182 GEOGRAPHY. 



is Momey; and Benin has a capital bearing its own name. The 

 British have some settlements on this coast. 



Lower Guinea, may be considered as extending from the eastern 

 mouth of the Niger, to the tropic of Capricorn, along the western 

 coast of Africa. It includes the negro states of Biafra and Calbon- 

 gas,m the north ; Loango, Congo, Angola, and Benguela, more cen- 

 tral ; and Cimbebas, which is partly a desert, in the south. It has 

 the Crystal mountains in the east ; and the Congo, or Zaire, is its 

 largest river. Loango and Benguela, have capitals of their own 

 name ; that of Congo, is St. Salvador, or Banza Congo ; and the 

 Portuguese occupy Loando, in Angola, for the purchase of slaves. 

 The religion of both Upper and Lower Guinea, is paganism, the 

 governments are despotic ; and the people very degraded. The cli- 

 mate of the preceding parts of Africa is intensely hot, and in many 

 places unhealthy to Europeans ; but the productions are numerous ; 

 including the baobab, a kind of bread-tree ; and among the animals 

 of this region are, the lion, tiger, elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, 

 giraffe, zebra, and ostrich. 



3. We proceed next to the more southern and eastern parts of 

 Africa; commencing with Ethiopia; of which we can only say, 

 that it is a vast region, extending from the Jibbel-el-Kumri, or 

 Mountains of the Moon, on the north, to the tropic of Capricorn on 

 the south ; but it is, as yet, almost entirely unknown to the civilized 

 world. Cazembe, is said to be a considerable state in its southern 

 part. The name South Africa, is applied to that part of Africa 

 which lies south of the tropic of Capricorn : including the British 

 Colony of the Cape, in the south ; the country of the Hottentots, 

 in the middle and west; and Caffraria and Bushuana, in the east. 

 Its chief river is the Orange, running westward, through the Hot- 

 tentot region. The chief towns are, Cape Town, in the Cape 

 Colony; and Lattalcoo, and Kurreechane, in Boshuana. The Cape 

 Colony was first settled by the Dutch, but taken by the English in 

 1795, and again in 1806. The Hottentots, including the Damaras, 

 Namaquas, and Bushmen, are an extremely barbarous and degraded 

 people. South Africa is the coolest, and perhaps the most healthy 

 portion, which has yet been explored, of this quarter of the globe. 



Eastern Africa, may be considered as extending from the tropic 

 of Capricorn, or Delagoa Bay, northward to the strait of Babel- 

 mandel ; and it may be divided into the coast of Mozambique ; and 

 that of Zanguebar; the latter including Ajan. The inhabitants are 

 mostly of the African race ; governed by petty chiefs ; and many 

 of them profess the Mohamedan religion. The Coast of Mozam- 

 bique, extending north to Cape Delgado, includes the small states of 

 Inhambane, Sofala, Mocaranga, and Mosambique, on the coast ; 

 and Monomotapa, in the interior. The Cuama, or Zambeze, is its 

 principal river ; and its chief towns are, Inhambane, Sofala, Quili- 

 mane, and Mosambique, all of which are subject to the Portuguese. 

 The Maravis, and the Bo-roras, are the principal tribes, scattered 

 through the interior. 



The Coast of Zanguebar, extends northward from Mozam- 

 bique ; and includes the states of Quiloa and Mombas, in the south ; 



