TRANSACTIONS 



OF 



VASSAR BROTHERS INSTITUTE, 

 1890—1893. 



NOVEMBER 11, 1890-PIFTY-THIRD REGULAR MEETING. 



Henry V. Pelton, president, presented the following 

 paper, entitled 



AFRICA AND HER FUTURE. 



BY HENRY V. PELTON. 



Africa has been marked on the maps of the world for 

 many a century. Its outline has been, in the main, 

 correctly designated since 1600. But little more than its 

 location and its form was known for two and a half cen- 

 turies later. It lay close to the continents where the 

 dominant civilizations of the world were developing and 

 showing their strength in daring 'deeds of discovery 

 and conquest, yet beyond the stretch of country which 

 bordered the Mediterranean Sea this discovery and 

 conquest scarcely touched Africa. Distant America and 

 Australia were found, and in these the civilization of Eu- 

 rope was implanted and carried to their farthest limits, 

 but this great continent remained unpenetrated. Even 

 after travelers began to thread their way through its wilds 

 and after the dots of settlement along the coast had re- 

 vealed something of the value of the country, European 

 nations made little effort to colonize it and to secure em- 

 pire therein, and until very recent years, its relation 



