Africa^ its Past and Ftcture. 101 



present, travelers in ever-increasing numbers have entered Africa 

 from every side. Some who have entered from the Atlantic or 

 Pacific coasts have been lost in its wilds, and two or three years 

 after have emerged on the opposite coast ; others have passed 

 from the coast, and have never been heard from. Zanzibar has 

 been a favorite starting-point for the lake region of Central 

 Africa. Stanley started from Zanzibar on his search for Living- 

 stone with two white men, but returned alone. Cameron set out 

 by the same })ath with two companions, but, upon reaching the 

 lake region, he was alone. Keith Johnson, two or three years 

 ago, started with two Europeans: within a couple of months he 

 was gone. Probably every second man, stricken down by fever 

 or accident, has left his bones to bleach along the road. Drum- 

 mond, a recent explorer of Africa, chose a route by the Zambezi 

 and Shire Rivers as healthier and more desirable. Let us hear his 

 experience. Early in his journey, at the missionary station of 

 Livingstonia, on Lake Nyanza, he entered a missionary home: it 

 was spotlessly clean; English furniture in the room, books lying 

 about, dishes in the cupboards; but no missionary. He went to 

 the next house: it was the school; the benches and books were 

 there, but neither scholars nor teacher. Next, to the blacksmith 

 shop: there were the tools and anvil, but no blacksmith. And 

 so on to the next and the next, all in perfect order, but all empty. 

 A little way oif, among the mimosa groves, under a huge granite 

 mountain, were graves: there were the missionaries. 



The Niger is the only river in all Africa navigable by small 

 steamers from the ocean; but the Niger does not give access to 

 the interior, as it rises within 100 miles of the ocean, and, after 

 making a great bend around the mountains of the Guinea coast, 

 empties into the ocean only about five degrees south of its source, 

 after a course of 2,500 miles. Its main branch, the Benue (or 

 " Mother of Waters "), is navigable 500 or 600 miles above its 

 junction with the Niger. The country through which it flows is 

 thickly peopled and well cultivated ; but the natives are fierce 

 and warlike, and have until recently prevented any exploration 

 of the Benue. 



The Mountains of Africa. 



As mountain-ranges determine the course of rivers, influence 

 the rainfall, and temper the climate, we must understand the 

 mountain system of Africa before we can understand the con- 

 tinent as a whole. 



