Geography of the Gaboon. 
47 
cede more than 60 miles from the sea, and ethno- 
logically no line can yet be drawn. The country is 
almost bisected by the equator, and by the Rio 
de Gabao, which discharges in north latitude 
o° 21' 25" and east longitude 9 0 21' 23"; and it 
corresponds in parallel with the Somali-Galla 
country and the Juba River on the east coast. 
The general aspect of the region is prepossess¬ 
ing. It is a rolling surface sinking towards the 
Atlantic, in parts broken by hills and dwarf chains, 
either detached or pushed out by the Ghats; a 
land of short and abnormally broad rivers, which 
cannot, like the Congo, break through the ridges 
flanking the Central African basin, and which 
therefore are mere surface drains of the main ranges. 
The soil is mostly sandy, but a thin coat of rich 
vegetable humus, quickened by heavy rains and 
fiery suns, produces a luxuriant vegetation ; whilst 
the proportion of area actually cultivated is no¬ 
thing compared with the expanse of bush. In the 
tall forests, which abound in wild fruits, there are 
beautiful tracts of clear grassy land, and the woods, 
clear of undergrowth, resemble an English grove 
more than a tropical jungle. Horses, which die of 
the tsetse (Glossina morsitans) in the interior of 
North Guinea, and of damp heat at Fernando Po, 
thrive on its downs and savannahs. The Elais palm 
is rare, sufficing only for home use. The southern 
parts, about Cape Lopez and beyond it, resemble 
