AGA—AGAMA.
North A. From Timbuktu they proceed on their
route along the course of the Niger to Kashna,
another station of commercial importance, which. is
also visited by the caravans from Sudan and
Bornu. From Kashna the caravan-route leads to
Bornu and Lake Tchad or Tsad; thence to the
territories of the Tibbous and the Tawareks, and on
to Murzuk in the oasis of Fezzan. Kulfa is another
great meeting-place of the caravans coming from
Dahomey in the south-west, Borgu in the north-east,
and Niffe in the south-east. There seems to be no
doubt that these caravans are in communication
with others from the east, and thus connect, in a
primitive style of commerce, the Indian Ocean with
the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. The prin-
cipal places of commerce in the east are Marnegar,
Berbera, Ancobar, Gondar, Sennaar, and Kobbe. In
Benguela and Angola, negro caravans from the
interior arrive at the chief places on the coast,
bringing slaves, ivory, and gold-dust, which are
bartered for various commodities.
Though A. is so rich in natural productions, and
capable of maintaining a thriving commerce with
other parts of the world, it is still a painful fact that
along its coasts, and in the caravan-roads of the
interior, the principal trade is in slaves. Regarding
the cruelty and wickedness of this traffic, it is
unnecessary that a single word should be said here.
The verdict of enlightened Christendom has con-
demned it, but the prejudice against the negro race
remains, and they are still considered by a large
number incapable or unworthy of culture. It is prob-
able that a more thorough knowledge of the Africans
will dissipate so erroneous and pernicious an idea.
As yet, we have chiefly come into contact with the
barbarous tribes who dwell around our settlements
on the coast; and it is unfair to judge the whole
population by these. We must remember that
several tribes have independently, and by their own
exertions, arrived at a certain stage of culture, and
seem to be on their way to civilisation. As we
advance towards the interior, we do not find the
people in a condition which can be fairly described
as savagism ; but with fixed dwellings, though they
are merely mud-huts, defended by stockades, and
possessed of some laws or customs which are favour-
able to commerce. Among several tribes, the native
merchant is highly respected ; and his goods are
safe even in times of feud or warfare. The land is
cultivated ; the natives wear dyed cotton dresses,
thicker and more durable than those exported from
England, and consequently far dearer. Gold and
iron are manufactured with ingenuity. The principal
tribes on the Gambia, the Fulahs, the Joliffes, and
the Mandingoes, have qualities which forbid us to
despair of the progress of A.in culture. All that
is wanted is a free commercial intercourse with the
civilised world. Commerce must carry into A. the
doctrine that it is better to employ men in trade,
such as collecting palm-oil, than to sell them as
slaves. Ability to understand such a truth will not
be wanting ; and when it is known and practised,
the negro will prove that he is human, and will
break through all the natural obstacles placed in the
way of his development and improvement.
That portion of A. which is known is divided
as follows: Native states and regions—Ashanti,
Dahomey, Fezzan, Barca, Bornu, Darfur, Kordofan,
Dongola, Guinea, Abyssinia, Marocco, Senegambia,
Sennaar, Sudan with Sahara, the territory of the
Imaum of Muscat, and the countries of the interior,
with others on the east coast. British possessions
are—Cape Colony and Natal, at the south; theisland
of Mauritius, St Helena, Ascension, Sierra Leone,
Cape Coast, and the Gambia Colony.—The French
have settlements on the Senegal, with the islands
70
of St Louis and Gorée, the Isle de Bourbon, St Marie,
and the great colony of Algeria.—Egypt, Nubia,
Tunis, and Tripoli belong nominally to Turkey.—
Danes and North Americans, as well as the Dutch,
have forts and settlements in Guinea.—The Portu-
guese have the Azore and Cape Verde Islands, with
Madeira, Porto Santo, St Thomas, Angola, Benguela,
and Mozambique.—The Canary Islands belong to
Spain.—The large island of Madagascar and the
Comoro group are under native rulers ; bub in some
of these islands on the east coast the French have
recently established themselves, as at Mayotta.
AGA or AGHA, the Turkish title of a superior
military commander ; also of the higher officers of
the seraglio.
A'GADES, formerly a very important city of
Central Africa, but at present in a declining con-
dition. It is the capital of Air or Asben (q.v.),
and is built upon the eastern edge of a great
table-land, at an elevation of not less than 2500
feet, in Iat. 16° 33’ N., long. 7° 30’ E. It holds little
intercourse with the northern cities, such as Murzuk,
which, indeed, is never visited, except by pilgrims
on their way to Mecca ; but its merchants still
frequent the markets of Katsena, Tasawa, Maradi,
Kano, and Sokoto. At one time A. was a sort of
entrepdt for the vast traffic carried on with Gogo—
the ancient capital of the Songhayempire (q. v.)—but
the conquest and destruction of this city, the centre
of the gold-trade, has fatally injured the prosperity
of the former, ¢ cutting away the very roots through
which it received life.” A.was founded some hundreds
of years ago, in all likelihood by the Berbers,
who were expelled by the great Songhar conqueror,
Haj, Mohammed Askia, in 1515. Its highest degree
of power had been reached previous to this, when it
probably contained 60,000 inhabitants. At present,
1t has not more than 6000 or 7000. The language
is the Emgedesiye, the same as that spoken ;at
Timbuktu, with which place, however, it has no
intercourse now. There is a large admixture of
Berber blood in the people of A. The trade and
manufactures are trifling in extent. Dr Barth is of
opinion that A. would form, for a European agent,
a very good and comparatively healthy place from
which to open relations with Central Africa. See
Barth’s Z'ravels in Central Africa, vol. i.
A'GAMA, a genus of Saurian Reptiles, the type of
a family called Agamide. The Agamas are allied to
the Iguanas, and have a lax skin, which they have
the power of inflating with air. None of them are
of a large size. They are found in warm climates,
and are of various habits, some of them living in
trees, and others confined to the ground. The
Egyptian A. (4. Egyptiaca or Trapelus Egypliacus)
Frilled Agama.
is remarkable for changing colour, like the cha-
meleon. Some of the most common lizards of
Australia are of this family. The Frilled A. (chlamy-
dosaurus) is a remarkable Australian lizard, having
a sort of frill around the neck, which usually lies
back i
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