CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



the Strait of Gibraltar : and Turkey, which holds 

 a nominal superiority over Tripoli, Tunis, and 



Egypt- 

 Africa falls conveniently into five great divi- 

 sions : Northern Africa, inclusive of the Great 

 Desert ; Western Africa ; Southern Africa ; East- 

 ern Africa ; and Central Africa. 



NORTHERN AFRICA. 



The countries of Northern Africa, known as the 

 Barbary States so named from the Berbers, the 

 supposed original inhabitants of the district are 

 Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli, including 

 Fezzan. 



Morocco, a sultanate in the north-west, is 

 bounded on the north and west by the Mediter- 

 ranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean ; on the east, by 

 Algeria ; and on the south, by a line running from 

 Cape Nun to the Algerian frontier. It has an 

 area of 230,000 square miles, and a population 

 of eight millions, comprising Moors, Arabs, Ber- 

 bers, Negroes, and Jews ; the Moors being more 

 than 4,250,000, and the Berbers over 3,750,000. 

 The government is despotic. The religion is the 

 Mohammedan. Civilisation is low. The manu- 

 factures are fine silks and leathers, in the produc- 

 tion of which last, the Moors excel Europeans. 

 The exports consist chiefly of wool, hides, grain, 

 cattle and sheep, leather, &c. Two-thirds of the 

 trade of Morocco are in the hands of British 

 merchants. The navy, once powerful, is now 

 inconsiderable. 



Algeria. Algeria (1'Algdrie), a French colony, 

 but belonging formerly to Turkey, lies between 

 2 8' W. long, and 8 32' E. long., and is bounded 

 on the north by the Mediterranean, by Tunis on 

 the east, by the Great Desert on the south, and 

 by Morocco on the west Its area is estimated 

 at 160,000 square miles. The population at the 

 last census was 2,921,246, of whom 2 17,990 were 

 Europeans. The settled part of Algeria is divided 

 into the three provinces of Algiers, Constantine, 

 and Oran, which are subdivided into twelve 

 departments. At the head of the colony is a 

 governor-general, aided by a Colonial Council, 

 whose members are appointed by the govern- 

 ment of France. A French corps (Fannie of 

 60,000 men is kept yi Algeria. In 1870, the 

 imports of the colony amounted to ^6,907,628, 

 and the exports to ,4,978,250. Esparto for 

 making paper, corn and flower seeds, are the 

 principal exports. By far the largest part of the 

 commerce is with France on an average more 

 than two-thirds. In 1877 the total imports were 

 .8,112,132; exports, ,6,880,251. In 1878, there 

 were upwards of 400 miles of railway in Algeria. 



Tunis, which lies on the Mediterranean, be- 

 tween Algeria and Tripoli, has an area of 75,000 

 square miles, and a population of about one mil- 

 lion, of which the capital, Tunis, possesses 180,000, 

 one-half being Jews ; and Kairwan, the centre 

 of the inland trade, 60,000. The state of Tunis, 

 till 1 88 1 practically independent, is now a 

 regency under French protection. The recent 

 Beys, as the rulers are styled, have succeeded 

 in abolishing the slave-trade, and in estab- 

 lishing political equality. The territory of Tunis 

 corresponds to that of ancient Carthage, and has 

 a fine climate and fertile soil Cattle, sheep, and 

 horses are reared with success. Trade and 



292 



manufactures flourish, particularly in Tunis and 

 Susa. 



Tripoli, a pachalik of the Turkish empire, 

 situated on the Mediterranean, between Tunis, 

 Fezzan, and the Libyan Desert, has an area of 

 200,000 square miles, and a population of i^ million. 

 The population of the capital, Tripoli, is 25,000. 

 Vegetation in Tripoli is chiefly supported by 

 copious dews. Tropical fruits are produced about 

 the capital and Mesurata. The inhabitants rear 

 sheep, cattle, horses, and mules. In addition to 

 the products of the country, gold-dust, ivory, and 

 ' natron, from the interior of the continent, are 

 1 exported to Malta and the Levant. The natives 

 are Berbers, Moors, and Arabs. 



Fezzan, another Turkish pachalik, lying south 

 of Tripoli, is an immense oasis, having a popula- 

 tion of from 75,000 to 150,000. The arable ground 

 is not more than one-tenth of the soil. Murzuk, 

 the capital, is the starting-point from North Africa 

 for Central Negroland. Fezzan enjoys periodic 

 rain from the moist winds of the Mediterranean, 

 which extend farther into the continent here than 

 elsewhere. 



WESTERN AFRICA. 



The countries of Western Africa are : (i) Sene- 

 gambia, which extends from the Great Desert 

 to the Grain Coast. (2) Upper Guinea, stretch- 

 ing along the Gulf of Guinea, from the Grain 

 Coast to the Bight of Biafra, and including, on 

 the coast, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Grain Coast, 

 Ivory Coast, Gold Coast, Slave Coast, Calabar 

 Coast, and in the interior, several native king- 

 doms, of which Ashantee, Dahomey, and Benin 

 are the chief. Sierra Leone is a British colony, 

 founded in 1787, and since maintained, at a cost 

 of nearly .8,000,000, with a view to the suppres- 

 sion of the slave-trade. Its population is about 

 50,000. Of the other British stations, which 

 include Elmina, c. recently ceded by the Dutch, 

 Cape Coast Castle, on the Gold Coast, is the most 

 important. Ashantee is a hilly country, but well 

 watered and productive, having a population of 

 1,000,000 inhabitants, who have made some pro- 

 gress in agriculture and home-manufactures. 

 Ashantee is rich in gold. It is under an absolute 

 monarchy, and in 1873 signalised itself by a war 

 with Great Britain, resulting in the destruction of 

 Coomassie, and in the king's submitting to British 

 terms, promotive of commerce and civilisation in 

 that part of the world. Eastward from Ashan- 

 tee is Dahomey, a kingdom also with an abso- 

 lute monarchy, which is chiefly notorious for the 

 human sacrifices enacted to escort into ' Dead- 

 land' a deceased monarch with a suitable ghostly 

 retinue, or to furnish ghostly messengers to the 

 king's departed relatives. The prevailing worship 

 is fetichism. Dahomey is celebrated for its Ama- 

 zons, or women-soldiers, who are called the king's 

 wives, and who numbered 2500 when seen by 

 Captain Burton. The most important state in 

 Western Africa is Liberia, situated on the Grain 

 Coast. Liberia was formerly a dependency of the 

 United States of America, but was proclaimed a 

 free and independent state in 1847. The total 

 population is 720,000, all Negroes ; of these, 

 19,000 are Americo-Liberians. The popula- 

 tion of Monrovia, the capital, is estimated at 

 13,000. The revenue is 111,000 dollars. Thirty 



