108 National Geographic Magazine. 



the Germans have abandoned it, for we are told that " the coast 

 is sandy and waterless, deficient in good harbors, devoid of 

 permanent rivers, washed by never-ceasing surf, bristling with 

 reefs, and overhung by a perpetual haze." 



North of Zulu-Land, the Portuguese claim the coast to Zan- 

 zibar. Over Zanzibar, Germany has lately assumed the protec- 

 torate, under a treaty with the Sultan of the country, claiming 

 the land from the ocean to the great lakes ; then England again, 

 a little to the north and far to the west of Zanzibar, the rival 

 of Germany in its claims. The English have factories west of 

 Zanzibar, and a regular route up the Zambezi and Shire Rivers, 

 with a single portage to Lake Nyassa, and a road to Lake Tan- 

 ganyika. They have steamers on each of the lakes, and several 

 missionary and trading stations. The latest news from this part 

 of Africa says the route to the lakes has been closed, and fhe 

 missionaries and merchants murdered. 



North of the English possessions, the coast to the Red Sea is 

 barren and inhospitable : it has little rain and no harbors, and is 

 so worthless that it has not been claimed by any European na- 

 tion. North of this region is Abyssinia on the Indian Ocean and 

 Red Sea, — a mountainous country with deep valleys, rich and 

 fertile, but very unhealthy. Three or four thousand feet above 

 the level of the sea, is a healthier country, inhabited by a race of 

 rugged mountaineers, whom it has been impossible to dispossess 

 of their lands. North of Abyssinia, on the Red Sea, Italy has a 

 small colony at Massaua, and England a camp at Suakin. The 

 only parts of the coast not claimed by Europeans are inhos- 

 pitable, without popula;tion or cultivation of any kind. 



The Belgians have spent many millions in the exploration of 

 the Kongo and its tributaries. They have eighteen small steamers 

 making trips from Leopoldville up the river to Stanley Falls, and 

 up its branches, supplying the main stations in the basin of the 

 Kongo, The Kongo Free State, unlike all other African colonies, 

 is free to all. Merchants of any nation can establish factories, 

 carry on trade, and enjoy the same privileges and equal facilities 

 with the Belgians. The valley of the Kongo, and the plateau of 

 the great lakes, have a similar climate and soil ; but the Kongo 

 is easier of access, provisions are cheaper, more readily obtained, 

 and the natives are less warlike. The Kongo Free State will 

 therefore be more rapidly settled than any other part of Africa 

 excepting Cape Colony. 



