A F R 



APR 



and compclltrd to embark, and make tlicir cfcnpe. The 

 conqueii; of Africa was finally eompltled lu-t\vcen tlic years 

 698 and 709. To the progrefs and ellablifhrncnt ot the 

 Saracens, we may aferibe the decline and extinftion of 

 Chrillianity, on the northern coaft of Africa. Gibbon'sHiil. 

 of the Decline and Fall of the Roman empire, vol. iv. 301. 

 vol. vi. u, &c. vol. vii. 168. — 186. — ;^49. vol. ix. 449, &c. 



When the Saracen empire was divided into feven king- 

 doms in 93f), the African llatcs retained their indejiendence 

 long after the others were fubducd by the Turki ; but in 

 the beginning of the i6lh century, being afraid of falling 

 und-jr the yoke of Spain, they invited the Turks to their 

 affiltance ; who firll protected, and tlien enllaved them. 

 They are Hill dependent on the Ottoman empire ; not as 

 fubjedls of the Grand Seignior, but as acknowledging his 

 protedion by an annual tribute. On the coalls piracy pre- 

 vails to fueh a degree, that fome of the chief princes in 

 Kurope have been gl.id to procure liberty to trade in the 

 Mediterranean without muleftation, by a pecuniary com- 

 penfation. 



Africa, as it is defcribed hy modern geographers, is a 

 large peninfula, eonnefted with Afia by the illhmus of 

 Suez ; bounded on the north by the Mediterranean, which 

 feparates it froni Europe ; on the eaft by the above-named 

 ifthmus, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean, which divides 

 it from Afia ; on the fouth by the Southern Ocean; and on 

 the weft by the Atlantic, which icparates it from America; 

 and extending from Cape Bona in the Mediterranean, 37° 

 10' N. lat. to the Cape of Good Hope, 34° 29'. S. lat. or 

 about 4980 miles, and from Cape Verd 17° 33'. \V. long. 

 to Cape Guardafui, near the ftraits of Babelmandcl, 5 1 '' 

 20'. E. long, or about 4790 miles. Its figure is that of 

 a triangle or pyramid, whofe bafe is the northern part, 

 reaching along the Mediterranean from the mouth of the 

 Nile to the Itraits of Gibraltar, and vertex the Cape of 

 Good Hope ; but the fides, extending along the Atlantic 

 to the weft, and the Red Sea or Indian Ocean to the call, 

 are very irregular. As the equator paffes nearly throngli 

 the middle of the country, the greattft part of it lies 

 within the tropics ; and therefore the heat, augmented by 

 the refleftion of the fandy foil of the interior parts, is hardly 

 tolerable to any befides the natives. Thoie parts, however, 

 that lie near the coalls or in vallies, and on the banks of 

 the rivers, are very fertile and produflive ; and the country 

 in general is capable of great improvement by^cultivation. 

 Its fituation for commerce is preferable to that of any other 

 quarter of the globe ; as it has a more eafy communica- 

 tion with Europe, Afia and America, than cither of thefe 

 has with the rell. Its coaft is oppofite to that of Europe, 

 for almoft 1000 miles from eaft to weft, and the diftance of 

 one from the other is no where too leagues, ' and in fome 

 places not more than 20 leagues. It is feparated from Afia 

 only by the Red Sea for a confiderable intei-val from north 

 to fouth, and their diftance is from 5 leagues to 50 : it 

 alfo fronts the fouthern coaft of Afia, though at a greater 

 diftance, and it is adapted for commerce by the interpo- 

 fition of iflands from Madagafcar. to Malabar, and by the 

 alternation of the trade winds. Its coall for 2000 miles 

 lies oppofite to America, and the weftern iflands, at a dif- 

 tance of 500 to 700 leagues. Befides, it has many large 

 and navigable rivers, which interieift the country in various 

 direftions, and form a communication between the internal 

 parts and the furrounding ocean ; and its harbom-s are very 

 numerous and commodious, and capable of being rendered 

 fecure by fortifications. The principal rivers of Africa, 

 which we ftiall more particularly dcfcribe under their feve- 

 ral names, are the Nile, Niger, Morocco, G.iMBiA, 



SiiNrcAi., SiF.RRA Leona, Benin, Congo, Zaire, 

 Wanza, Bravahvl, Rio del Spirito Santo, Kun- 

 ENi, Macumbo, Lores /.o, Sabla, Kvama or Zam- 

 BESE, Coavo, Zeuee, and Magadoxa. There are 

 many other rivers which will be mentioned in the detail 

 of the feveral countries to which they belong. On 

 the banks of feveral of thefe rivers there are villages and 

 towns, which carry on a confiderable traffic, and exchange 

 their valuable commodities, as gums, elephant's teeth. Haves, 

 civet, be/.oar and gold duft tor European trinkets, glafs 

 beads, bugles, or, at beft, fome bruts or iron tools, and 

 frequently for brandy and other Ipirituous liquors, of which 

 the inhabitants are fo fond that they will part even with 

 their children in order to obtain them. Another fource of 

 commerce is found in the mines with which the mountains 

 abound. The mountains of Africa arc the Atlas, the 

 vtoutt'aiiis of the MooN, llic niounlains of Sii- rr.\ JLeona ; 

 the mountains of Cryftal near the lake of Zafiaii, fo called 

 from their mines of that beautiful mineral, and thofe of fak- 

 petrc, Kretcliing eaftvvard from the kingdom of Congo, the 

 Pico-franco running through the middle ot Callrana, and 

 part of the counti-y of the Hottentots, the Table mountain at 

 the Cape of Good Hope, fo called from its fquare figure, and 

 other mountains of Abyssinia. From the difcoverics of 

 Mr. Park, a late traveller in Africa, we learn, that a belt 

 of mountains, extending from weft to eaft, occupies the 

 parallels between 10 and ii degrees of N. lat. This great 

 ridge of mountains is very produftive in gold, and more 

 particularly in the parts oppofite to MandinG and Bam- 

 BouK on the weft, and to Wangara ou the eaft. See 

 ToMBucToo. — Moft of the countries bordering on the 

 mountains ftiare in their wealth hy means of the rivulets that 

 flow from them. There is no country in the world, fays 

 Leo Africanus, richer in gold and filver than fome kingdoms 

 in Africa ; as thofe of Mandlngo, Ethiopia, Congo, Angola, 

 Butua, Quiticui, Monomotapa, Cafati' and Mocnemugi. 

 Father Labat alfo minutely fpecifies a great variety of 

 rich mines, of Vv'hich the negroes have not been able to avail 

 themlelves fufficiently, on account of their ignorance of the 

 operations of mining. Copper is a valuable ore found in 

 this part of the globe ; and in fuch abundance, that an 

 opinion pervails, that the mountains called Atlas are all 

 copper. On the northern coafts, the fields, though im- 

 perfeftly cultivated, produce very large crops of grain : and 

 it is very reafonably luppofed, from the qualities of the foil 

 and climate in diff'erent parts of the country, that the 

 richeft articles of the Eaft and Weft-India commerce might 

 be obtained from Africa. The fpices of Banda, Ternate 

 and Amboyna, might be produced on the rich and fruitful 

 ftiofes of Melinda on the eaft fide, or on thole of the fiave 

 coaft on the weft fide of the countiy. The cinnamon of 

 Ceylon, the tea of China and Japan, and the coffee of 

 Mocha, might be produced on the fame coaft ; and it has 

 been affirmed, that the fugars of Barbadoes and Jamaica, 

 and alfo the ginger, cotton, rice, pepper or pimento, with 

 the cocoa, the indigo, and every other plant which is now 

 obtained from thefe iflands, would be as eafily produced in 

 Africa, and that the crops would be equafly profitable, if 

 they were cultivated with the fame ikill and induftry as in 

 America. Notvvithftanding the capability of cultivation 

 and the advantages for commerce which Africa pofleffes, it 

 is lamentable to refleft, that a country which has near 

 1 0,000 miles of fea-coaft, many large rivers and good har- 

 bours, a prodntlive foil and exteniive population, (hould 

 remain deftitute of the benefits which arts and induftry, and 

 commerce, might aft'ord them. It is a reproach to neigh- 

 bouring nations, that fuch a country fhould be fo long 



jieglected; 



