AFRICA 



AFRICA 



The violent hot wind which blows 

 Northern Africa and helps to create the desert 

 conditions is known as the simoom. 



The manner in which oases are formed is 

 most interesting. Far, far away, on the very 

 edge of the desert, perhaps, an isolated moun- 

 tain range forces the moisture from a sea wind. 

 The heavy rainfall which results sinks into the 

 sand and travels underground for hundreds of 

 miles, it may be. And then, somewhere in the 

 desert it finds its way to the surface, and a 

 restful oasis, with grass and waving date palms, 

 is formed. 



The sands of the desert have buried many 

 things out of sight. While a railroad was being 

 built across the Sahara the workmen began the 

 removal of a mound of sand, and beneath it 

 they found a mosque and a number of houses 

 a whole village hidden by the shifting sand. 



Mohammedans are bidden by the Koran to 

 bathe frequently, and the Arabs obey the 

 injunction; but since they hate water they 

 bathe in sand. 



The Desert of Sahara about equals in area 



the United States, with Alaska and its island 

 possessions. It has at least four hundred oases. 



The caravan trips across the desert are most 

 hazardous undertakings. Usually there are 

 from 1,000 to 1,500 camels in a caravan, and 

 the journey takes fully three months. An 

 average of one-third of the animals perish on 

 the round trip, and occasionally a sandstorm 

 of several hours' duration destroys a whole 

 caravan men, camels and goods. 



Old people are not looked upon with respect 

 by some of the native tribes. They are fre- 

 quently led out into the forest and there aban- 

 doned, to die of starvation or to be killed by 

 prowling beasts. 



The pygmy tribes are wonderful hunters and 

 are most ferocious. Indeed, they have been 

 one of the chief obstacles to exploration. 



Only two states of Africa, Abyssinia and 

 Liberia^ are independent. 



The island of Madagascar is larger than any 

 state of the United States except Texas. 



Africa contains examples of the smallest and 

 the largest of mankind. A.MCC. 



History of Africa 



The story of Africa is one of contrasts. At 

 the dawn of history the continent was the home 

 of the world's foremost civilization, that of 

 Egypt. Later the empire of Carthage rivalled 

 .o, until it was overthrown and utterly 

 destroyed in the last of the Punic Wars (which 

 see). Under the sway of Rome, Africa's Medi- 

 terranean coast was still a vital section of the 

 civilized world. Alexandria became a seat of 

 learning, and there Ptolemy worked out his 

 systems of astronomy and geography; Cyrene, 

 farther west, was a city of prosperous traders, 

 which came that Simon to whom was 

 n the burden of the Cross on the road to 

 Golgotha; the land of Carthage gave birth to 

 Saint Augustine, who made it a stronghold of 

 o Christendom. But after the fall of 

 tc Africa's Mediterranean region sank into 

 a barbarism nearly as gross as that of the 

 unknown regions south of it. The Vandals 

 M from the west, then the Arab Mo- 

 medans from the east, and the period of 



i's glory waa past. 



During the Middle Agea Europe km \v lit tip 

 itl southern neighbor, though Spain and 

 V were partly umlrr tho domination of tin- 

 lammedans, and the Crusaders once in- 

 vaded Egypt. In the fifteenth century Portu- 

 guese explorers sailed south along the Atlantic 



coast, and in 1488 the great navigator, Bar- 

 tholomew Diaz (which see), rounded the Cape 

 of Good Hope. Neither these voyages nor 

 that of Vasco da Gama, who reached India by 

 this route ten years later, excited attention in 

 other countries, but the Portuguese quietly 

 founded several of the colonies which they hold 

 to this day. After the discovery of America 

 fortunes began to be made in the slave trade; 

 about the same time the discoveries of gold 

 became known, and adventurers from Holland, 

 France, England and other countries became 

 active. In 1652 the Dutch settled Cape Town, 

 though merely as a half-way port on the road 

 to the Indies. 



The Explorers. Toward the end of the 



period of Europe's great wars a lively interest 



in Africa was awakened, and the period of 



great explorations began. In 1770-1772 James 



Bruce traveled to Abyssinia, the little-known 



Christian island in the sea of Mohammedanism. 



In 1797 Mungo Park made known the Niger 



country, and after him came several less known 



but no less important explorers. In 1840 David 



Mgrtonc began his missionary journey*, in 



the course of which he crossed Africa from 



ocean to ocean, discovered Victoria Falls and 



red the Zambesi region. In 1869, when 



ngstone was thought to be lost, a Welsh- 



