The World and Its People Part 1

The World and Its People.

by Anna B. Badlam.

Book VII.

PREFACE.

Africa is a vast continent inhabited, for the most part, by people who have not felt the influence of Christianity and modern civilization, and who, consequently, differ from us in character and habits of life.

To become intelligent in regard to the continent, so as to know it, with its rich flora and strange fauna, as a part of the world in which we live, is an important part of a child's education. But a close acquaintance with the people who inhabit it, and with their occupations, interests, homes, and modes of thought and feeling, is an essential condition of that broad sympathy with humanity and that strong unselfish patriotism which should be characteristic of every true American citizen; for we know our blessings only by contrast.

The elevating influence of civilization, both old and new, is made still more apparent by studying its manifestations in the northern and southern sections of the continent, where its power is set off in contrast with the uncivilized interior. This is especially true of the study of ancient and modern Egypt.

It is the purpose of the present volume to furnish the young people of this country an opportunity for such study and knowledge. Many books have been written about Africa for older folks; but this is an attempt to unlock the treasures of this. .h.i.therto inaccessible field for the special benefit of the young, and thus to contribute something towards enlightening their heads and warming their hearts.

The book should be read with a good map of Africa, and, so far as possible, with maps of the various sections of the country, constantly open before the reader.

Acknowledgment is here made of indebtedness to the following excellent works, which are cordially recommended to the readers of this book: "The Countries of the World," Vol. VI; "The Story of Nations," Vol. II; "Africa Ill.u.s.trated"; "Famous African Explorers," Vols. I and II; "A Journey to Ashango-Land"; "Livingstone's Researches in South Africa"; "Travellers in Africa"; "Home Life on an Ostrich Farm"; "Geography, Physical, Historical, and Descriptive"; and "Polar and Tropical World."

THE EDITOR.

PART ONE.

_GLIMPSES OF THE DARK CONTINENT._

CHAPTER I.

A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW.

The name "Dark Continent" has been most aptly applied to Africa. Little was known of its geographical features until within the last twenty-five or thirty years. Some knowledge had been gained of its native tribes, but this was very indefinite, and in many ways unreliable.

Ignorance and superst.i.tion clouded the minds of those who heard accounts of the adventures of the early explorers. Stories of their encounters with wild beasts and cruel savages were eagerly listened to, but were regarded as marvelous tales, similar to those of the "Arabian Nights."

Descriptions of dreary wastes of sand, tangled forests, wild jungles, and treacherous mora.s.ses were exciting topics, but evidently thought to be features of a country that existed only in the minds of those who related its wonders.

Boys and girls of fifty years ago, as they conned their geography lessons or pored over their maps, no doubt allowed their thoughts to stray beyond the little tract of country represented in bright colors upon the map of Africa. Upon such a map only those portions which represented partially explored territory were thus colored. The portion representing the vast regions unknown alike to the adventurer and to the explorer was colored black, and marked "unexplored territory."

This feature of the map must have been very suggestive to boys and girls in those old school days, when the only stories of adventures that they possessed were of the nature of "Robinson Crusoe" and "Swiss Family Robinson."

No doubt many an imaginative boy lost himself in scenes of wild adventures in these unexplored regions. His ready imagination pictured them as teeming with savage life and fraught with hidden danger.

His most vivid daydreams could never have depicted the real dangers, privations, and cost to life, as they have become known to us through the letters and journals of recent explorers.

These men must always live in the hearts and memories of the people.

They must ever be regarded as dauntless heroes who ventured to cross the border land between the known and the unknown territories of Africa.

Through hards.h.i.+p and privation these explorers have gained a definite and accurate knowledge of many portions of Africa. Thus have they shed light upon a portion of the globe which, compared with other continents, we must still regard in many ways as the "Dark Continent."

Doubtless no part of the earth has been made the subject of so many books in so short a period as Africa. Their number is legion. We find them not only in the language of our own country, but in foreign languages. The recent books written upon Africa would form a library of themselves.

The origin of the name Africa has furnished a topic for wide discussion by students and historians. Some believe the name to have come from a Greek word meaning "south wind." Others believe it to have been formed from the Latin word signifying "sunny." Then there are others who are quite positive that the name came from a Greek word meaning "without cold."

Africa is the most tropical of all the continents. It will be well to look up its position upon the globe. We shall find it situated in the Eastern Hemisphere, south of Europe, and southwest of Asia. It lies very nearly between lat.i.tudes 37 N. and 35 S.

If we look at its general shape,--an irregular triangle,--we shall be able to trace quite a resemblance to South America. Wonderful and interesting, however, as we know the characteristics of that continent to be, we shall find that Africa has far more wonders to unfold.

Africa was originally a vast peninsula, attached to Asia by the Isthmus of Suez. The two continents were separated by the completion of the Suez Ca.n.a.l. In all respects, Africa is now an enormous island.

It is larger, by far, than either Europe or Australia, but somewhat smaller than either Asia or America.

It is indeed difficult to get a correct estimate of a country still shrouded to a great extent in darkness, so far as our actual knowledge of it is concerned. It has been roughly estimated to contain upwards of eleven and one-half millions of square miles.

Let us look at the map of Africa. We find that the continent is indented by no deep gulfs or bays. There are few capes or peninsulas along the coast, which, for the most part, is regular and unbroken.

The absence of deep gulfs and bays running into the interior is one of the princ.i.p.al reasons why the exploration of the continent has been so difficult, and why so little is known of its vast interior.

True, we find upon the Mediterranean coast the Gulf of Sidra, the Gulf of Arabia upon the coast of the Indian Ocean, and the Gulf of Guinea upon the Atlantic coast. The latter is the only important inlet upon the Atlantic coast, and divides into two branches,--the Bight of Biafra and the Bight of Benin.

The extreme points of land upon the several coasts are Cape Bon upon the north, Cape Verd upon the west, Cape of Good Hope upon the south, and Cape Guardafui upon the east.

CHAPTER II.

SOME PHYSICAL FEATURES.

Naturally, in looking upon the contour of a country, we wish to consider its general features, that we may call up a mental picture of it. You know how quickly you can recall an absent friend, if you are familiar enough with his form and features to make a clear mental photograph.

The best authors divide Africa, for convenience, into five different sections: _first_, the triangular-shaped region south of the Gulf of Guinea and Cape Guardafui; _second_, the great tract called Soudan, which lies north and northwest of this triangular plateau; _third_, the Sahara, or Great Desert, which stretches between the Soudan and the cultivated tract that borders the Mediterranean Sea; _fourth_, the Atlas region, which includes the mountainous countries of Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli; _fifth_, the region which borders on the Red Sea, and comprises Abyssinia, Nubia, and Egypt.

The first section is mostly a high table-land, with mountains fringing its edges. The Lupata range, which runs parallel with the coast, forms the eastern crest of this table-land. Two snow-clad mountains, Kilimanjaro and Kenia, rise to an elevation of about twenty thousand feet, and mark the greatest height of this table-land in any one section of it.

The table-land does not rise abruptly from the coast. A belt of lowlands lies between the coast and where the elevation begins. These lowlands range from fifty to three hundred miles in breadth.

The eastern extremity of the table-land stretches into the mountainous country of Abyssinia. Its most northern extremity, the summit of Abba Yared, is fifteen thousand feet high.

In the south, the hills of Cape Colony rise by gradual stages from Table Mount to the summits of the mountain ranges in the northern part of the Colony. These summits are estimated to be from seven thousand to ten thousand feet high.