AFRICA. mountainous regions; but these have not hitherto been explored, with the exception of Abyssinia. (See art, ABYSSINIA.) At present curiosity seems more alive to that which is naturally, indeed, the primary object of attention, the ascertaining of the more grand and general features of African nature.

Minerals.

Quadru

peds.

MINERALS.-At present the mineral productions of this continent are known but imperfectly; travellers having paid little attention to the subject. The topaz, the emerald, the agate, the jasper, and various other species are found in different places. There are mines of silver in the territory of Tunis; copper also is found in quantities in the western Atlas, and at Fertit, in Abyssinia, and behind Mosambique; also in the mountains behind Congo, and those beyond the orange river. Iron abounds in Morocco, and various other places. But what is chiefly characteristic of this continent is, that gold is very widely diffused; and is obtained in the form of dust in the sand of rivers, or the alluvial soil of vallies or plains. In the middle and southern districts there are several tracts remarkable for this metal, particularly Kordofan, between Darfur and Abyssinia, whence it is brought by the negroes in quills of the ostrich and vulture. Gold is collected also in the plain which stretches from the mountains of Kong, and in the sands of all the rivers which flow from them. Most of the gold which is disposed of on the western coast, as well as what is brought to Morocco, Fez, Algiers, and Egypt, is furnished at Bambouk, on the north-west of these mountains. The district also nearly opposite to Madagascar, on the south-east coast, not only produces gold, but is said to contain it in veins.

QUADRUPEDS.-The animal creation claims an almost prescriptive right in many considerable tracts of this mighty continent, and exhibits some of the largest species that have ever yet been discovered by zoologists. The lion roams through the African forests as well as the panther, the leopard, and the hyena, which are almost peculiar to Africa. One species of the rhinoceros having two horns on the nose, and a smooth skin, is peculiar to this division of the globe, as is one species of elephant, which derives its name from the continent itself. Its head is rather round, forehead convex, ears large, and the surfaces of the grinders lozenge-shaped ridges. It has only three toes on the hind feet, and is never domesticated. Baboons and monkies of every species abound in all parts, and many of them are remarkable for their size, strength, and ferocity. The most singular of the baboon species is the simia troglodytes, chimpansè or orang-outang, which has strangely the appearance of the It is black, and occasionally attains the height of from five to six feet. Crocodiles and hippopotami abound in all the great rivers of Africa. Besides these, wild dogs, civet cats, squirrels, and other varieties occur. The black bear is met with in the mountains of Barbary. For animals of the horse kind Africa is distinguished: the zebra and the quagga are curiously marked; and in the northern parts, the common horse and the wild ass are found.

human race.

The dromedary is the most important domesticated quadruped of any not peculiar to Africa. It is called, emphatically, by the natives, the ship of the desert, being singularly qualified for being a beast of burden in that waste and wild region. Of the hoofed animals, the giraffe or camelopard, is the most remarkable; it

has sometimes been found eighteen feet high. The AFRICA red deer occurs only in the north of Africa. About thirty different species of the antelope are found, equally celebrated for their gracefulness, beauty, and fleetness. Goats and sheep appear to be rare. The Caffrarian buffalo is the only species of ox which is peculiar; it is large and ferocious.

BIRDS. Of birds there are about 642 species, of Birds. which, nearly 500 are peculiar to Africa. Of 87 genera, six or eight are peculiar. The didus or dodo, formerly known in the island of Bourbon, and in some parts of this continent has now been so long unseen, as to induce the belief that it has become extinct. The guinea fowl, of which there are three species, is a native: so is the ostrich, which abounds in the sandy deserts, and attains a height of from six to eight feet: it is remarkable for swiftness, lives in large troops, and produces eggs of three pounds weight, which are hatched by the heat of the sun. The parrot tribe is comparatively rare in Africa, but the insectiverous and frugiverous birds are numerous.

REPTILES, &C.-The crocodile is very common, but Reptiles is at present principally met with in Upper Egypt. It is &c. abundant in the Nile, the Senegal, and in all the rivers of Guinea. One species of the tortoise, called tyrsé, is peculiarly useful in Egypt, by devouring the young crocodiles the moment they are hatched: the ouaran, or monster of the Nile, a species of lizard, three feet long, was venerated by the ancient Egyptians, because it devours the eggs of the crocodiles. There is another species in the Congo six feet long. The cameleon is a native of Egypt and Barbary. The large serpents of Africa belong to the Python tribe. The boa constrictor is by some supposed to be a native, but this is doubted by others. Its prodigious size and habits render it truly formidable. The haje, called by the ancients aspic, is taught by the Egyptian jugglers to perform various feats, which they call dancing. The ancients imagined it guarded the fields, from its practice of erecting itself upon being approached; and adopting it as the emblem of protection, it was sculptured on the portals of the Egyptian temples.

INSECTS. The insects of Africa are excessively nu- Insects merous, and remarkable for their beauty. Of these the migratory locust is the most formidable: appearing in incalculable myriads, and spreading desolation over fertile provinces. Barrow mentions an instance in which an area of nearly two thousand square miles was covered by them, and the water of a wide river was scarcely visible from the multitudes that floated dead upon the surface. The ant is the next striking insect to the locust; they build nests which appear at a distance like villages, each being from ten to twelve feet in height, and some of them even twenty. These animals destroy every thing in the houses, and are able to cut through the trunks of trees in a few weeks. The Tsaltsalya has been mentioned in the article ABYSSINIA. Several species of bee are cultivated in many places. The tarantula spider abounds in Barbary; the common scorpion is a native; and the tendaraman spider, whose bite is fatal, is a native of Morocco: the great centipede abounds. Incalculable varieties of shells are met with on all the coasts and rivers and lakes. The famous nautilus of the ancients is found in the African seas. Many genera of zoophytes occur on the coasts: these curious and minute tribes construct reefs and islands, which

AFRICA. coast by Wedinoon and Cape Bojador. All the caravans carry with them considerable numbers of slaves across the desert; they have even been estimated, though perhaps with some exaggeration, at twenty thousand. Their treatment, however, is by no means harsh; they are used as domestic servants, and no severe labour is imposed. The slave is even treated as an equal, and sits at the same table with his master; sometimes rising into favouritism, and ascending to stations of dignity. There is nothing, therefore, in their situation in Africa resembling their degraded circumstances in the West Indies. The abolition of this trade, with regard to their own subjects, has done infinite honour to Great Britain, France, and America; and the consequence, we understand, has been a milder treatment of the slaves in the islands.

Salt is the chief basis of trade from northern to central Africa, which is exchanged for gold, with which Nigritia abounds. The salt is sold in slabs, one of which, 24 feet long, is worth from 27. to 27. 10s. In all the region which is watered by the central rivers, the desire for salt is such, that the inhabitants will suck pieces of it as children do sweetmeats or sugar. It is a curious fact, of which Dr. Shaw assures us, and honourable to the western Moors, that they carry on a trade with some barbarous nations bordering upon the Niger, without seeing the persons they trade with, or without having broken through the charter of commerce which from time immemorial has been settled between them. The method is this: "At a certain time of the year," says Dr. S. " in the winter if I am not mistaken, they make this journey in a numerous caravan, carrying along with them coral and glass beads, bracelets of horn, knives, scissars, and such like trinkets. When they arrive at the place appointed, which is on such a day of the moon, they find in the evening several different heaps of gold-dust lying at a small distance from each other, against which the Moors place so many of their trinkets as they judge will be taken in exchange for them. If the Nigritians, the next morning, approve of the bargain, they take up the trinkets and leave the gold-dust, or else make some deduction from the latter. In this manner they transact their exchange without seeing one another, or without the least instance of dishonesty or perfidiousness on either side." This extraordinary passage may be compared with an extract from Herodotus, which proves its high antiquity. "It is their custom (the Carthagenians), on arriving among them (the people beyond the columns of Hercules), to unload their vessels and dispose their goods along the shore. This done, they again embark, and make a great smoke from on board. The natives, seeing this, come down immediately to the shore, and placing a quantity of gold by way of exchange for the merchandize, retire. The Carthagenians then land a second time, and if they think the gold equivalent they take it and depart; if not, they again go on board their vessels. The inhabitants return and add more gold, till the crews are satisfied. The whole is conducted with the strictest integrity, for neither will the one touch the gold till they have left an adequate value in merchandize, nor will the other remove the goods till the Carthagenians have taken away the gold." HEROD, Melp. 196.

There is scarcely any manufacture in native Africa for exportation, excepting that of leather. For internal

consumption, cotton cloths are made by families for AFRIC their own use, and the smith furnishes implements to the agriculturist, arms to the warrior, and ornaments to the chiefs and the women. The Mediterranean states furnish leather, carpets, woollen caps, sashes, and silk handkerchiefs. Gold, ivory, gums, especially gum Senegal, hides, skins, oil, and woods, are important articles of importation.

PROGRESSIVE GEOGRAPHY.-In consequence of Progres the absence of those detailed narratives which abound geograp in modern times, and which either were never written, or have perished in the wrecks of time, our information of the knowledge acquired by the ancients of the African continent is necessarily limited and imperfect. Several expeditions are incidentally mentioned, and others were probably undertaken that have never been recorded upon the historic page. Eratasthenes notices the first division of the old world into continents, which began in the islands of the Cyclades, and was adopted to distinguish between the opposite shores of Greece and Caria; of which the latter contained a small district denominated Asia, and has since imparted its name to this entire division of the globe. The coast of Libya was called Africa, or Southland, with reference to its relative position to Greece. From these points discovery proceeded slowly; but with much greater rapidity along the western side of Africa. The northern coast, however, was known at the earliest period to the European nations of the north, whose several districts occur with great frequency in their writings. Almost all the expeditions of discovery were undertaken with a view of exploring the unknown regions of this vast section of the earth, and extraordinary efforts were made to effect its circumnavigation.

The first attempt was by order of Necho, king of Phoeni Egypt, which is thus related by Herodotus: "When naviga he (Necho) had desisted from his attempt to join by a canal the Nile with the Arabian gulph, he dispatched some vessels under the conduct of the Phoenicians, with directions to pass by the columns of Hercules; and, after penetrating the Northern ocean, to return to Egypt. These Phoenicians, taking their course from the Red sea, entered into the Southern ocean (i. e. the ocean that washes Africa on the east); on the approach of autumn, they landed in Libya, and planted some corn in the place where they happened to find themselves; when this was ripe, and they had cut it down, they again departed. Having thus consumed two years, they, in the third, doubled the columns of Hercules, and returned to Egypt. Their relation may obtain attention from others, but to me it seems incredible; for they affirmed, that having sailed round Libya, they had the sun on their right hand." Melpom. xlii. We are not surprised that in an age when astronomical science was so imperfect, the historian should express his disbelief of the statement of these navigators on account of their affirmation respecting the different position of the sun; but this is, in fact, a most decisive evidence of the truth of their narrative, since this must have been their actual observation after having passed the equinoctial line. The same historian also records another voyage made by Sataspes, a Per- Sata sian nobleman, who had been condemned by Xerxes to be crucified, but his sentence was afterwards altered to a severer one, as it was imagined, of undertaking a voyage round Africa. He passed the straits, but after

JA. proceeding several months along the western coast, he was intimidated by the sight of the far-stretching desert and the trackless ocean that beat its shores, and hastened to measure back his way. The next attempt was that of an unaided individual. This was Eudoxus, a native of Cyzicus, who having announced his intention to several maritime states, readily procured from them many adventurers, and fitted out an expedition upon a large scale. These, however, soon becoming discouraged, compelled him to approach the coast, where the ships struck upon a sand-bank, from whose scattered materials the enterprising Eudoxus constructed a new vessel, and proceeded on his voyage. Having advanced some distance, the smallness of his ship obliged him to return, when he applied to Bocchus, king of Mauritania, to patronise his efforts; but, after preparations were ordered, he was privately assured that the mariners had directions to abandon him on an uninhabited island, which induced him to fly to Iberia, where he equipped an expedition still better calculated for the undertaking than the first. Of the result, however, we are ignorant, as the narrative of Strabo ceases at the very period of this preparation. Other voyages were undertaken with more limited designs, of which the most ancient and most remark able was that of Hanno, who was sent out by the Carthagenians for the twofold purpose of discovery and colonization. Sixty large vessels were employed, containing, of both sexes, thirty thousand persons; with which commencing the navigation at the passage of the straits of Gibraltar, they proceeded along the coast to Cape Solocis, or the promontory of Libya, where they erected a temple to Neptune. After sailing round the bay, they came to the great river Lixus, where the scene was terminated by high mountains, inhabited by a wild race of Ethiopians; thence advancing along a desert coast, they discovered a small island, to which they gave the name of Cerne, where they founded a colony; after which they traversed a great extent of coast, and saw numerous islands, then returning to Cerne, proceeded in a southernly direction. There is a considerable diversity of opinion with regard to the extent of this voyage. Major Rennell believes that they proceeded to a little distance beyond Sierra Leone, whose mountains he thinks to be the same which they denominated the Chariot of the Gods; while M. Gosselin maintains that their course was along the coast of Morocco, and that they reached only just beyond the river of Nun. Their observations upon the general aspect of the country and the peculiarities of the inhabitants seem to correspond with those which now present themselves on the banks of the Gambia and Senegal. It is not improbable, as Dr. Robertson suggests, that the mercantile jealousy subsisting between these states might induce them to conceal some of their discoveries in remote regions. Still it is certain that the best informed of the ancient geographers possessed but a very limited knowledge on the subject, being equally ignorant both of the extent and the form of this continent. Neither the Greeks nor Romans sailed to any considerable distance along the exterior coast. The earliest voyages to the east were those recorded in scripture to Tarshish and Ophir, which some confine to the Arabian gulph; but the wellknown length of those voyages combines with other circumstances to induce the conviction that they

reached some distance along the coast of the Indian AFRICA. ocean. With regard to the interior, it was to the ancients rather the theme of song, or the source of wonder, than the scene of any exploratory journey. The general and indefinite term Ethiopians was applied to all the nations within or beyond the desert, though Nubia, including part of Abyssinia, was the country to which the term Ethiopia was more specially appropriated.. Herodotus mentions a most adventurous journey of five young Nasamonians, who traversed Libya, and penetrated into the great sandy desert, where they were taken by some men of small stature and black complexion, and carried to a city inhabited by people like themselves. Rennell supposes this must have been a city in central Africa, and a river of which they speak, flowing from west to east, the Niger. The next attempts were the expedition of two divisions of the army of Cambyses to the south and west of Egypt, of which the latter is believed to have perished in the desert. After this period, Alexander, when at Memphis, visited the temple of Jupiter Ammon, but his army suffered extremely in the march. Under the Ptolemies, it is more than probable that many efforts were made to penetrate the interior. The Romans also, most likely, undertook several expeditions, of which Ptolemy (b. i. ch. viii.) has given slight notices of two, by the generals Septimius Flaccus and Julius Maternus.

It is well ascertained, that about the tenth and Middle eleventh centuries the banks of the Niger were occupied ages. by large settlements and kingdoms of some extent, consisting chiefly of a Mahometan population; and of which the most distinguished was Ghana, on the eastern part of the central river, called the Nile of the Negroes. The fugitives from the arms of the conquering Saracens, and those who suffered defeat in,the intestine commotions that agitated the Mahometan power, seeking refuge in the interior, became, doubtless, together with the migratory Arabs, the first settlers, and were the founders of these different states, comprising Ghana, Wangara, Tocrur, and several others. The Arabs extended themselves westward through Barbary, and intersected the deserts in various routes, establishing Morocco at length as the chief seat of their power, and carrying on an extensive trade in different directions.

In more modern times the glory of taking the lead Discoveries in the career of discovery must be assigned to Portugal, of the which in other respects was always regarded as one of Portuguese the most insignificant of all the European states. The Portuguese, however, were originally less influenced by a curiosity to explore new regions, or even by an avaricious desire after gold, than by a romantic feeling of detecting in the person of a rumoured Christian sovereign on the eastern coast, whose dominions stretched into the African interior, that real Prester John, whose abode they were most anxious to ascertain; and, accordingly, the inquiries of every expedition were directed to this main purpose.

John I. equipped an armament of considerable mag- John I. nitude to attack the Moors on the Barbary coast, and several vessels were appointed to precede it, in exploring the western coast, which advanced as far as Cape Bojador, several leagues beyond the boundary line of other discoveries; but they were deterred from attempting to double it, by the tremendous aspect of the sea

AFRICA. breaking against the cliffs. The only end, therefore, answered by this small progress, was to excite the emulation of other persons of adventurous enterprize or eager curiosity.

Don Henry.

Diego Cam.

John II.

In the year 1415, Don Henry, who was animated with an ardent passion for extending the bounds of geographical discovery, having once accompanied his father on an expedition to Barbary, fitted out a vessel under the command of two gentlemen of his household, Gonzalez Zarco and Tristan Vaz, with instructions to advance beyond Cape Bojador, which had hitherto been the point of termination to the Portuguese discoveries. To the extreme chagrin of the prince, however, this was not accomplished, owing to the ridiculous timidity of the mariners. But the voyage was not totally useless, a squall of wind having driven them from the coast and occasioned the discovery of an island, to which they gave the name of Porto Santo. The following year Henry dispatched other ships, under the same commanders, along with Perestrello, to take possession of the island, and enlarge, if possible, the field of discovery. By this means another island was brought to light, which, from its being covered with wood, they called Madeira; and one of the prince's commanders, Gilianez, in 1432, venturing on a bolder navigation, pushed beyond Cape Bojador into the open sea, and perceived the continent far stretching to the south. After this period the Portuguese continued to advance from place to place, till they had explored the whole coast between Cape Blanco and Cape Verd. Tristan, in 1441, passed Cape Blanco, and a settlement was soon formed at Arguin, which, from its insular situation, seemed to offer an effectual protection against any sudden attack. Henry had obtained from Pope Eugene IV. a grant of all the discoveries which he might make from Cape Non to the Indian continent, and the grant was confirmed by Alphonso, his successor to the throne of Portugal, in whose reign the spirit of adventure seems to have slumbered, at least with regard to the royal breast. The castle of Mina, on the Gold coast, had been constituted the capital of Portuguese power, and the central point from which discoveries were to be prosecuted. After the possession of this port for three years, the king did not hesitate to affix to his other titles that of lord of Guiana; and the naval commanders were directed in future to erect pillars of stone, to be adorned with escutcheons of the royal arms of Portugal, and with appropriate inscriptions to mark and to secure their discoveries.

Diego Cam was the first who went from Mina with these ensigns of dominion, and, soon after his departure, met with a strong current from the land, whose waters being discoloured, suggested the near approach of a river, which he soon found; and, from the kingdom through which it flowed, denominated it the Congo: the natives called it the Zaire. In sailing up the river he saw a multitude of inhabitants on the shores, of a black complexion, with whom, as their language was unintelligible, he maintained some intercourse by signs; and having enticed several of them on board, set sail for Portugal. This was in 1484. In a few months he returned, and sailed forward 200 leagues along the coast. Under the patronage of John II. who succeeded Alphonso, a large fleet was sent out, which discovered the kingdoms of Benin and Congo, and sailed 1500 miles beyond the equinoctial line. To secure the coun

tries now discovered, John took care that colonies AFRIC should be planted and forts erected. Negociations of a commercial nature were entered into with the most powerful kings, and others were made vassals of the crown. About the same period, information having reached Portugal of a kingdom in the east, governed by a Christian sovereign, and concluding it must be the king of Abyssinia, whose co-operation might prove of considerable importance, he sent an embassy to his court, consisting of Covillan and Payna, whose knowCovillan and Pay ledge of the Arabic language seemed to qualify them' for the undertaking. They were at the same time to explore the Red sea and the coasts of the Indian ocean, and gain all the commercial intelligence that could be accumulated. Bartholomew Diaz also was directed to proceed to the southern extremity of Africa, and explore the passage he was so desirous of obtaining to India. After encountering innumerable perils and discovering a thousand miles of new country, he beheld the high promontory which terminates the southern coast; from which, after giving it the appropriate appellation of Cabo Tormentosa, or the Storm Cape, he was compelled to return, both on account of the state of his ships and the mutinous temper of their crews. The king, however, gratified with the discovery, and feeling assured of its being the prelude to that which he deemed of such importance, changed it to the name of Cape of Good Hope, which it has since retained.

Covillan visited Hindostan, sailed to Sofala, and proceeded northwards along the whole eastern coast of Africa; and such were the favourable accounts which he transmitted from Abyssinia, that the king at length fitted out a powerful squadron, and entrusted the command of it to Vasquez de Gama, or Vasco de Vasco Gama, a man whose talents eminently qualified him Ganc for the mighty enterprize. About the latter end of June, 1497, he sailed from Lisbon, and after passing the Cape, he explored the eastern shores as far as Melinda, in Zanquebar, and arrived at Calicut on the 22d of May, 1498, but being unprovided with the requisite force to form a settlement, he hastened back to Europe, and reached Lisbon in September, 1499, after an absence of more than two years and two months. To this voyage is to be attributed the ascertaining, in conjunction with the expedition of Covillan, the real form of the African continent, and the origin of the maritime trade with India from the European nations.

During the eighteenth century, the French, though The F previously slow in making discoveries, penetrated further into Africa than any other people. The downfal of company after company formed for the purpose, did not wholly discourage them, or extinguish either their curiosity or their ambition. Claude Jannequin, in 1637, was the first Frenchman who advanced into the interior, and he represented himself as having ascended the Senegal seventy leagues, as far as the district of Terrier Rouge. At the distance of sixty years, namely in 1697, the Sieur Brue, who had the management of the affairs of Africa, under the fourth French company that had been formed, went out to take the chief direction at the Senegal. His repeated voyages up the river and along the coasts, extended considerably the boundaries of the knowledge which his countrymen at that time had acquired of Africa. Adanson and others have since succeeded, who explored to Gallam. M. Saugnier, who went on a com