outlet, he was constantly of opinion that the lake overflowed towards the Nile basin, and confirmed himself in this erroneous view from having observed a continued northerly drift of its waters at XJjiji. Kawele, the chief place in the small country of LTjiji, on the eastern shore of the Tanganyika, is the terminal point of the great caravan route from the Zanzibar coast, or of the main highway into East Africa. A number of Arab traders have settled here, and carry on the transit trade between Zanzibar and the more remote regions beyond the Tanganyika. The natives here are described as a rather fine-looking race, dressed in a single piece of bark cloth tied in a knot over one shoulder and passing under the opposite armpit ; they are expert fishers and canoe-men, z 338 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. and good smiths and porters. A daily market, frequented by the natives of the surrounding countries, and of the lake shores, is held at Kawele, and to it are brought baskets of flowers, yams, palm-oil, fruit, bananas, tobacco, and a great variety of vegetable products ; pottery, and huge gourds of " pombe," and palm-wine ; fish, both dried and fresh ; meat, goats, sugar canes, nets, baskets, spear and bow staves, canoe paddles, and bark cloth. Each vendor takes up the same position daily, and many build small arbours of palm fronds, to shelter them from the burning rays of the sun. In March 1874 Cameron launched out from Kawele, with two native canoes which he named the Betsy and Pickle, and during 88 days circumnavigated and mapped out the whole southern half of the lake. The greater portion of its border is formed by cliff-like walls, running out into promontories rising precipitously from the waters, or retreating back into deep bays ; the immediate shores are here and there low and marshy, though a short way back from there the mountains rise abruptly. In some places the cliffs are worn and broken, by the action of weather and waves, into fantastic forms, bearing much resemblance to ruins of castles and fortresses, arches being honeycombed in their bases, and turret-like projections standing out in advance of the main portion. The general character of these wild shores may be judged of from Cameron's description of one scene : " On the outside of Polungo island (not far from the south end of the Tangan- yika) were enormous masses, scattered and piled in the most fantastic manner, vast overhanging blocks, rocking stones, obelisks, pyramids, and every form imaginable. The whole was overgrown with trees, jutting out from every crevice or spot where soil had lodged, and from them hung creepers, fifty or sixty feet long, while through this fringe there were occasional glimpses of hollows and caves. The glorious lake, with its heaving LAKE TANGANYIKA. 339 bosom, lay bathed in tropical sunshine, and one could scarcely imagine the scene to be a reality. It seemed as if designed for some grand transformation in a panto- mime, and one almost expected the rocks to open and sprites and fairies to appear. As I paused to gaze at the wondrous sight — all being still and without sign of life — suddenly the long creepers began to move, as some brown object, quickly followed by another and another, was seen. This was a party of monkeys, swinging themselves along, and outdoing Leotard on the flying trapeze ; and then, stopping and hanging by one paw, they chattered and gibbered at the strange sight of a boat. A shout, and they were gone more rapidly than they came, whilst the rolling echo almost equalled thunder in its intensity." In returning northward, along the eastern coasts of the lake, a break in the moun- tains, which encircle it, nearly midway from the north and south ends, showed Cameron the entrance of the Lukuga, a river which, according to native information, flowed out of the lake ; a chief informed him that he had travelled along its banks for more than a month's journey, and that it fell into the great river Lualaba in the west. Cameron observed what he believed to be a distinct drift eastward from the lake into the channel ; he went down it for a distance of four or five miles, to where the passage was barred by floating vegetation, and left it intending to return for a more complete examination of this supposed discovery of the long-sought outlet of the lake. Circumstances, however, prevented his return to the Lukuga. Making his way southward, after his exploration of the Victoria Nyanza and its tributaries, Mr. Stanley reached Ujiji for a second time in May 1876, and launched his well-tried English boat, the " Lady Alice," on the Tanganyika. He not only retraced again the bays and capes of the southern half of the lake., which had been mapped out by Cameron, but conrpleted the 340 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. circumnavigation of the whole trough, exploring the north- western shores which had been left unvisited, though seen in the distance by Burton and Speke, in their voyage on the northern portion of the lake, in 1858, and by Stanley and Livingstone, in 1871. In all this long round no outlet was discovered. Mr. Stanley was able to make a more complete examination of the Lukuga creek than Cameron could accomplish, and his survey of it discloses a most remarkable phenomenon. Up to the point at which Cameron turned, the Lukuga is a creek of the Tanganyika shut off from it by a sand-bar with two to three feet of water over it, which stretches across its mouth. Into the creek, which has a depth of twenty to thirty feet for four or five miles, the daily east wind drives the lake water with a slow current, but as soon as the wind drops the flow returns lakewards. At the head of the creek is a barrier of mud-banks and choked vegetation of cane and papyrus, against which the lake- water is daily pressed by the monsoon wind. Beyond this barrier an oozing, then a trickling, and lastly a decided westward flow of water, away from the lake, becomes discernible. Mr. Stanley is of opinion that the Lukuga was till recent times an affluent of the Tangan- yika ; that the waters of the lake have been gradually rising year by year ; and that though the Lukuga cannot as yet be called an outlet, it is in process of becoming the channel of overflow of the Tanganyika to the Lualaba drainage on the west. Captain Burton had already noticed that the Tanganyika was subject to remarkable changes of level, and on that account Mr. Stanley's view that the Lukuga has never yet been an outlet may be questioned ; yet his observations on the gradual increase of the lake level are fully confirmed by Cameron's notes on the same phenomenon. If it be accepted that the Tanganyika has never had an outlet, a difficulty remains COUNTRY WEST OF TANGANYIKA. 341 in accounting for the freshness of its waters, which, instead of being saline, as is the case in almost every lake which depends on the balance of evaporation and supply for the maintenance of its level, are quite potable ; yet here again a peculiarity has been noted by Captain Burton that the natives " complain that its water does not satisfy thirst," and, " it appears to corrode metal and leather with exceptional power;" and this may be used as an argument that the lake water differs from that which would be found in a reservoir possessing a constant overflow. Altogether the Tanganyika still presents a number of most interesting problems which remain for future observers to unravel. 15. Tanganyika to Nyangwe on the Lualaha. We shall now follow Cameron very rapidly in his great march westward from the Tanganyika towards the Atlantic coast, in the course of which he lifted the veil from an immense stretch of country previously altogether unknown. Just as in crossing the water-parting of the Nile basin southward of the Seriba country, and de- scending into the valley of the Welle river of unknown outlet, Schweinfurth found himself in a region of altogether different character from that in which he had previously been travelling, so Livingstone and Cameron, the two explorers who first saw any portion of inner Africa beyond the Tanganyika, found themselves entering there upon a completely new field, distinct in its ethnology, zoology, and botany, from that to the east of the water barrier. As far as Nyangwe, on the Lualaba river, 300 miles north-west from the western shore of Tanganyika, opposite Ujiji, Cameron's route was not very different from that taken by Livingstone going and returning in 1869-71. Passing over the steep hills of Ugoma, which abruptly border the lake, Euanda, the capital of the country of 342 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. Uguhha, is reached, a considerable town situated in a fertile plain. Farther on streams without number, flowing from the mountains of Ugoma, which extend northward along the margin of the Tanganyika, are crossed in the march through Uguliha. Many of these are very beauti- ful, and flow in deep-cut channels, with cliff-like sides lined with lovely ferns and mosses. In the district of Ubujwa, in northern Uguhha, the country again becomes mountainous in character. Here Cameron noticed a remarkable distinction between two castes of the inhabitants. The upper classes are apparently of the same race as the Waguhha and AVarua, and wear the same ornaments and tattoo marks ; but the lower orders are quite different in dress and features, and appear to represent an aboriginal race. They perforate the upper lip and insert a piece of stone or wood, which is gradually increased in size till the lip frequently protrudes an inch and a half, or two inches, making their articulation very indistinct. Their clothing consists of from one to three leather cushions, very much like buffaloes' horns in size and shape, the thickest parts being placed behind, and the tapering points in front. Both sexes of all classes here carry little carved images round their necks, as a charm against evil spirits. Uhiya and Uvinza, the next two districts, are a series of ridges running in different direc- tions from the Bambarre mountains, the most important range in this part of Africa, attaining an elevation of from 3000 to 4000 feet above the sea. Their steep sides have to be ascended by clutching at the trees and creepers which grow on their well-wooded slopes. The northern side of these moimtains is seamed into enormous gullies and ravines, into which no sunlight penetrates, for great trees with spreading heads shut out the least glimpse of sky. Every here and there some dead monarch of the forest was prevented from falling by the clinging embrace MANYUEMA COUNTRY. 343 of the parasitic plants which bound him to his neighbours. Describing this forest country, Livingstone says, " Between each district large belts of the primeval forest still stand. Into these the sun, though vertical, cannot penetrate except as sending down their pencils of rays into the gloom. The rain water stands for months in stagnant pools made by elephants' feet, and the dead leaves decay on the damp soil, making the water of the numerous rills and rivulets of the colour of strong tea. One feels himself the veriest pigmy before these gigantic trees ; many of their roots high out of the soil, in the path, keep you constantly looking down, and a good gunshot does no harm to parrots or guinea fowls on their tops ; the climbing plants, from the size of a whip-cord to that of a man-of-war's hawser, make the ancient path the only passage. I have heard gorillas — here called sokos — growl at me within fifty yards, without being able to get a glimpse of them ; their call to each other is like that of a torn cat, and not so loud and far-reaching as that of the peacock. His nest is a poor contrivance, not unlike that of our wood pigeon. Here he sits, even in pelting rain, with his hands and arms over his head. The natives call it his house, and laugh at him for being such a fool, as, after building a hut, not to go beneath it for shelter." Emerging from the forest, the plain country of Manyueraa, stretching away to the Lualaba, is entered — " a fair country, with green plains, running streams, wooded knolls, much cultivation, and many villages. The village huts are here ranged in long streets, sometimes parallel, and at others radiating from a central space; their bright red walls and sloping roofs also differ from those hitherto met with." The men wear aprons of dressed deer-skin, and carry a single heavy spear, and a small knife with which to eat their food. Chiefs are armed with short two- edged swords, with broadened crescent-shaped ends, the 344 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. scabbard 1 icing ornamented with iron and copper bells; and, instead of leather aprons, they wear large kilts of gaily coloured grass cloth. The heads of the males are plastered with clay, so worked in with the hair as to form cones or plates. The women have better figures, and are better-looking than any that had been seen for a long time previously. The Manyuema musicians play upon an instrument called "Marimba," formed of two rows of gourds of different sizes fitted into a framework, over each pair of which a clef of hard wood is fixed, which gives out a metallic sound when struck with sticks having india-rubber heads. A great deal of iron is worked in the Manyuema country, and the people are very expert smiths ; their bellows are formed of two upright and parallel wooden cylinders, with vents leading into one nozzle, which produce a continuous blast. The iron is worked into small pieces, of about two pounds weight, shaped like two cones, joined at the base, and in this form is hawked for sale. The anvils and larger hammers are of stone, but small hammers are made of iron. Though endowed with many good qualities, it cannot be denied that the Manyuema, like the Nyamnyams, near the western Nile far to the north of them, are cannibals. The Luama, a large river with many affluents and back- waters, in which the women trap large numbers of fish, meanders through southern Manyuema to the Lualaba. From a bluff overhanging it Cameron obtained his first view of the Lualaba, coming up from the great lake region discovered by Livingstone in the south and west of the Tanganyika — " a strong and sweeping current of tur- bid yellow water, fully a mile wide, and flowing at the rate of three or four knots an hour, with many islands much like the eyots of the Thames lying in its course. The larger of these were well wooded, and inhabited by the AVagenya, a tribe holding all the islands and a long THE LUALABA AT NYAXGWE. 345 strip on the left bank, and, as the sole proprietors of the canoes, having the whole carrying trade of the river in their hands. Canoes were numerous, and flocks of water- fowl, winging their way from sandbank to sandbank in search of food, gave life to the scene. To remind us of the dangers of the stream, there were enormous herds of hippopotami blowing and snorting, and here and there the long scaly back of a crocodile floating almost flush with the water." A rapid and swift voyage down the river brought the traveller to ISTyangwe, in the very heart of Africa, a permanent settlement of the Zanzibar traders on the Lualaba, consisting of two villages on an eminence above the river, divided by a little marshy stream, which affords admirable rice-ground. Nyangwe is memorable as the farthest point on the Lualaba system reached by Livingstone and Cameron. Livingstone remained here from March to July 1871, and it was here that he beheld one of the cruel slave raids by means of which the Arabs keep up the supply for the east coast. Large markets are held every fourth day at Ny- angwe. Early in the morning of the market-day canoes appear on the river from all directions, bringing people with pottery, palm-oil, fish, fowls, flour, salt, grass-cloth, and slaves. Cowries, goats, and slaves are the only avail- able currency for large purchases. Livingstone, while at Nyangwe, appears to have still clung to the belief that the great river he had been tracing out would prove to be the head stream of the river of Egypt ; but Cameron's observation of the level of the Lualaba there (1400 feet) at once put an end to the supposition that it could in any way belong to the Nile system, for the Bahr-el-Jebel, or Nile at Gondokoro, is, as we have seen, more than 1500 feet above the sea. The Lualaba also conveys past Nyangwe, in the dry season, at least five times the volume of water contained in the 346 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. Nile at Gondokoro, an amount which could find a suffi- cient outlet only in the great Zaire or Congo river mouth, on the west coast. It was left, however, for Mr. Stanley, in completing his marvellous journey across tropical Africa, to demonstrate that the Lualaba and Congo were really one and the same river, the greatest by far, though not the longest, in all Africa. Leaving Nyangwe in Novem- ber 1876, Stanley (after terrible struggles with desperate cannibal tribes) traced the course of the Lualaba north- ward through the forest country of Ureggu or t^legga to a series of cataracts not far apart north and south of the equator. Only when it has reached the latitude of 2° N. of the equator does the great river turn to north-west, then west and south-west, a broad stream from two to ten miles wide, and choked with islands. Following the latter direction, it ultimately reaches the already known Yellala gorges and cataract, by which it descends through the mountains to the Atlantic coast-land. Leaving the farthest point reached by Livingstone, at Nyangwe, Cameron's route south-westward from the Lua- laba lay for a distance of about 1200 miles through country which had never before been seen by European. 16. The Kingdom of Urua. Almost immediately south of the Lualaba at Nyangwe begins the great Central African kingdom of Urua, which extends hence to about 9° S. lat. It is bounded on the west by the Lomami river, a great tributary of the Lualaba running up from the south, and on the east by the tribes fringing the shores of the Tanganyika. King Kasongo, the sole ruler of this independent state, which occupies an area perhaps greater than that of Great Britain and Ireland, also claims dominion over some tribes on the Tanganyika, in- cluding the TVaguhha, as his most northerly subjects on this side. The chiefs of Itawa, a country on the south-west ueua. 347 of the Tanganyika, discovered by Livingstone, which we shall afterwards refer to, are also tributary to this monarch. Ussambi, a country to the west of the Lomami, is like- wise part of his dominions, though it is also tributary to the large kingdom of Ulunda, which stretches westward from Urua. This great territory is divided into many districts, each governed or misgoverned by a kilolo or captain, who is either hereditary governor, or is appointed for a term of four years by Kasongo. The punishments inflicted by Kasongo, and those in high authority under him, are death and mutilation. It is remarkable that caste is well defined in this barbarous dominion, and that the greatest deference is exacted by superiors from those below them in social scale. The people tattoo them- selves, and wear the hair drawn back and tied behind the head, so that it projects there like a saucepan handle. The men wear plumes, frequently of the red tail-feathers of the gray parrot, varying in shape and size according to their rank ; they have also aprons of a single skin, each family or clan having a distinguishing one, which it is cus- tomary to wear in presence of the chief. Their religion is principally a mixture of fetish and idolatry. All the vil- lages have devil-huts and idols, before which offerings of pombe, grain, and meat are placed, and nearly every man wears a small figure round his neck or arm. But the great centre of their religion is an idol named Kungwe-a-Banza, which is supposed to represent the founder of Kasongo's family, and to be all-powerful for good and evil ; and its hut, in a clearing of the jungle, is guarded by a number of priests. These guardians, however, are not permitted to see the idol, that privilege being reserved for the king's wife, who consults it on momentous occasions. Beyond the Lualaba, and all along the route followed by Cameron, on the right bank of the Lomami, the country is generally level, with deep hollows grooved out 348 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. by the innumerable streams which fall into that river, and which arc shaded by fine timber, their dark depths being rich in the most beautiful ferns and mosses. The Kilimachio heights (about 7° S.) are the commencement of a system of rocky hills of granite and gneiss, and are the western extremity of the mountains of Eua, which Livingstone mentions. Between these lie plains covered partly with forest, and in other portions more park-like, with open meadows and many streams. Charcoal-burners' fires were frequently seen, and some villages had foundries, the haematite iron-ore being obtained by digging pits sometimes twenty or thirty feet deep. Here, for the first time, the influence of the traders and slave-dealers from the west coast became apparent, and several marches were made through country the villages in which had been recently desolated by parties belonging to Kasongo and the Portuguese. The people had been carried off as slaves, the country laid waste, and banana trees and oil- palms cut down. At another point, in the middle of an extensive plain, the traveller came upon a number of huts occupied by people employed in the manufacture of salt. This plain, as in the case of several other salt districts in Central Africa, is the special property of the king, and is worked by his own slaves and retainers. After a hot march through an extensive marsh, with mud and water waist-deep, in the only practicable passage through the dense vegetation with which it was overgrown, Cameron arrived on the banks of a small stream shaded by fine trees, and on the other side was Kilemba, the chief resi- dence of the king of Urua, and an important station of one of the Zanzibar merchants trading in ivory. Here also Cameron found a Portuguese trader from Angola, who had formerly been an agent or " pombeiro " for white mer- chants, but had latterly been making journeys inland, and ULTJNDA. 349 taking slaves westward on his own account. Tims, in the heart of Central Africa, the traffic of the Indian Ocean meets that from the Atlantic shores. From Kilemba, where Cameron was long delayed virtually a prisoner, he visited the remarkable lake Mohrya, some distance to northward of the capital. This lake, which is a small basin surrounded by low wooded hills, has within it three most curious villages built on piles, the huts being raised on platforms supported on these, some oblong, others round, with sloping roofs pro- jecting over the door. Men were swimming from hut to hut, notwithstanding the enormous snakes said to inhabit the lake, whose bite is fatal. The people live entirely in these huts with their fowls and goats, and only come on shore to cultivate patches of ground and to bring goats to graze. An excursion southward also enabled him to dis- cover the large lake Kassali, one of a long series of lakes which form the Kamarondo, one of the great branches of the Lualaba running up from the south-west. The Kas- sali has also remarkable lake dwellings or floating islands, formed of masses of vegetation cut from that which lines the shore, overlaid with logs and brushwood, and covered with earth. On these rafts huts are built, bananas are planted, and goats and poultry are reared. The TYaruan frontier country of Ussambi consists chiefly of flat-topped sandstone hills. Cameron crossed it between the sources of the Lomami river and the streams which flow to the Luburi, one of the chief affluents of the Kamarondo-Lualaba. He describes the country as very beautiful and marvellously fertile. 17. Uluncla, the country of the Muata Yanvo. Ulunda, the wide country ruled over by the hereditary Muata Yanvo or Matayafa, a potentate whose territory was visited as early as 1 8 2 by native traders or pombeiros 350 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. sent by Portuguese merchants from the west coast, and which Cameron crossed from east to west in his march towards the west coast, is a thickly-wooded land, with gentle undulations and occasional savannahs watered by numberless streams, most of them running northward towards the Congo or lower Lualaba. The villages or fenced hamlets of huts here are small and far between, the greater part of the land being still primeval forest abounding in large game. The Walunda appeared a dirty, wild-looking race, wearing skin aprons or shreds of bark cloth. Their hair or wool is not worked up into any distingmshing fashion, and they have no ornaments. 18. The Countries of LovaU and Kibokwe'. After Uluncla the country of Lovale was entered, and Cameron passed between the sources of the Kassabi, flowing north to the Congo, and the heads of the Leeba, one of the main streams of the Zambesi, which Living- stone discovered in his march to the west coast in 1855. Here enormous level plains stretch out, winch in the rainy season are covered with water knee-deep, filling the whole country between the affluents of the Congo and Zambesi. The people of Lovale are very savage, and, being armed with guns, are much feared by passing cara- vans, and as many claims and extortions are here prac- tised as by the Wagogo on the east-coast route. " Every- thing in their mode of living is regulated by the magicians or fetish-men, and they cleverly lay traps for the unwary traveller. Thus, should a stranger chance to rest his gun or spear against a hut in their villages, it is instantly seized, and not returned unless a heavy fine is paid, the excuse being that it is an act of magic intended to cause the death of the owner of the hut." In the dressing of their hair the people of Lovale* differ from the Walunda, plaiting it into a kind of pattern, KIBOKW& 351 and plastering it with mud and oil till it looks as though their head-dress were carved out of wood. They import iron in large quantities from the country of Kibokwe, west of them, and work it into arrow-heads of various fantastic forms and very prettily ornamented hatchets. Beyond Lovale is the country of Kibokwe, in which the ascent out of the central depression of the South African plateau begins to be apparent. The country is nearly all covered with forests. Bee-culture is here the chief occupation of the natives ; enormous quantities of wax are collected, and they barter it to the caravans coming hither from the west coast for foreign trade goods ; while from the honey they make a kind of mead which is clear and strong. Iron-ore is found in nodules in the beds of the streams, and the people are clever smiths. The water-parting which separates the basins of the Congo and Zambesi from that of the Coanza river, flowing independently to the Atlantic through Angola, is crossed in western Kibokwe. The Coanza, winch becomes a fine navigable river in Angola, regularly traversed by trading steamers, was about sixty yards wide and more than three fathoms deep where Cameron crossed it in its upper course. It floods the whole plain through which it flows at tins por- tion during the rains. When the Coanza is crossed the country of Bihe is entered, the eastern portion being formed of wooded hills of red sandstone with many running brooks and rills, the western opening out into wide prairies and bare downs. The town of Kagnombe in Bihe, the residence of its chief, is described by Cameron as the largest place he met with in his whole journey across the continent, and more than three miles in circum- ference. It contains a number of separate enclosures belonging to different chiefs, and much space is also occu- pied by cattle and pig pens and tobacco gardens. The in- fluence of the European settlers now begins to be apparent, 352 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. and one neatly-kepl settlement lias been the residence of a Portuguese merchant for upwards of thirty years. Kagnombe^ ii may he noted, is 250 miles in a direct line inland from the west coast. Kambala, a village perched on a rocky hill in the centre of a wooded plain surrounded by mountains, is the chief place in Bailunda, the country which lies next nearer the coast than Bihe. In the western portion of Bailunda the country rises into moun- tains of every shape. To describe the beauty of tins country, says Cameron, would be impossible. "Neither poet with all the wealth of word-imagery, nor painter with almost supernatural genius, could by pen or pencil do full justice to the country of Bailunda. In the foreground were glades in the woodland, varied with knolls crowned by groves of large English-looking trees, sheltering villages with yellow thatched roofs ; shambas or plantations with the fresh green of young crops and bright red of newly- hoed ground in vivid contrast, and running streams flash- ing in the sunlight ; whilst in the far distance were mountains of endless and pleasing variety of form gradually fading away till they blended with the blue of the sky. Overhead there drifted fleecy white clouds, and the hum of bees, the bleating of goats, and crowing of cocks, filled the air. As I lay beneath a tree, in indolent contempla- tion of the beauties of nature in this most favoured spot, all thought of the work still before me vanished from my mind ; but I was rudely awakened from my pleasant reverie by the appearance of the loaded caravan, with the men grunting, yelling, and labouring under their burdens." The camp in crossing these lulls was found to be the highest of the whole journey, being 5800 feet above the sea, and the adjoining hills appeared to rise about 800 feet higher. The remainder of Cameron's march down to the sea at Benguela was through the Portuguese coast-land, to the description of which we shall afterwards return. Ifl - i-. !■ i !| .,-: