AFRICA.
of Sudan or Central A., has a circumference of about
200 miles, with a depth varying from 8—15 feet,
and an elevation of 850 feet above the sea-level.
Though it has no outlet, its waters are cool and
clear, and abound with fish. Besides a multitude
of temporary streams, it is the recipient of several
large rivers. The chief is the Shary or Asu, from
the south-east. Dembea or Tzana, in Abyssinia,
through which the Blue Nile flows, is about 65 miles
long, and 30 broad, and lies 6000 feet above the
sea-level. Lake N’gami, in Southern A., has been
already mentioned. From the concurring accounts
of Arab travellers and natives, it is ascertained that
there is a large lake in the interior called Nyassi
or Uniamesi, about 5° S. lat., and 29° E. long. It is
in the midst of a fertile and populous country, and
feeds a large river, the Luffia, which flows eastward
into the sea on the Zanzibar coast.
Geology.—The geology of A. is known as yet only
from cursory observations made at isolated points.
The character of the Sahara has been already indi-
cated. The section traversed by Dr Livingstone
presents a variety of schists, shales, sandstones, and
tufa, through which protrude granite and trap-rocks.
In one place towards the east side of the continent,
the sandstone is found overlying coal. Between
Tripoli and Murzuk there is a plateau, the dark
sandstone of which disintegrated, fills up the
inequalities of the surface, from which the black
rock stands out in fantastic cones. The lofty barrier
of limestone which forms the western boundary of
Egypt, reappears in the rugged ranges of hills
w%ich break the monotonous waste of Sahara; they
sometimes contain marine shells. Secondary lime-
stone also constitutes the lower skirts of the Atlas
Mountains, but what constitutes their basis has not
yet been discovered.
Climate——There are three great varieties of climate,
corresponding to the physical structure of the con-
tinent: first, that of the plateaus; second, that of the
terraces which lead to them ; and third, that of the
coasts. In the vast desert of Sahara, extending over
an area equal to that of the Mediterranean Sea, almost
destitute of water and vegetation, and partly covered
with tracts of sand and bare low rocks, the heat of
the day is uniformly contrasted with the coldness
of the night; while on the terrace-land of Limbu,
for instance, situated behind the Sierra Leone region,
we find a temperate and wholesome climate ; and in
that rising behind the Slave Coast, we have beautiful
landscapes, abundant springs, new forms of vegeta-
tion, and a mild Italian air. . The natives of Congo
call their terrace-lands, which are well cultivated
and thickly peopled, ¢the Paradise of the World.’
But the flat coasts, which are often over-flooded in
the rainy season, have a very oppressive atmosphere,
and from the morasses at the mouths of the rivers,
a malaria arises which is pestilential to Europeans.
This malaria has been supposed to arise from the
decay of the vegetable matter brought down by
the rivers from the dense mangrove-woods, which,
mixing with the salt water on the coast, pro-
duces sulphuretted hydrogen gas. Nothing can be
morg unfavourable to the health and energy of
Eurdpeans than the climate of Sierra Leone, the
Grambia, and M‘Carthy’s Island. In the last, the
thermometer is often at 106° in the shade during the
dry season, and the whole island is little better than
a morass in the four rainy months. The region of
pestilential air has been calculated to extend about
100 miles inland ; but only 40 miles out at sea, and
to rise to a height of 400 feet above the sea-level.
Productions.—The wvegetation of A. is decidedly
less varied than that of Europe or Asia. Along the
Mediterranean sea-board, it greatly resembles that
of Southern Europe. The tropical regions are not
68
go rich in species of plants as those of South
America, but still they exhibit many peculiar genera.
As we leave the sultry coasts, and ascend the
terraces towards the interior, we pass gradually from
tropical productions to those of the temperate
zones, which all flourish well in several parts of A.
Though the forests cannot rival those of Brazil,
they are rich in valuable woods, especially the
harder kinds; some of them excellent for ship-
building. Here we find the gigantic Adansonia
(q. v.) degitata or baobab. Ebony, certain kinds of
rosewood, and the timber called African teak, are
among the productions of the tropical forests. The
Butter-tree (Bassia, q.v.) is one of the most remark-
able productions of the central regions. Extensive
level tracts are covered with acacias. Certain palms
are very characteristic of different parts of A., and
are of the greatest importance to the inhabitants,
particularly the Date-palm (q.v.) in the north, and
in an inferior degree, the Doom-palm (q. v.), both of
them growing in regions comparatively arid, and
often surrounded by the very sands of the desert;
whilst the Oil-palm (q. v.) flourishes amidst the
tropical luxuriance of the west, and supplies an
article of commerce which now attracts the ships of
Europe, in constantly increasing numbers, to shores
once frequented only for the prosecution of the
slave-trade. The Cocoa-palm (q.v.) flourishes on
many parts of the tropical coasts. A large quantity
of oil is produced also by a plant of a very different
description, the Ground-nut (47rachis, q.v.), a legum-
inous herbaceous plant, which has the remarkable
peculiarity of thrusting its pods into the ground to
ripen there, and which is now so extensively culti-
vated, that nine millions of bushels of ground-nuts
are annually exported from the Gambia. The
southern extremity of A. is remarkable for the vast
number of its species of mesembryanthemums and
heaths. Pelargoniums, iridacese and proteacez, are
also among the most characteristic features of its
vegetation. Kuphorbiacez abound in most parts of
the continent. Many of the productions of other
countries have been introduced, both in the tropical
and temperate parts of A. Maize is now extensively
cultivated, as well as rice, wheat, and millet. A
peculiar kind of grain, called fundi, or fundungi
(Paspalum exile), 13 cultivated in the west, and
grains called teff and tocusso (Poa Abyssinica and
Hleusine Tocusso) in Abyssinia. Coffee grows luxuri-
antly, and of good quality. Indigo and tobacco are
easily cultivated, and cotton has succeeded well
where ‘it has been introduced, as in Egypt, where,
however, it requires artificial and laborious irriga-
tion; while in the rich and well-watered soil of
Sennaar, it flourishes even with a most careless
style of cultivation, and might, without doubt, be
produced in enormous quantity. Other regions, as
Natal, seem likely soon to produce it abundantly.
The vine is cultivated with success at the Cape of
Good Hope, and the sugar-cane in different parts of
the continent.
In the animal kingdom, we find the lion, the
leopard—often called the tiger, but the tiger is not
yet known except as a native of Asia and the Asiatic
isles—hyenas, jackals, and others of the canine
family, a species of elephant, differing in some
particulars from that of Asia, several species of
rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, wart-hogs (Phasco-
cherus), and many kinds of monkeys, particularly
within the tropics. The giraffe, the zebra, and the
quagga, are peculiar and characteristic, as are also
numerous species of antelope, which occupy, in
African zoology, the place of deer in other parts of
the world. The gnu is one of the most remark-
able of the antelope genus. Some of the smaller
species occasionally appear in prodigious numbers,
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