14 NATURAL FEATURES OF AFRICA. 



has an existence likelj to be coe^'aI with theirs, our concern 

 is with her actual condition, presenting as it does many pe- 

 culiar claims to interest in the eyes of the philosopher and 

 politician. 



The physical peculiarities which distinguish Africa seem 

 to depend chiefly on the circumstance that almost her wliole 

 territory is situated within the tropics. The other portions 

 of the earth's surface which lie directly beneath the solar 

 influence consist generally either of sea, or of narrow and 

 insular lands, refreshed by breezes from the ocean. But 

 the greatest breadth of Africa is under the immediate power 

 and dominion of the sun ; and most of her people see that 

 great planet, in its annual progress from tropic to tropic, 

 pass twice over their heads, and thus experience a repeti- 

 tion of its most intense and perpendicular rays. The high- 

 est blessings of this sublunary world, when carried beyond 

 a certain limit, become its deadliest bane. That parent 

 orb, which cheers aiA illumines the rest of the earth, glares 

 on Africa with oppressive and malignant beam, blasting the 

 face of nature, and covering her with barrenness and deso- 

 lation. Sometimes it converts the soil into a naked desert, 

 sometimes overspreads it with a noxious excess of animal 

 and vegetable life. The soil, when not watered by copious 

 rains or river inundations, is scorched and dried up till it 

 is converted into a dreary waste. Hence it is, that in Af- 

 rica plains of sand form a feature so truly alarming. The 

 Great Desert, with the exception of the narrow valley of 

 the Nile, reaches across the entire continent, exhibiting an 

 expanse of burning surface, where for many days the tra- 

 veller finds not a drop of water, nor sees the least vestige 

 of animal or vegetable nature. He pursues his dreary 

 route amid loose hills, continually shifting, and leaving no 

 marks to guide his course. Every breeze is filled with 

 dust, v/hich enters the mouth and nostrils, and penetrates 

 between the clothes and skin. Sometimes it drives along 

 in clouds and whirlwinds, beneath which it was once thought 

 that caravans and even armies had been buried ; but it is 

 now ascertained that the numerous bones which whiten 

 the desert are merely those of travellers who have sunk 

 under famine, thirst, and fatigue ; and that the sand, which 

 continually blows, has accunmlated above them. Travet- 

 lers over these tracts of shingle have been impressed with 



