AFRICA. 145 



eastward* by Tombuctoo, Houssa, and Cashna, terminating, as it is 

 supposed, in some lakes farther to the eastward ; and the Nile, which, 

 dividing Egypt into two parts, discharges itself into the Mediterranean, 

 after a prodigious course from its source in Abyssinia. The most 

 considerable mountains in Africa are the Atlas, a ridge extending 

 from the Western Ocean, to which it gives the name of Atlantic 

 Ocean, as far as Egypt ; it had its name from a king of Mauritania, 

 a great lover of astronomy, who used to observe the stars from its 

 summit; on which account the poets represent him as bearing the 

 heavens on his shoulders; the Mountains of the Moon, extending 

 themselves between Abyssinia and Monomotapa or Mocaranga, and 

 which are still higher than those of Atlas; those of Sierra Leone, or 

 the Mountains of the Lions, which divide Nigritia from Guinea, and* 

 extend as far as Ethiopia. These latter were styled by the ancients 

 the Mountains of the God, on account of their being subject to thun- 

 der and lightning. The Peak of Teneriffe, which the Dutch make 

 their first meridian, is about two miles high, in the form of a sugar- 

 loaf, and is situated on an island of the same name near the coast. 

 The most noted capes or promontories in this country are Cape Verd, 

 so called because the land is always covered with green trees and 

 mossy ground ; it is the most westerly point of the continent of Africa ; 

 and the Cape of Good Hope, so denominated by the Portuguese, when 

 they first went round it in 1489, and discovered the passage to Asia. 

 This is the southern extremity of Africa, in the country of the Hot- 

 tentots; and the general rendezvous of ships of every nation who 

 trade to India, being about halfway from Europe. There is but one 

 strait in Africa, which is called Babel-Mandel, and joins the Red Sea 

 with the Indian Ocean. 



The situation of Africa for commerce is extremely favourable, 

 standing as it were in the centre of the globe, and having thereby a 

 much nearer communication with Europe, Asia, and America, than 

 any of the other quarters has with the rest. That it abounds with 



* This river has long been an object of research and dispute with respect to 

 its origin and course. According to Mr. Lucas's communications to the African 

 Association, " the rise and termination of the Niger are unknown, but the course 

 is from east to west." He adds, " so great is its rapidity, that no vessel can as- 

 cend its stream ; and such is the want of skill, or such the absence of commercial 

 inducements, among the nations which inhabit its borders, that, even with the cur- 

 rent, neither vessels nor boats are seen to navigate. That the people who live in 

 the neighbourhood of the Niger should refuse to profit by its navigation may 

 justly surprise the traveller ; but much greater is his astonishment when he finds 

 that even the food which the bounty of the stream would give, is uselessly offered 

 to their acceptance ; for such is the want of skill, or such the settled dislike of 

 the people to this sort of provision, that the fish, with which the river abounds, 

 are left in undisturbed possession of the waters." (Proceedings of the African 

 Association, p. 183, 189.) It was also generally believed that the Gambia and 

 Senegal were branches of the Niger. All these reports are, however, fully dis* 

 provedby the late discoveries of Mr. Park, who reached the banks of the Niger, 

 or, as it is Called by the natives, the Joliba, at Sego, the capital of Bambarra, 

 where he saw it " flowing slowly to the eastward." On the river were numerous 

 canoes ; and proceeding farther, he tells us, that he " passed a great many villages 

 inhabited chiefly by fishermen, who caught great plenty of fish, by means of long 

 cotton nets, which they make themselves, and use nearly in the same manner as 

 nets are used in Europe." Those who would see more concerning this celebrated 

 river, and the different opinions and notices of ancient and modern geographers 

 and travellers, relative to its rise, course, and termination, may consult the ample 

 and ingenious disquisition on that subject, in Major Renneli's. Geographical llhtf* 

 Vation of Africa, subjoined to Mr. Park's Travels. 

 Vol. II U 



