THE 



NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE. 



Yol. I. 1889. No. 2. 



AFRICA, ITS PAST AND FUTURE. 



Africa, the oldest of the continents, containing the earliest 

 remains of man, and the birthplace of European civilization, is 

 the last to be explored. Long before the temples of India or the 

 palaces of Nineveh were built, before the hanging garden of 

 Babylon was planted, the pyramids of Cheops and Cephren had 

 been constructed, the temples of Palmyra and Thebes filled with 

 worshipers. 



Greece owes its civilization to Egypt: its beautiful orders of 

 architecture came from the land of the Nile. The civilization of 

 Egypt had grown old, and was in its decay, when Rome was 

 born. Think what a vast abyss of time separates us from the 

 days of Romulus and Remus! And yet the pyramids of Egypt 

 were then older by a thousand years than all the centuries that 

 have passed since then. 



For ages upon ages, Africa has refused to reveal its Secrets to 

 civilized man, and, though explorers have penetrated it from 

 every side, it remains to-day the dark continent. This isolation 

 of Africa is due to its position and formation. It is a vast, ill- 

 formed triangle, with few good harbors, without navigable rivers 

 for ocean-vessels, lying mainly in the torrid zone. A fringe of 

 low scorched land, reeking with malaria, extends in unbroken 

 monotony all along the coast, threatening death to the adventur- 

 ous explorer. Our ignorance of Africa is not in consequence of 



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