34 Herbert G. Ogden — Geogra2)]iy of the Land. 



Sahara are becoming the subject of dispute in the anxiety to 

 establish jjower that may Avielcl an influence in distributing the 

 wealth that may be found. 



From what regions of the continent the future wealth is to be 

 derived we cannot predict. The uncertainty is, perhaps, the con- 

 sideration in the j)roblem of development that leaves vast areas 

 with undefined boundaries, though nominally within the sphere 

 of influence of a specified power. There are fully 2,000,000 

 square miles yet to be explored before we may know the general 

 geographic features of the continent, and a much larger area 

 that must be examined and studied by experts before any rea- 

 sonable estimate of its value and adaptability to the schemes of 

 civilized man can be approached. The great strides that have 

 been made in recent years in seizing upon the unclaimed terri- 

 tories doubtless received the larger impetus from the revelations 

 in Mr. Stanley's explorations. The Kongo is recognized to be 

 a natural highway leading to a region believed to be susceptible 

 of remunerative development. Preparations have been made to 

 construct a railroad around the falls in the lower river to over- 

 come the greatest practical obstacle to its fullest utilization. We 

 may reasonably expect commercial enterprises on extensive scales 

 to speedily follow the completion of this road and hasten the ac- 

 quisition of a more perfect knowledge of the Kongo basin, not 

 within the boundaries of the Kongo Free State alone, but also 

 the region drained by the great tributaries from the north and 

 the sections naturally dependent U]3on this great river system. 



The Kongo is but one line on Avhich the general advance is 

 being made upon the interior of the continent. The French 

 seem determined upon extending their influence on the north- 

 ern and western coasts, and the Portuguese, English, Germans, 

 and Italians are pronounced in their efforts on the eastern coast, 

 while the English are careful, too, of their interests from the 

 south, and seem to have almost unlimited scope north of Victoria 

 Nyanza. The progress of the advancing colonization will neces- 

 sarily be accelerated or retarded by the geographic condttions 

 encountered in the different regions. In some, it may be the 

 difficulty of maintaining communication with older settlements ; 

 in others, that the land is unproductive or the probable gains not 

 sufficiently attractive ; and lastly, the great density of the native 

 population in certain districts is likely to prove a hindrance that 

 it may require many years to overcome. On the lower Niger, in 



