SOCIAL CONDITION OF AFRICA. 237 



occur some singular anomalies. A bold and independent spirit 

 has been supposed to characterize man in a rude and un- 

 civilized condition ; and, accordingly, a number of petty 

 communities here present an aristocratic, and sometimes 

 even a republican form. But all the great kingdoms are 

 subject to the most complete and abject despotism. Thou- 

 sands of brave warriors bend down to one of their fellow- 

 mortals with a profound and servile abasement, never wit- 

 nessed in polished or, as we call them, corrupted societies. 

 Examples so frequent and striking have occurred in the 

 course of this narrative, that we need not adduce any other 

 illustration. It deserves particular notice that the nations 

 in this degrading condition are the most numerous, the most 

 powerful, and most advanced in all the arts and improve- 

 ments of life ; that, if we except the human sacrifices to 

 which blind veneration prompts them, they display even a 

 disposition more amiable, manners more dignified and 

 polished, and moral conduct more correct, than prevail 

 among the citizens of the small free states, who are 

 usually idle, turbulent, quarrelsome, and licentious. Bad, 

 therefore, as absolute power is in itself, there appears, ne- 

 vertheless, in the disposition shown by man to submit to it 

 in this uncultivated state, something salutary, and which 

 even tends to his ultimate improvement. 



The foreign races who have settled in Africa by migra- 

 tion and conquest are found fully established in the fine 

 country along the Mediterranean. The inroad of the Arabs 

 or Saracens, and the subsequent conquest by the sultans, 

 have stamped completely their character on this vast region. 

 The Turkish sabre and the Moslem creed lord it over 

 these ancient seats of empire, light, and civilization. The 

 remnants of the native tribes are either sunk in degradation, 

 as the Copts, lurking in the recesses of the mountains, or 

 wandering over desert plains, as the Brebers, the Tibboos, 

 and the Tuaricks. The once-varied frame of society is now 

 moulded into one gloomy monotony, such as is always pro- 

 duced by the influence of Mussulman habits. Turkish 

 cities exhibit every where one uniform aspect ; high walls of 

 earth, without windows, border on narrow and dirty streets ; 

 and the nakedness and desolation of the exterior often form 

 a striking contrast with the barbarian splendour within. A 

 deep and grave solemnity, the absence of all gay and social 



