flENEZ. 



SEXNAAR. 



__ (roc. ** bak of th. OunbU throoA Nol, Dentila, and 

 , to U> era** wiUwMM of Jallon Kadoo, which, having 

 tnl from w-> to *, h pute. orer the mountain rang. 

 irtFMn Kanalia and Bammakoo. At Bammakoo the goods are 

 cabarkcd oo the Joliba, and doscend to Tamina, Sego, Sansanding, 

 Jtnnek, and Timbuctoo. 



(Mango Park, TntttU in On Inttrior Dittrict* of Africa ; Mollien, 

 Trm~U Afrita to Ike &WTCM of On Senegal mtdOambia; Qray and 

 Doobaid, TVWi * We*tr Africa ; CaiUW, TrafeU ttroitf* Central 

 Afri<mUTimbncloo; Lvtdm OtoffrapUeal Journal) 

 SKNKZ. [ALMS*. BASMS.] 

 SEXLIS. [Onm.] 



SENNA is a country on the eastern coast of Africa, and a portion 

 of that region which on oar maps is called Monomotapa, and 1ms 

 acquired some fame on account of the rich mines of gold which it 

 contains. It U situated between 16 and 20 S. lat, 80 and 37 

 E. long, and is stated to cover a surface of 43,200 square miles. It 

 form* the oaniUnoy of the Rios de Senna, the only territory that the 

 Portuguese roally possess on the east coast of Africa ; their other 

 poatewions, as Mozambique, Pemba, Ac., consisting only of fortified 

 towns, to which no territory, or only a very small territory, is 

 annexed. This oapitancy is bounded E. by the sea, S. by the moun- 

 tains of Sofala, and it extends to the kingdoms of Quiteve and Baroe, 

 which inclose it on the west. To the north of it is the independeut 

 kingdom of Moraves, from which it U chiefly separated by the course 

 of the river Zambesi. 



The shores of Senna are low, and continue so for some distance 

 inland, but the country gradually rises as we proceed westward. At 

 the distance of 160 to 180 miles from the sea there are some low 

 mountain ranges, separated into two portions by the plain through 

 which the river Zambesi runs. A great part of the country west of 

 thiss ranges appears also to be a plain, the surface of which ia hilly. 

 Towards the western boundary, near 30 E. long., the country is 

 covered with mountains. 



Senna is well watered ; numerous small rivers descend from the 

 adjacent mountains, all of which join the Zambesi. This river, whose 

 course probably exceeds 800 miles, originates in the countries weat of 

 Senna, of which we have no account. Its upper course within Senna 

 is from south-south-west to north-north-east, but it gradually turns 

 more to the east. It is in many places upwards of three miles in 

 breadth. From the town of Tele" downwards it is navigated, though 

 the navigation is very tedious in the wet season, owing to the rapidity 

 of the current, and in the dry season on account of the numerous 

 shoals and the deficiency of water. Above Teto the Zambesi enters 

 the flat country, but it runs between high rocky banks until it enters 

 the low country at the distance of about 50 miles from the sea in a 

 straight line. In the low country it divides into two branches at 

 Marooro, of which the northern is called the river Quilimane, and the 

 southern Limbo, and both branches are navigable. A large branch 

 separates from the Luabo not far from the place of division, and 

 bisects the delta of the Zambesi, falling into the sea at nearly an equal 

 distance from the mouths of the Quilimane and Luabo. It is called 

 the Helambey, from a place, near its mouth. The embouchures of 

 the Luabo and Quilimane are about 60 miles from one another. 

 Where these rivers flow through the level tract, they form numerous 

 .islands, occasioning a very rapid current in many of the narrow inter- 

 vening channels. 



The delta of the Zambesi and the low country near the eea consist 

 of a flat, which is marshy, and covered with mangroves to low-water 

 mark. Higher up the ground is cleared to a considerable extent, and 

 the country abounds in villages ; but towards the place where the 

 river divides into arms, nearly the whole surface of the country is 

 covered with rushes and bamboos, interspersed with extensive 

 swamps. A few isolated trees, a species of palm, are scattered over 

 this unwholesome waste. The more elevated part of the country, 

 about the town of Senna and higher up the river, is an extensive 

 plain, which descends towards the banks of the river with a gentle 

 -, !. 



The rainy season commences in the beginning of November, and 

 continues to the end of March. When the rain fully sets in, the river 

 soon rise* above its banks, and inundates the contiguous country to 

 the distance of several miles inland. During this period the heat is 

 very oppressive, but not unwholesome in the higher parts of the 

 country, except in the vicinity of lakes. 



The cultivated grains are rice, maize, millet, and wheat The 

 sugar-cane seems to succeed well. Coffee is grown in the more 

 elevated country. Indigo grows wild. The cotton-shrub is cultivated 

 by the neprots, but only for home consumption. Vegetables are 

 &"*u >n considerable quantities. A kind of grass is cultivated as 

 food : before it is quite ripe, it is plucked, dried, and husked in a 

 large wooden mortar, and then ground between two rough stones. 

 Th meal thus obtained is made into a porridge, which is generally 

 eaten with fih. The fruit-trees are tamarinds, oranges, cocoa-nuts, 

 palms, and mango-tree*. Among the forest-trees is a species of 

 cotton-tree of gigantic site, frequently measuring 60 feet in circurn- 

 fsnoee. The wood is used for canoes in preference to any other, as 

 not being subject to the attack of worms. Large boats 60 feet long 

 are mad* of a single tree hollowed out 



The wild animals are elephants, rhinoceroses, lions, hippopotami, 

 alligators, monkeys, and deer; but there are probably mauy others, 

 which have been overlooked by the few persons who have visited this 

 country. There are the common domestic animals. Fish is very 

 plentiful in the river, and constitutes one of the principal articles of 

 food of the negro population. Bees are very common, and wax is an 

 article of export. 



Gold and iron are the only metals which are known to exist in 

 abundance. Gold is chiefly found in the mountains of Sofala, and in 

 those which surround the colony on the west ; and it does not appear 

 that this article is brought from the kingdom of Moraves, but it is 

 obtained in those of Quiteve and Bame. Iron ia obtained in 

 abundance from the southern districts of the colony, and also from 

 the kingdom of Moraves; the hoes with which the slaves till the 

 ground are made of it. Marble is got in the hills which run parallel 

 to the coast The population consists of a few Portuguese and 

 mulattoes, and a great number of blacks. According to the state- 

 ment of the governor of Rios de Senna, the number of the whites 

 and mulattoes in 1810 did not exceed 500. The negroes are partly 

 free and partly slaves of the whites and mulattoes. The colony is 

 divided into several districts, each under a Portuguese governor, who 

 collects from the free negroes the taxes in kind, consisting of bees'- 

 wax, fowls, meat, vegetables, and rice. 



The only harbour in the colony which is visited by vessels is that 

 of Quilimane, about 8 miles from the sea, on the northern arm of the 

 Zambesi. This town, with the other Portuguese settlements, Senna, 

 and Tetd, are described in the article MOZAMBIQUE COAST. 



SENNAAR is a country situated in the north-eastern parts of 

 Africa, on the banks of the Nile, and at the junction of its two great 

 branches, the Bahr-el-Azrek (Blue River) and the Bahr-el-Abiad 

 (White River). It was formerly an independent state, and one of the 

 most powerful in that part of Africa ; but it now constitutes a part 

 of the Egyptian province called Bele"d-es-Sudan (or country of the 

 blacks). This province comprehends all the countries which lie on 

 both sides of the Nile south of Wadi Halfah, or the second cataract 

 (near 22 N. lat.), with the exception of Abyssinia, and consequently 

 comprises those countries which are known by the collective name of 

 Nubia and Sennaar, to which must be added Kordofan. The most 

 important part of Bel<$d-es-Sudan is Sennaar, and the seat of the 

 provincial government has been fixed at Khartum, a town built in 

 modern times at the confluence of the Bahr-el-Abiad and Bahr-el- 

 Azrek. The boundary lines of Sennaar are imperfectly known ; aud 

 they have varied considerably at different times. The present area is 

 estimated at about 60,000 square miles. On the north is Dar Shendy, 

 a part of Nubia, on the east some wandering tribes, on the south-east 

 Abyssinia, on the south the mountain tribes of the Nuba, and on the 

 west is Kordofan. 



Surface and Soil. The most fertile portion of this country is that 

 part which lies between the two great branches of the Nile, and 

 is called the Island of Sennaar. At its southern extremity, 

 between 11 and 12 N. lat., is a mountain region called Jebel 

 Fungi. This region seems to constitute a link of that great chain 

 which appears to traverse Africa in its whole width from east 

 to west, near 10 N. lat., and which is called by Abulfeda aud 

 Edrisi Jebel-al-Komri, or the Mountains of the Moon. The informa- 

 tion collected from the natives assigns to this range rich mines 

 of gold and iron, both of which are worked. This part of Sennaar is 

 a plain, on which only a few isolated hills rise. The greater part of 

 this plain appears to be formed by the alluvial deposit of the rivers. 

 It is nearly a dead level, and the Bahr-el-Azrek rises during the floods 

 to within two and three feet of the summit of its banks, and the 

 Bahr-el-Abiad in most parts spreads over a large tract of country. 

 The soil is in general very good, and in some parts of excellent 

 quality, though there are also tracts which are nearly sterile. Dhurra 

 is sown at the end of the rainy season, but in general only so much 

 is grown as is necessary for the maintenance of the population. The 

 most northern part of the peninsula has little wood, and is less fertile 

 than the southern. The bottom along the banks of the Bahr-el-Azrek 

 is narrow, and similar to that in Egypt, being hardly more than two 

 miles wide on an average. During the inundations it is annually 

 covered with a deposit of rich earth, and is exceedingly fertile. But 

 the valley of the Bahr-el-Abiad is of a different description. The 

 low flat along its banks is of greater extent, generally measuring four 

 miles across, but it is chiefly Bandy and sterile, and after the inunda- 

 tion grass springs up, a production nearly unknown in the valley of 

 the Bahr-el-Azrek aud Nile. The flat country which lies at the back 

 of these banks of the Bahr-el-Abiad is also inundated to a considerable 

 extent. The woods which cover this tract contain many timber-trees 

 of large size, especially on the western side of the river. 



The country west of the Bahr-el-Abiad belongs principally to 

 Kordofan [KORDOFAN]; south of it is a mountain region, whose 

 general appellation seems to be Jebel Nuba, from a nation which 

 inhabits its fastnesses ; this mountain region is said to be rich in gold 

 and iron. The most northern offsets of this region are called Jebel- 

 Dair and Jebel Minmin, and approach within 25 miles of Obeid, the 

 capital of Kordofan. The tribes inhabiting these mountains have 

 not yet been subjected to the sway of the Pasha of Kgypt, though 

 the level country forms a part of Bel<5d-es-Sudan. That part of this 



