SOCIAL CONDITION OF AFRICA. 239 



now m full exercise, of driving them by thousands to the 

 markets of Kano and Tripoli. 



In general we may observe, that while the Mohammedan 

 converts in Central Africa are so intensely bigoted in re- 

 spect to dogmas, they are more lax in practice than their 

 brethren of Cairo and Tripoli. The females arc not so 

 closely immured ; and the men seldom adhere to that pre- 

 cept of the Koran which enjoins abstinence from fermented 

 liquors. The bouza, or acid beer, circulates briskly in Mos- 

 lem as well as in pagan circles. It is true that the sove- 

 reigns, who are usually zealous Mussulmans, are occasionally 

 seized with a paroxysm of zeal, and denounce dreadful pe- 

 nalties against all who indulge in this beloved liquor. But 

 this proceeding, being extremely unpopular, causes only a 

 transitory emotion, Avhich soon subsides, and affairs resume 

 their wonted course. 



The Mohammedan religion, wherever it is estabU&hed, has 

 abolished the horrors of human sacrifice, — a great and im- 

 portant good. In all other respects, the introduction of this 

 foreign race and foreign creed seems only to have deepened 

 the evils under which Africa had formerly suffered. 



Colonization, which in America has been carried to so 

 vast an extent, filling that continent ahnost entirely with an 

 European population, has never been attempted in Africa, 

 except on the most limited scale. By much the largest co- 

 lony is that founded by the Dutch at the Cape of Good Hope, 

 which was transferred to the English by the events of the 

 last war. In 1827, it was estimated to contain a population 

 of 120,000, being nearly double the amount in 1798 ; about 

 47,000 were Europeans, 28,000 Hottentots, and 35,000 

 slaves. Cape Town, which in 1824 comprised a population 

 of 18,668, has probably increased to upwards of 20,000, and 

 is now quite an English city, having newspapers, a " South 

 African Journal" devoted to literature and science, and many 

 intelligent inhabitants. 



Ten years ago, under the severe pressure felt in Britain, 

 from the scarcity of employment and subsistence, several 

 thousands were sent out to occupy the district of Albany iiv 

 the eastern part of the colony. This settlement has not 

 been prosperous ; and the expectation that it would prove a 

 thriving agricultural station has, for the present, been dis- 



