86 GENERAL FEATURES OF THE 
is occupied by the chain of the Atlas mountains and 
their various ramifications, which rise in some in- 
stances above the snow line, and give origin to 
various rivers and streams which pour themselves 
into the Mediterranean or Atlantic, and fertilize the 
rich plains of Barbary and Morocco. On the east- 
ern part of the continent again, the lofty chains of 
Samen and Taranta, and the Kong or Mountains of 
the Moon, penetrate far into the interior, and form a 
succession of elevated terraces and table lands 
throughout Abyssinia and the surrounding countries; 
whilst tle extreme south is occupied by the Nieuw- 
veld, Sneeuwberg, and other mountains extending 
beyond Tembia and Delagoa of less importance, but 
which nevertheless do not fail to produce very essen- 
tial modifications upon the climate and tempera- 
ture of the country. All these parts of Africa, as 
they enjoy the climate, so likewise do they possess 
the productions of the temperate zone, mixed, it is 
true, with the more usual inhabitants of the tropics, 
but still preserving a decidedly temperate character. 
‘Thus we find the bear, the stag, the moufflon and 
the wild boar, as common in Northern Africa, as in 
any part of Europe ; and although the lion and the 
panther are likewise inhabitants of the same locali- 
ties, yet it must not be forgotten that these formi- 
dable animals, at least the lion, were as common in 
Macedon and Beeotia in the time of the ancient 
Greeks, as they are in any part of Africa at the pre- 
sent day. | 
