The World and Its People Part 3

This same wind the Italians call _sirocco_. The Spaniards term it the _solano_.

Large portions of Algeria are covered by extensive forests of oaks, cedars, pines, and pistachio trees. These supply an abundance of timber and resin.

In the Tell section the olive and the various cereals are cultivated.

Tunis, like the other Barbary States, is traversed by the mountains of the Atlas range, which finally terminate here.

The northern coast of Tunis is steep and rocky. It is indented by numerous bays. The largest of these is the Gulf of Tunis. Two promontories, Cape Blanco and Cape Bon, are the most northern points in Africa.

The eastern coast offers a strong contrast to the northern coast. It is flat, sandy, and unproductive. It bears a strong resemblance to Tripoli, as we shall see. The coast has two large gulfs, Hammamet and Gabes.

The southern portion of Tunis belongs to the desert steppe called Belud-el-Jerid.

Tunis has but one fresh-water lake of any extent. This is situated near the north coast.

The brooks and the torrents of Tunis do not make many wanderings. Their waters lose themselves in the sands, or seek a short course to the sea.

None of the streams are navigable.

The longest river was well known to the ancients under the name Bagradas. It now bears the name Mejerdah, and flows in a general northeast direction, into the Gulf of Tunis.

Tunis has several fine mineral springs, though it has no rivers. Thus does Nature seem to compensate for the lack of one blessing by the bestowal of another.

Tunis enjoys a fine climate and an exceedingly fertile soil. The people have only an imperfect knowledge of agriculture, but the natural advantages of the soil and climate are so great that little labor is necessary. Hence, we find wheat, barley, maize, olives, oranges, figs, grapes, pomegranates, almonds, and dates produced in abundance. In the culture of olives for oil more care is expended than in other directions. The supply of oil is very abundant, and exceedingly profitable.

Great herds of cattle and flocks of sheep feed on the plains. The wool of the sheep of Tunis is far famed.

The horses and the dromedaries, or camels, are considered very fine, and command a good price.

Tripoli is the most easterly of the Barbary States. It is not so mountainous as the other countries comprising Barbary. The Atlas Mountains terminate here in two chains that run parallel with the coast.

The summits of the mountains in this section never exceed four thousand feet in height.

Tripoli has no rivers. During the long hot summers rain rarely falls. In compensation, there is a copious supply of dew. So plentiful is this dewfall, in some favored sections, as really to support vegetation.

The coast region is about eleven hundred miles in extent. Some sections of it are very fertile and productive. All kinds of tropical fruits are found, together with grain, grapes, cotton, and madder.

Farther to the east, along the sh.o.r.es of the Gulf of Sidra, nothing but dreary wastes of sand prevail. Here desolation may be said to reign.

The interior sections of Tripoli yield senna, dates, and nutgalls. The carob and the lotus are also found.

Here, as in Tunis, much attention is paid to the rearing of sheep and cattle. The small, yet beautiful horses, and the strong, well-formed mules of Tripoli are highly prized and much sought after.

CHAPTER V.

FEATURES, ANCIENT AND MODERN.

The fifth division of Africa borders on the Red Sea. It includes the countries of Abyssinia, Nubia, and Egypt.

Between Abyssinia and the Mediterranean Sea is the low valley of the Nile. This is separated from the Red Sea on the east by a bold, mountainous region. A low ridge of limestone and sandstone hills separates it from the Libyan Desert on the west.

Abyssinia, or _Habesh_, as the Arabs call it, is a large highland tract in East Africa. It rises from the Red Sea, in a series of terraces, towards the southwest.

Between the highlands of Abyssinia and the Red Sea, lies a flat tract of country called Adal. This tract is very narrow at its northern extremity, but gradually widens towards its southern extremity.

The plains of Nubia and Kordofan form the northern and western boundaries of Abyssinia. There is comparatively little known of its southern boundaries.

The general characteristics of the country are high table-lands, intersected by deep ravines and steep terraces of sandstone.

These ravines have been formed by the action of the rivers upon the rocks. Sandstone, being a comparatively soft rock, would, in the course of ages, be gradually worn away as the waters flowed over it. No doubt the terraces have been formed from the exposure of these rocks to the elements for countless ages.

Above the table-lands rise numerous chains of mountains. These are mostly of volcanic origin. Some of the highest of these summits rise to a height of fifteen thousand feet above sea level. Many of the plains lie at an elevation of from seven to ten thousand feet.

Abyssinia gives rise to numerous rivers. The largest of these are the Blue Nile and the Takazzie, an affluent of the Nile. In the southern part of the country is the Hawash. It flows eastward through a section bearing the same name, and finally enters the salt lake, a.s.sal.

The largest lake of Abyssinia is the Dembea. It is through this lake that the Blue Nile flows.

In the elevated sections of Abyssinia the climate is temperate and salubrious. Along the low coast sections, and in the sections at the north and northwest, the heat is not only excessive but the climate is most noxious.

Taken as a whole, Abyssinia is a very fertile country. It shows, however, as great diversities of products as of climate. This is due to the different degrees of elevation in the various sections.

Wheat and barley are cultivated to some extent, together with various leguminous, or pod-bearing, plants, cotton, coffee, sugar cane, and tobacco. The coffee plant grows wild to a great extent.

Nubia is the modern name of a country once subject to the Khedive of Egypt. It was probably known to the ancients under the name Ethiopia.

The boundaries of Nubia are the Red Sea on the east, Egypt on the north, Abyssinia on the south, and the Sahara on the west.

The country is traversed by the Blue Nile and the White Nile.

Nubia has an arid soil. In many places cultivation is possible only along the banks of the Nile. Some portions of the soil consist only of granite and sandstone.

The products of the cultivated sections are numerous. They comprise maize, dates, tamarinds, gums, aloes, and senna. Among the various exports may be noted musk, wax, myrrh, frankincense, black wool, elephant and rhinoceros hides, and ivory. Ostrich feathers, ebony, gold dust, saltpetre, salt, tobacco, coffee, and cotton are also exported to Egypt.

Some curious customs prevail. Taxes are rated by the number of water wheels a man uses to irrigate his land. The more water wheels he uses, the more valuable his land, hence, the higher his taxes. There is no national currency, but the coins of Egypt and Europe are used. The Spanish dollar is also used to a great extent. Gla.s.s beads, coral, s.h.i.+rts, and cloth are used in barter, and take the place of currency. In Kordofan, the value of goods is reckoned by the number of cows they are worth.

The most primitive system of measurement prevails. Maize is sold by the handful; eighteen of these make what would correspond to one of our larger measures. In measuring cloth, the distance from the elbow to the fingers is employed as we would use a foot rule or a yardstick.

The costumes of the people are peculiar. They consist of turbans, and linen and woolen garments. The men arm themselves with lances, and s.h.i.+elds made from the tough hide of the hippopotamus.

The customs of the people are somewhat singular. They are averse to eating meat, and practice the rites of the Mohammedan faith. They live in low huts built of mud or stone. They care little for strangers, and do not wish to engage much in commerce. They are fond of music, and in their leisure moments play upon a guitar of five strings. It is a simple instrument, having a sounding-board made of the skin of a gazelle.

There are few attractions in Nubia beyond the numerous temples and other ancient remains of the Egyptians.

Egypt occupies a position in Northeast Africa. It extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the first cataract of the Nile. The name "Egypt"

was derived from the Greek. It is as old as the age of Homer. In the ancient languages Egypt was called by a name signifying "Black Land."

This name was given to it, no doubt, from the color of the soil.

Egypt may be regarded as the bed of the Nile. The cultivated portions of it extend only to the limits of the yearly inundation.