62 



AFRICA. 



dry, parching Imnnattan is peculiar to A. ; it has 

 .HUH mi in common with Asia, and the sirocco 

 \\-\ih Europe, To the mitunilist, Uiis wonderful 

 country seems the first favourite of nature, as far as 

 jicrts the riches of the organic world, and tlie 

 number of pant forms of animals and plants. It 

 can enumerate five times as many species of qua- 

 drupeds as Asia, and three times as many as all 

 America. It needs Asia in the sw ; of its colossal 

 river-horse (hippopotamus), gigantic pratlc, anil large 

 .mteloprs and apes. That giant of birds, the ostrich, 

 b exclusively indigenous to Africa. But t lie most 

 hem fin 'lit gift of nature to the African is tlie camel, 

 the constitution of which is in every respect adapted 

 to the country and climate. Among the other ani- 

 mals are the elepluint and rhinoceros, the lion, pan- 

 ther, leojird, ounce, jackal, hyu-na, wolf, fox, dog, 

 cat, mongus, kit, rat, marmot (cavia capensis), hare, 

 rabbit, jerboa, porcupine, hedgehog, mole, civet-cat, 

 ichneumon, hear, horse, ass, zebra, sheep (some with 

 Imir and large fat tails), argalis (capra ammon), goat, 

 innumerable varieties of the gazelle, thebuffiilo,and 

 fallow-deer. In Guinea are found the roe, swine, em- 

 galos, babyroussa, and other quadrupeds, whose na- 

 tural history has been as yet by no means sufficiently 

 im .-stigated ; even the problematical unicorn is still 

 said to exist in the interior. The varieties of birds 

 are equally numerous ; among which is the crown- 

 bird ; the most beautiful of the feathered tribes ; 

 the flamingo, king-fisher, pelican, and many kinds of 

 jwrrots ; tlie peacock, partridge, pheasant, widow, and 

 cardinal-bird ; the cuckoo, the cuculus indicator, 

 turtle doves, pigeons, ducks, geese, c. The class 

 of reptiles comprises the crocodile and boa-constric- 

 tor, with ir.any other serpents, some innoxious, some 

 highly poisonous. The bays and rivers abound in 

 fish, but the variety of the species is not so great as 

 in the northern seas, and many of the most useful 

 are entirely wanting. The shrubs and earth swprm 

 with termites, ants, scolopendras, spiders, and cater- 

 pillars, while passing armies of locusts ol>scure the 

 sun like clouds. The most beautiful insects abound. 

 Still more extraordinary is the force of vegetation. 

 The earth renders back the seed to the cultivator in- 

 creased a "hundred fold, and produces those immense 

 trees, among which the boabab, or monkey bread- 

 tree, whose crown of branches sometimes forms a 

 circle 130 feet in diameter, holds the first rank ; the 

 splendid white trunk of the ceiba grows almost per- 

 pendicularly from the root to the branches, GO feet, 

 and, with its fine round -crown, rises to a height of 

 120 feet. In Africa, as in America, the torrid zone 

 produces plants and fruits, at the same time the most 

 nutritious, the most refreshing, and most wholesome. 

 The antiseptical quality appertains to the fruits of the 

 palm, banana, orange, shaddock, pine-apple, tama- 

 rind, and to the juice and leaves of the boabab. The 

 best butter (likewise an excellent medicine) may be 

 procured from the shih or butter-tree, in the interior 

 )f the west of Africa, and the ground-nuts of Whidah 

 ripen within six weeks from the time of sowing. The 

 vegetable productions, used for sustenance, are prin- 

 cipally wheat, barley, millet, poa dbyssinica, rice, the 

 convolvulus batatas, L., yams, lotus berries, gum Sen- 

 egal, dates, figs, the various kinds of spices, and espe- 

 cially sugar-cane ; for drink, coffee is used, palm 

 wine, from the female palm-tree, the milk of cocoa- 

 nuts, and Cape wine ; for clothing, cotton, hemp, 

 and even flax. Here thrive the papaw, the pome- 

 granate, five kinds of pepper, the best indigo, the 

 dracecna draco, from which is procured dragon's 

 blood, the tallow-tree, the best wood for dyeing, and 

 cabinet work, innumerable spices, &c. Madagascar 

 Is rich in the most valuable productions. Our infor- 

 mation respecting the mineral kingdom is the most 



limited. Of gold, Africa has more than any other 

 portion of the. globe ; and iron is found in most parts 

 of this continent ; but it wants the other metals. Of 

 other minerals, it has only saltpetre, sal ammoniac, 

 some fuller's tarth, and emery in abundance; am- 

 heriiTis is fn'ind on the coasts. The want of salt, 

 except in a t< w iv-jions, is most severely felt. Tlie 

 African races of men oiler many points of interest to 

 tlie inquirer. The majority of them are distin- 

 guished from tlie rest of the human family, not only 

 by their black complexion and curly hair, but also 

 by peculiarities in the construction of tlie hones of 

 the head, and even of the nerves. This seems to 

 imply tliat tlie negro is originally a distinct race. 

 It is thought that traces of this primitive race may 

 still be detected here and there; e.g. of the ori- 

 ginal Egyptians in the Copts, and of ihe (Juanch'-s 

 (the original inliabitants of tlie Canaries) in the na- 

 tives of" Barbary. The population is prolxibly be- 

 tween 100 and 110 millions. The interior of the 

 country must be very populous, since, within two 

 centuries and a half, it has contributed forty millions 

 of vigorous men to the slave trade, and, notwithstand- 

 ing, is any thing but depopulated. Even the coun- 

 tries along the coast are thickly peopled. Jackson 

 computed the population of Morocco alone at seven- 

 teen millions ; and the Barbary states, with Egypt, 

 which constitute but an eighth part of the continent, 

 contain twenty millions. The torrid Guinea has, on 

 the whole, a numerous population ; and large cities 

 are situated on tlie Joliba, of which we hardly know 

 the names. The inhabitants belong to two branches 

 of the human family ; to the black, or Ethiopian race, 

 which extends from the Joliba to the southern ex- 

 tremity, comprising, notwithstanding their tawny 

 complexions, the Hottentots ; and to the Caucasian 

 rae.e, which includes the natives of Barbary, the Copts, 

 the Arabs or Moors, the Agaziones or Abyssinians, 

 and the nations of Nubia. The Arabs are not to be 

 regarded as aborigines of Africa, but they have scat- 

 tered themselves, and become occupants of the greater 

 part of the north and west. On the islands and some 

 points of the sea-board, we find Portuguese, . 

 iards, French, Dutch, British, and even Jews in 

 particular spots ; but. the Falascbas in Tigre, though 

 they profess the religion of Moses, seem not to be 

 of Hebrew descent. The Arabic is the leading lan- 

 guage throughout all the north, and as far as the 

 Joliba, where it is understood, in some degree at 

 least, by those nations who revere the Koran. The 

 Berberd and Shelluh tongues are spoken in the 

 Barbary states, and along the Atlas mountains. The 

 Mandingo language is used from the Senegal to the 

 Joliba. On the western coast, a corrupt Portuguese 

 is heard; in the regions of Abyssinia, the Tigre and 

 Amhara tongues prevail. The languages of the 

 blacks are as multiferious as tlie nations. In Sahara, 

 alone, forty-three dialects are said to be spoken. But 

 of all the hundred and fifty languages (this con- 

 jectural number was adopted by Seetzen) of the Afri- 

 can nations, we are hardly acquainted with seventy. 

 Equally manifold are the modes of worship. Rla- 

 hommedanism has diffused itself over the north to 

 the Joliba, and most of the eastern coast ; the Chris- 

 tian religion is professed by the inhabitants of Tigre 

 and Amhara, by the Copts, the Nubians, and Eu- 

 ropean strangers, though with great diversity of 

 forms. The most disgusting Fetishism prevails 

 among most of the negro nations, demanding, from 

 many of its votaries, human sacrifices. We must not 

 look to A. for the triumphs of science, not even to 

 the country which was its cradle in the infancy of 

 man. All that the Pharaohs and Ptolemies had 

 ever effected, was swept away by the storms which 

 broke upon this unhappy region in the middle ages. 



