AFRICAN. 181 



boundary. This country was formerly united under one govern- 

 ment ; but now comprises three independent states ; Jlmhara, in the 

 north-west ; Tigre, in the north-east ; and Shoo, Efat, in the south. 

 Gondar, the former capital, is now the capital of Amhara ; and 

 Mowa, is that of Tigre ; but Shoa Efat, has no large town, and has 

 been partly subdued, by the savage Gallas, from the south. The 

 religion of Abyssinia, is nominally the Christian ; but very much 

 corrupted. 



2. We now come to that part of Africa, which is inhabited almost 

 exclusively by the Negro race ; and shall commence with the portion 

 next south of Sahara, a part of which has been penetrated, by the Arabs, 

 and exhibits some traces of their language and religion. Nigritia 

 or Negroland, extends from Senegambia on the west, to Nubia and 

 Abyssinia on the east ; the central and western portions being also 

 known by the name of Soudan. It comprises a large number of 

 petty kingdoms or states; some of which are Bergoo, Darfur, Kor- 

 dofan, and Fertit, in the east ; Darkulla, Bornou, Mandara, Houssa, 

 and Yarriba, central ; Timbuctoo, (or Tombuctoo), Bambarra, and 

 Kaarta, in the west. Among the cities, are Kemmoo, in Kaarta ; 

 Sego, in Bambarra ; Timbuctoo, in Timbuctoo ; Soccatoo, or Sacka- 

 too, in Houssa; Bornou, in Bornou ; Wara, in Bergoo ; and Cobbe, 

 in Darfur. The Niger is the chief river, running first eastward, then 

 southward into the Gulf of Guinea. The more eastern tribes are 

 professed Mohamedans, and slightly civilized ; but the Fellatahs, in 

 the central part, are barbarous and warlike. 



Under the name of Western Africa, we comprehend all the coun- 

 tries on the western coast, from Sahara to the tropic of Capricorn. 

 This is the region in which the Slave Trade has mostly prevailed ; 

 a horrid traffic, which philanthropy has not yet been able fully to 

 suppress : though much has already been done by the establishment 

 of enlightened and well governed colonies, on this benighted coast. 

 Senegambia, so named from its two principal rivers, the Senegal 

 and Gambia, is the land of the Jaloffs, or Yoloffs, in the north; the 

 Foulahs, (or Foolahs), in the south; and the Mandingoes, in the 

 interior ; which races are intermediate between the Moors and Ne- 

 groes. Sierra Leone, in the south, is a British colony, and an asylum 

 for Negroes liberated from slave-ships. Freetown, is its capital. 

 The French have settlements at St. Louis, near the mouth of the 

 Senegal ; and the Portuguese, at the mouth of Rio Grande, a small 

 river in the central part. 



Upper Guinea, called also Guinea, or the coast of Guinea, extends 

 along the coast, eastward, to the mouths of the Niger ; and includes 

 the colony of Liberia, in the west ; with the negro states of Ashan- 

 tee, and Dahomey, in the centre ; and Benin, in the east. The 

 Grain Coast, belongs to Liberia ; the Ivory and Gold Coasts, to 

 Ashantee ; and the Slave Coast, to the more eastern states. Liberia 

 is settled by emancipated slaves, under the direction of the American 

 Colonization Society, and now contains 5000 colonists, besides 

 30,000 natives, whose situation is rapidly improving, under its repub- 

 lican government, and Christian institutions. Its capital is Monro- 

 via. The chief town of Ashantee, is Coomassie ; that of Dahomey, 



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