228 SOCIAL CONDITION OF AFRICA* 



rest, not upon supposed resemblances of fonn and figlirev 

 or faint analogies between the language of distant nations, 

 but upon the introduction, within the limits of authentic 

 history, of a people, manners, and religion belonging to 

 another continent. The changes now mentioned were 

 effected, in a great measure, by the inroads of the Arabs or 

 Saracens, and afterward by the conquests of the Turks,— ^ 

 events which have diffused over the northern half of Africa 

 a social system every way different from that of the tribes 

 by whom it was formerly inhabited. We shall begin, how* 

 ever, with considering the native races who at present peo- 

 ple this quarter of the globe. 



The native tribes of Africa exist generally in that stage "^ 

 of society which is denominated barbarian. They are ele- , 

 vated above the hunting or savage state, by the power of *, 

 taming and subjecting the lower animals, and by a certain ' 

 rude agriculture which the fertility of the soil renders pro- ■ 

 ductive. Yet few of them are nomadic and wandering like - 

 the Arabs or the Tartars : they generally have native seats, < 

 to which they cling with strong feelings of local attach- , 

 rient. Even the tenants of the Desert, who roam widely 

 in quest of commerce and plunder, have their little watered 

 valleys, or circuit of hills, in which they make their perma- 

 nent abode. 



Agriculture, including pasturage, forms the most im- 

 portant branch of industry in every society, and more espe- 

 cially in one where all the finer arts are yet in a state of in- 

 fancy. In Africa, however, both the extent of cultivation 

 and the processes employed are still extremely imperfect. 

 This is particularly manifest from the fact that no private 

 property in land has been any where established. Every 

 city or village is encircled by an unoccupied domain of 

 forest or waste, belonging to the king or the state, and of 

 which a portion is ready to be granted to any one who will 

 undertake the labour and expense of cultivation ; while the 

 remainder forms an immense cormnon, on which all the in- 

 habitants have the liberty of pasturing their cattle. There 

 are in Africa no country-seats, no rural farms, such as em- 

 bellish the aspect of an European landscape ; and which, in 

 fact, could not exist in safety, where each little state is be- 

 girt with hostile neighbours, and so many predatory bands 

 are prowling in every direction. The population is col- 



