capricious, and rapacious tyrant, and not likely ever to consolidate any considerable share of power. (We are indebted for this valuable article to J. B. Fraser, Esq., the celebrated traveller.) from the sea coast into the interior. We are only well acquainted with the southern extremity, which forms the Cape Colony. Here Africa presents to the Indian Ocean a bread line of coast, running east and west nearly along the 34th parallel from 18 to 260 E. long., or from the Cape of Good Hope to Algoa Bay. Along this coast extends an undulating country, intersected with a few elevations deserving the name of hills. Its width varies between 10 and 50 miles. North of this the table-land rises in terraces. The first terrace, called the Long Kloof, is enclosed by the double ridge of the Zwarte Berge, or Black Mountains, of which the northern, or the Groote (Great) Zwarte Berge, rises to about 4,000 f. above the sea. North of this range is the second terrace, called the Great Karroo, which is about 100 miles across and 3,000 feet elevated above the sea. It is bounded on the N. by the Nieunveld Bergen, a chain of which some summits are considered to rise to 9,000 or 10,000 feet. On its northern side the table-land seems to have at AFIUM-KARA-HISSAR (or Black Castle of Opium), a city of Asiatic Turkey, in Anatolia, cap. Sanjiack, 188 m. E. Smyrna, lat. 38° 45′ N., long. 30° 56′ E. It is situated on the declivity of a mountain range, and is defended by a citadel, built on a high and almost inaccessible rock. Pop. estimated by Kinneir at 12,000 families, or from 50,000 to 60,000 individuals. It is pretty well built; but the streets are exceedingly narrow, and in many parts very steep. Some of them are washed by streams that descend from the adjacent mountains. It has numerous mosques, two Armenian chapels, six khans, and five public baths; an extensive manufactory of black felts, fire-arms, short sabres or yatagans, with stirrups, bridles, &c. But it is principally celebrated fortained its mean elevation, which probably is not less than the great quantity of opium grown in its vicinity; from which, indeed, it derives its modern name. It is said by D'Anville to be the Apamea of the Greeks and Romans; but the latter was situated a good deal further W. According to the Turkish annals, it was founded by Aladdin, one of the Seljuckian sultans. It was the patrimony of Othman, the founder of the Turkish empire, of which it has ever since formed a part.-(Kinneir's Journey, p. 229.; Olivier, vi. p. 400.) AFRAGOLA, a town of Naples, prov. Terra di Lavoro, 5 m. N. N. E. Naples, in a plain. Pop. 3,000. It has manufactures of straw hats; and a great annual fair, which commences on the second Sunday of May. AFRICA. A vast peninsula, one of the great divisions of the globe, situated to the S. of Europe, and to the W. and S. W. of Asia. It is separated from the former by the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar; the two continents approaching at the latter within about 10 m. of each other. It is separated from Asia by the Red Sea, at whose southern extremity, the strait of Bab-el-mandeb, the shores of the two continents are only 16 m. apart. But at the most northerly extremity of the Red Sea, Asia and Africa are united by the isthmus of Suez; the Mediterranean being there about 72 m. from the Red Sea. The most southerly point of Africa, Cape das Agulhas (Cape Needles), is in lat. 34° 52′ S.; and the most northerly, Cape Blanco, opposite Sicily, in lat. 37° 21' Ñ. Cape Gardafui, the most easterly point, is in long. 51° 30′ E., and lat. 11° 50 N.; and Cape Verde, the extreme western point, is in long. 17° 33′ W., and 14° 43' N. lat. The distance between the most southerly and most northerly points is consequently about 5000 m., and between the extreme eastern and western points not much less. The area probably falls little short, if it do not exceed, 12,000,000 sq. m. I. Africa is distinguished from the other continents by its coasts extending mostly in continuous, unbroken lines, having but few indentations of the sea, and no extensive peninsulas; so that it forms a more compact and undivided mass of land. The uniformity of its outline seems to be in accordance with the uniformity of its interior. The surface of the latter does not present that endless succession of changes which are met with in Europe and southern Asia, and which are found in both Americas, but on a greater scale and at greater distances. It resembles rather the northern parts of Asia, exhibiting elevated table-lands and low plains, both of immense extent and of remarkable uniformity. The whole of Africa south of the equator, and north of it up to 10° lat., seems to constitute an extensive table-land, fringed in most parts by a comparatively narrow stripe of low land along the sea. North of this table-land, between 100 and 300 N. lat., extends an immense but low plain, the greater part of which is occupied by the Great Desert, or Desert of Sahara. A comparatively narrow tract of mountainous country, including Atlas and its dependencies, separates the desert from the Mediterranean. On the E. the desert does not reach the Red Sea; being separated from it by the mountains of Abyssinia and the rocky countries extending from them northward along the Red Sea to the shores of the Mediterrancan. 1. The elevated table-land in South Africa is less known than any other portion of the continent, the nature of its surface rendering it extremely difficult to penetrate from 4,000 to 5,000 feet. At both the eastern and western extremities the two above-mentioned ranges run N. W. and N. E. parallel to the sea-shore, at a distance of from 30 to 200 miles; the intermediate space being likewise occupied by two or more terraces. The ranges along the W. shores do not extend farther than about 250 S. lat., where they terminate in isolated hills and with a high bank on the Gareep or Orange River. N. of this river the coast, when seen from the sea, presents only high sand-hills without any traces of water, and is, consequently, entirely destitute of vegetation. It extends as far as Cape Negro (18° S. lat.). The interior east of the western ranges and of this coast is an elevated sandy desert, with few wells and little rain. Only that portion lying S. of Gareep river has been visited, the remainder, and by far the greater portion, is less known than the Sahara itself. This desert country, which presents a level without hills or mountains, extends over half the breadth of the continent as far as 24° E. long. The eastern half of the table-land from the Cape Colony to 18 S. lat. offers a different aspect. A great number of mountain-ridges, of moderate elevation, traverse it in different directions; and at the foot of these ridges the country is well watered and fertile; though here, too, extensive sterile tracts occur, but they are not continuous. We are, however, only acquainted with the southern part, up to 26° S. lat. Farther north, about 200, a high mountain range is said to exist, called the Lupata Mountains, but this is doubtful. The descent from the table-land to the Indian Ocean is also formed by two or three terraces, the highest edge of it being about 90 or 100 miles distant from the shore. This edge, formed from escaping to the Indian Ocean; so that they either by a mountain ridge, prevents the rivers of the table-land run westward, and fall partly into the Gareep river, or are partly lost in the sands of the desert. North of the Zambese river (about 18° S. lat.), which appears to have the greatest part of its course on the tableAlake, called Moravi, is reported to extend over many land, the interior of its eastern parts is entirely unknown. degrees of lat., but its existence is doubtful. The eastern descent of the table-land resembles that farther south, being formed by terraces. This, however, extends only to the equator, or the mouth of the river Juba; for farther north, up to Cape Gardafui, the coast itself is formed by high rocks, rising to 400 feet and upward, and no mountain ranges are visible from the sea. A few rivers, apparently of considerable size, break through the rocks along the coast. It would seem that on the western side of the continent, between 180 and 40° S. lat., there is a considerable depression in the table-land. This country, which is known under the name of Lower Guinea, has low shores, behind which at a considerable distance the surface seems to rise, but not to a great height. Then follows an uneven plain, watered in its lower parts by numerous rivers, among which the Zaire or Congo and the Cuanza are the largest ; but towards the sources of these rivers the country is mountainous, and it is even reported that some of the mountains are always covered with snow. In the plain numerous lakes of considerable extent are met with. North of the river Zaire, at about 4° S. lat., the country again rises at no great distance from the sea to a great height. This high ground is called Serra Complide. Its W. declivity extends N. W., by degrees approaching nearer the Atlantic, till it reaches the innermost corner of the Bay of Biafra, where it comes close down to the sea, and forms for more than 30 miles the shore, rising, under the name of Cameroon Mountains, to 13,000 feet above the water. These great mountain masses seem to form the W. extremity of an extensive range, which at about 50 of N. lat. seems to traverse the whole continent, and of whose central parts we get some information from the Arabian geographers, by whom it is called Djebel-el-Kumri, or the Moon Mountains. This range, which seems to constitute the higher edge of the table-land to the north, appears to stretch eastward towards the Strait of Bab-el-mandeb, until it unites to the mountain system of the Abyssinian Alps. North of this range, as far as about 100 N. lat., a mountainous country extends between 10 and 25° E. long., which may be considered as the terraces by which the table-land descends gradually to the low plain, which extends farther north. The extensive mountain region which has obtained among us the name of Kong may be considered as a continuation of the high table-land of southern Africa, being separated from its northern terraces only by the narrow valley of the Quorra, between 7° and 80 N. lat., and farther south from the Cameroon Mountains by the extensive delta of that river. East of the meridian of Greenwich it approaches by degrees nearer the sea, whilst its northern edge draws off in a N. W. direction, until between 40 and 50 W. long, it approaches 15° N. lat., so that between 50 and 120 W. long. it extends over ten degrees of lat. It terminates rather abruptly near 120 W. long., but its rocky masses come down close to the shore between Cape Palmas and Cape Sierra Leone. This mountain region, in which a great number of fertile valleys and plains are embosomed, is of very moderate height in its eastern and more narrow portion, rising hardly to more than 3000 feet; but farther west it is higher, and between 50 and 80 W. long, it is reported to be crowned by several peaks which pass the snow line. But only a very small portion of it has been visited by Europeans. In its western districts are the sources of the Quorra. 2. The Great Plain, which, on the south, is bounded by the high table-land of southern Africa and the Kong Mountains, and hence stretches northward to Mount Atlas and the ridges depending on it, contains two different countries a fertile and a sterile. The former called Soodan, and the latter Sahara. Soodan, under which name the lower terraces of the table-land scem also to be comprised, extends from the E. descent of the Kong Mountains to the banks of the Bahr-el-Abiad (the W. branch of the Nile), occupying, inclusive of the lower terraces of the high table-land, the country lying between 50 and 150 N. lat. Its lower districts, which lie contiguous to the Sahara, are, according to a vague estimation, from 1000 to 1200 feet above the sea, but the terraces of the table-land rise to 3000 feet and upward. In many parts it is well watered by rivers, which descend from the table-land or originate in the low ridges by which the country is intersected; such districts are covered with immense forests, and are very fertile where cultivated. In other parts water is rather scarce, and some of them partake largely of the nature of the Sahara. Its climate is extremely hot, nevertheless it sometimes happens that during night the thermometer descends to the freezing point. The Sahara, or sea of sand, covers perhaps nine tenths of the whole plain. For on the west of the meridian of Greenwich, it extends from the foot of the Kong Mountains (15° N. lat.) to that of Mount Atlas (about 30°), occupying the whole width of the plain, which is here 1000 miles across. Farther east, where it is bounded on the south by Soodan, it is some what less wide, which is produced by some mountain ranges connected with the Atlas, extending in an E. S. E. direction. But its breadth is nowhere less than 750 m. It is divided into two parts by a tract of stony country, by which it is traversed from N. to S., between 13° and 15° E. long., and which in parts offers some cultivable land, while in others the stony surface is covered with sand. By following this stony tract Messrs. Denham and Clapperton, who set out from Tripoli, succeeded in reaching Soodan. That portion of the desert which extends between this tract and the Atlantic Ocean is called Sahal, and is almost entirely covered with a fine sand, which being agitated by strong easterly winds, appears like the surface of the sea, and often rises in the air in the form of sands pouts. Low hills and wells occur in a few places; and water, in many parts, is only found at a depth of more than 100 feet. In that division of the desert which extends between the above-mentioned stony tract on the one side and Egypt and Nubia on the other, the surface is covered rather with gravel than with sand, and in many places with a hard clay; elevations, and even ridges of fow hills are here much more frequent, and consequently also wells. All the western part of the Sahara would, owing to its burning heat and the want of water, be totally impassable, were it not that it is here and there interspersed with verdant well-watered spots or oases, which appear like islands of the blest in the midst of desolation. The ancients compared them to the spots on a leopard's skin. (Strabo, p. 130.) These oases are mostly of very limited dimensions; but some of them, particularly those on the east side of the great desert, are very extensive: the country of Fezzan, for example, is in fact an oasis. They are usually surrounded by higher land, which serves to account for the springs, and consequently the verdure, for which they are so celebrated. But there seems to be much probability in the shrewd conjecture of Major Rennell, that the oases are indebted for no inconsiderable portion of their reputed beauty and delicious freshness to the striking contrast between them and the parched desert by which they are surrounded. -(Geography of Herodotus, 8vo. ed. ii. p. 185.) Those only who have toiled for days amid a pathless burning sand, can form a proper idea of the delight experienced in falling in with one of the tufted isles, That verdant rise amid the Libyan wild. In England or France they might be thought nothing of; but in the Sahara they seem more than a paradise. The famous temple of Jupiter Ammon was erected in the oasis of Siwah, in the N. E. angle of the great desert, in lat. 21° 12′ N., long. 26° 18′ E. 3. The Abyssinian Mountains, which are little known to us, except in their north-eastern and northern declivities, where they approach the strait of Bab-el-mandeb and the shores of the Red Sea, and terminate at about 12° N. lat., seem to constitute an extensive mountain system, whose centre is placed between 80 and 9° N. lat. in the countries called Narea and Effat. In this part it seems to approach the snow-line, but not to rise above it. It is less elevated at the source of the Barhel-Azrek or Blue River, one of the upper branches of the Nile, where it rises, according to Bruce, at from 9,000 to 10,000 feet above the sea. We do not know whether or in what manner the Abyssinian Mountains are connected with the Gebel-el-Komri, or whether they are separated from the high table-land, or constitute its N. E. boundary, which seems to be the more probable hypothesis. The valleys of this mountain system are fertile and well peopled. From the northern declivity of the Abyssinian Mountains extends along the shores of the Red Sea as far as the isthmus of Suez a rocky country, which, between 120 and 20 N. lat., occupies in width an extent of between 300 and 400 m., but farther north by degrees grows narrower. Between 230 and 30 N. lat. it is only from 150 to 200 miles across. Near its western border it has a deep, but comparatively narrow depression, in which the river Nile flows N. from the Abyssinian Mountains to the Mediterranean. This long valley is mostly very fertile. The small portion of the rocky country which lies to the west of this valley, and which forms the eastern boundary of the Sahara, does not rise to a great height, rarely to more than about 1000 f. above the valley. But the countries east of the valley of the Nile and between it and the Red Sea are more elevated. They form a table-land, mostly of an uneven surface, which however in many places exhibits extensive plains, whilst in others it rises into ranges of high hills. Many of the plains are covered with sand, and resemble the eastern portion of the Sahara; other districts afford pasture ground, but very few places are fit for agriculture and cultivated. This rocky country terminates on the banks of the Nile in the parallel of Kahira (Cairo), from the neighbourhood of which its northern boundary runs off in an E. N. E. and W. N. W. direction. The former constitutes the isthmus of Suez, and reaches to the Mediterranean between the Lake of Menzaleh and Ras Kazaroon in Syria; farther east it joins the mountains of Arabia Petræa. This rocky country lies to the E. of the delta of the Nile. On the W. of the delta the rocks run from Kahira W. N. W. to the Arabs' Gulph, where they approach the Mediterranean near the Arabs' Tower (310 N. lat. and 29° 30' E. long.). From this line the rocky country extends westward with a width of about 70 m. at the outset, which, however, increases as it advances farther W., so as to occupy between 200 and 300 miles at 20° E. long., where it suddenly terminates. In the neighbourhood of the Egyptian delta, the rocks are hardly a hundred feet above the plain, but farther W. they rise into high hills and mountain-ridges (Gerdobah Mountains), and terminate with the high table-land of Barca, whose mean elevation above the sea is estimated to be about 1500 feet. Where the table-land of the Barca terminates with a rather abrupt descent (near 20°), a narrow strip of the Sahara comes up to the very shores of the Mediterranean, at the most southerly corner of the Gulf of Sydra or Kibbir (the Great Syrtis.) where it terminates on the beach with sand-hills. This strip of the Sahara separates the rocky region of the Nile from the mountain system of the Atlas. 4. Mount Atlas and its dependencies, by far the most celebrated of the African chains, occupy that portion of the continent most to the north and nearest to Western Europe. It seems to begin on the E. near the eastern boundary of the country of Fezzan, whence two ridges of moderate elevation run W.N. W., and in the beginning are called Karush. Farther E., however, they receive other names. This mountainous country, which traverses | the N. of Fezzan and the S. of Tripoli, is nowhere probably more than 120 miles in width; but the ridges of low hills which issue from it advance to the very shores of the Mediterranean, between Cape Mesurata and the Gulf of Cabes (the Lesser Syitis), so that the whole region may be from 180 to 200 m. across. At the Gulf of Cabes, however, the region of Mount Atlas enlarges considerably towards the N., and thence to its western extremity on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean its mean breadth exceeds 350 miles. The highest ridge seems to traverse the region in an oblique line, beginning on the east opposite Sicily, at Capes Bon and Blanco, and torminating on the shores of the Atlantic at Capes Geer and Non. The mountains which occur in that line do not appear to rise above the line of congelation, or at least only in a few insulated points. The country which extends N. of it to the shores of the Mediterranean is mountainous, and contains a number of fertile longitudinal valleys. Farther W. (about 50 W. long.), how ever, where its northern slope is diverted W. to the Atlantic Ocean, it extends in large plains, which follow each other in the form of terraces. The tracts of country which lie to the S. of the highest ground cannot be called mountainous, their surface being formed by wide, broad-backed ridges, of very moderate elevation, and by slight depressions between them in the form of shallow valleys. These latter tracts partake of the hot and dry character which distinguishes everywhere the African continent; whilst the district situated towards the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean resembles more the countries of southern Europe. (See ATLAS.) 5. Climate. By far the greater part of Africa lies within the torrid zone, those countries only which are situated towards its southern and northern extremities being beyond the tropics, or within the temperate zones. Owing to the vast extent of its arid plains, and the general want, in so far as we are able to discover, of the tempering influence of extensive inland lakes or seas, the temperature of Africa is decidedly higher than that of any other of the great divisions of the globe. The parts without the tropics are destitute of that regular succession of four seasons which is considered as a characteristic feature of the temperate zone. Here, as between the tropics, the year is divided into the dry and rainy seasons; but with this difference, that between the tropics the rainy season sets in when the sun approaches the zenith, whereas it occurs in the countries beyond the tropics when the sun approaches the opposite tropic, and consequently is at the greatest distance from their zenith. The rainless zone, or the space intervening between the countries which have the rainy season in summer and those which have it in winter, occupies in Africa a much wider extent of surface than in the other divisions of the globe. In the northern hemisphere, the tropical rains cease on the southern borders of the Sahara at about 160 N. lat., and the winter rains begin at its northern border about 28°; so that the rainless region here occupies twelve degrees of lat. In the stony country E. of the Sahara, the tropical rains cease between 18 and 190 N. lat, and the winter rains between 27° and 38°; here therefore the rainless season occupies nine degrees of lat. We are less acquainted with the climate of the countries lying contiguous to the southern tropic; but it is certain that on the western side of Africa, between 280 and 20 S. lat., a great sandy desert extends over the greatest portion of the table-land, in which there falls very little if any rain. The eastern declivity of the table-land, which is exposed to the immediate influence of the north-cast monsoon, has a regular succession of dry and rainy seasons. tor; to which are to be added the deltas of the Nile and the Quorra. The largest river is the Nile, which probably has a course of not less than 2500 m.; but as the source of its remotest branch, the Bahr-el-Abiad (the White River), is still unknown, its length cannot be determined with any degree of precision. It is equally impossible to determine the length of the Quorra or Joliba, the Niger of the ancients. For though its middle portion was ascertained by Mungo Park, and its lower by Clapperton and the Landers, its upper portion, which seems to traverse the high table-land enclosed by the Kong Mountains, has no been visited. Its whole length does not probably exceed 2000 m. The course both of the Senegal and Gambia are known; the former running about 1000 and the latter 700 m. The rivers traversing the high table-land of Southern Africa are only known at their mouths and a short distance inwards. These are the Congo or Zaire, and the Coanza, which fall into the Atlantic Ocean; and the Zambese, which falls into the channel of Mozambique. The river Gareep or Orange, which flows a short distance to the N. of the Cape Colony, is pretty well known in its whole course, and may run about 900 miles. 7 Lakes. These are neither numerous, nor generally of great extent. In the older maps a large lake is laid down to the W. N. W. of Mozambique, called Moravi or Zambre; but its existence is problematical. The largest lake by far of which we have any certain account is that of Tchad, made known and partly explored by Messrs. Denham and Clapperton. It is situated almost in the centre of the continent, in Soodan, to the S. of the great desert, near the 15th degree of N. lat., and under the 15th degree of E. long. The lake Debo, or Dibbie, in the same lat., and under the 5th degree of W. long., traversed by the Niger or Joliba, though considerable, is of very inferior dimensions. Some lakes are met with in the ranges of Mount Atlas, especially towards the Gulf of Cabes, among which that of Lowdejah is the most extensive. The greater number of lakes seem to occur within the depression of the table-land of southern Africa, between 40 and 18° S. lat.; but our information on this as on most other points connected with the geography of Africa is in the last degree vague and unsatisfactory. The lake of Dembea, in Abyssinia, traversed by the Bahr-el-Azrek, or Eastern Nile, is also of very considerable magnitude. 8. Minerals. The mineral riches of Africa are very imperfectly known; but the probability seems to be that in this respect it is but little if at all inferior to any of the other great divisions of the globe. Gold dust, principally obtained from the sands in the upper parts of the rivers, forms a principal article of import from Africa; and iron, the most useful of all the metals, is known to be very generally diffused. Salt is wanting in Soodan and some other very extensive districts; but on the other hand it is found in immense quantities both to the S. and N. of this central district. II. Races of People. Although we are accustomed to consider the inhabitants of Africa as being generally of the Negro race, the actual number of varieties of the human family occupying this portion of the globe is not only much greater than those found in Europe, but the differences in colour, form, and stature are much wider. There are about seven ascertainable varieties, which may be enumerated as follows, beginning with the southern extremity of the The great extent of the rainless regions seems to be one continent; viz., the Hottentot, Kaffer, Abysof the principal causes of the high temperature of this sinian, Egyptian, Numidian, Nubian, and Negro. continent. Nearly all the countries of Africa are hotter than those of Asia and America situated under the same We shall give a brief description of each race in parallels. The highest degree of heat is experienced in this order. In the Hottentot the colour of the the Sahara and the countries bordering the great desert. skin is a yellowish brown, and has been compared It is, however, worthy of remark that in Soodan, in about 100 N. lat., and at no great distance from the to that of a "faded leaf." The cheek bones are Sahara, the temperature sometimes descends at night to high, and much spread out in the lateral directhe freezing point. tion; and from these the face is suddenly contracted below to a very narrow and pointed chin. Nose remarkably flat and broad towards end. Colour of the eyes a deep chesnut; they are long, narrow, and removed to a great distance from each other. The hair of the head is of a singular nature; it does not cover the whole scalp, but grows in small tufts at certain distances from each other. When kept short, it has the appearance and feel of a hard shoe-brush; with this difference, that it is curled, and twisted into small round lumps about the size of a marrowfat pea. When suffered to grow, it hangs on 6. Rivers.- Though Africa, being mostly situated between the tropics, has the full advantage of the abundant tropical rains, it is less favoured with running waters than the other divisions of the globe. This is partly ascribable to the great extent of the rainless regions, and partly to the elevation of the table-land occupying the southern half of the continent. The countries which are well watered are not numerous, and occupy but a small portion of the whole surface. Such are the northern declivity of Mount Atlas, the countries embosomed within and lying contiguous to the Kong Mountains, Soodan, the valleys of the Abyssinian Mountains, the western coast between 40 and 18° S. lat., and the comparatively narrow strip of country lying along the east coast from the Cape of Good Hope to the equa The They The Egyptian race is represented by the Copts of Egypt. These have long hair, a yellowish dusky complexion, neither Grecian nor Arabian, a puffed visage, swollen eyes, flat noses, and thick lips; and in short, according to Volney, much resemble Mulattos, or the mixed offspring of the European and Negro. It is almost unnecessary to add, that this was one of the earliest civilized races of mankind; and that at least thirty ages ago it had already tamed the useful animals, cultivated the most valuable plants, smelted the useful and precious metals, and erected architectural monuments which for their durability, extent, and grandeur, still astonish the world. They were also among the first to invent hieroglyphic and alphabetic writing. the neck in hard twisted tassels like fringe. | well formed, and occasionally handsome. There is little beard; and the hair on other nations comprehended under this race have made parts of the body is either scanty or altogether considerable progress in the useful arts. wanting. The stature of the Hottentot is very have domesticated most of the useful animals, short, about four feet six inches being considered as the ox, sheep, horse, ass, and camel; and about the middle size for the men, and four feet cultivate most of the common corns, as wheat, for the women, which is about fourteen inches barley, and millit. They also work, with some short of the average stature of Europeans. Their skill, articles of iron, copper, and brass; and form is slender, delicate, and not ill propor- except the ancient Egyptians, and probably the tioned; but altogether they may be pronounced Numidians, are the only native race of the entire a very ugly race. The sex is distinguished continent who have invented an alphabet or from all others of the human race by a pendulous possessed a literature. rugose elongation of the nymphe of from two to five inches long, and by a vast accumulation of fat over the glutei muscles, which invariably takes place after the first conception. Both these appearances are well ascertained to be natural, and in no way the result of art. The language of the Hottentots is as singular as their persons. Its pronunciation has been compared to the clucking of a turkey. There are numerous guttural sounds produced deep in the throat, and pronounced with a peculiar clack of the tongue, which is quickly struck against and withdrawn from the teeth or palate. The aspirated gutturals are combined with harsh consonants in a manner unpronounceable by Europeans, except those who have acquired the language in infancy. No portion of this race, unconnected with Europeans, has advanced beyond the rudest stage of the pastoral state of society. When discovered, they had domesticated the ox and the sheep, the flesh and milk of which afforded them food, and their skins, with those of wild animals, clothing; they knew nothing of tillage, had no fixed dwellings, and practised no mechanical art except that of fabricating the bow and arrow. The ancient country of the Hottentot variety may generally be described as that which now constitutes the British colony of the Cape of Good Hope. The immediate neighbours of the Hottentots, and lying N. and N. E. of them, are the Kaffers -a very different race. The colour of the Kaffer is neither black, like that of the Negro, nor of the colour of a faded leaf, like that of the Hottentot, but of a deep brown. Hair short, curling, and woolly; but it is not of the wooliness of the Negro. Nose tolerably elevated; lips large and thick; but the lower maxillary bone does not project in the remarkable manner of the Negro, and consequently the fascial angle is much greater. The body, instead of being, as in the Hottentot, diminutive and feeble, is muscular and athletic, and the stature is equal to that of the European race. The peculiarities of the female form in their southern neighbours have no existence among them, and the genius of their language is distinct and peculiar. In the useful arts they have made considerable progress. Besides domesticating the ox and sheep, they have also tamed the horse and goat; and their agriculture extends to the cultivation of barley and millet. It is a singular and distinctive trait that they practise universally the rite of circumcision. Of the origin of the practice they can give no account; and it has most probably been derived from intercourse, at some remote period, with some people by whom it was practised. The Abyssinian race is entirely different from those previously mentioned. Their colour is nearly black; but the hair is long, and generally lank, like that of an Arab or Hindoo. Features regular, after the European model, and the nose often aquiline. The stature equals that of the European; and the whole person is generally | With The next race to be named is the Numidian. The people, not yet mentioned, who inhabit the northern portion of Africa from about the 18° of N. latitude to the Mediterranean, and known by the various names of Moors, Berbers, Tuanghis, and Tibbans, are, in some cases with an admixture of Arab blood, probably the aboriginal inhabitants of the country before the settlement of the Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, or Arabs ;- that is, they are the descendants of the Lybiaus, Numidians, Mauritanians, &c. this race the hair is long and black; eyes dark; the colour of the skin a light brown, little deeper than that of the inhabitants of Spain; the features are European, but the nose generally not very prominent, and never aquiline, as is often the case with the Arabian. Although apparently superior at all times in civilization to any Negro nation, this race appears at no period to have made any remarkable progress in arts or arms, and scarcely any in letters; for it has been ascertained only of late years, rather as a matter of curiosity than any thing else, that they once possessed the art of alphabetic writing. Their language, indeed, is but the jargon of a rude people, destitute of terms to express the most common distinct ideas, such as shortness, roundness, sloth, death, &c. Such ideas are either expressed by circumlocutions, or in more difficult circumstances recourse is had to the Arabic language. Their inferiority is indeed most decidedly implied by the facility with which they have given way before every successive race of conquerors, during a period of at least 2500 years. The next race to be described may be called the Nubian; and, with the exception of the Abys sinians, will comprehend nearly all the people of Africa from about 8° of N. latitude to the southern confines of Egypt, and from the Red Sea and Indian Ocean on the east to about the 25° of E. longitude westward. In this race will be included the people called Barabra or Nuba, the people of Sennar, the Sumuli, the Suaking, the Bishari, the Ababdah, the Galla, and others. A long oval countenance; a curved nose, somewhat rounded towards the top; rather thick lips, but not protruding excessively, like those of the Negro; a retreating chin; scanty beard; lively dark eyes; strongly frizzled, but never woolly | and not so woolly as that of the ordinary Negro. hair; a finely formed person of the middle size, with a bronze complexion-are the physical characteristics of this race. Some of the nations of this race have made considerable progress in the common arts of life, but they have no indigenous literature. With the exceptions now mentioned, the rest of the African continent may be said to be peo-inches high. They are remarkable for their pled by the Negro race, which commences at the southern boundary of the great desert, and, embracing both the western and eastern coast, with the island of Madagascar, extends to about 20° of S. latitude. They are robust, courageous, industrious and enterprising, and like the Mandingos have adopted the literature and religion of Arabia. Altogether they make a considerable approach to the family which we have before described under the name of the Nubian. The Suhnias are a squat robust Negro race, not exceeding 5 feet 8 courage and hardihood, and have made considerable progress in the common arts of life, but have not adepted Mohammedanism or the Arabic letters. The Jolofs inhabit both the maritime and mountain country on the south banks of the The following are the leading characteristics Senegal, and are, in fact, the first Negro nation of this well-known variety of our species:- we encounter on the western side of the continent Skin and eyes black; hair black and woolly; after quitting the Berbers. Their complexion skull compressed laterally, and elongated towards is a fine transparent deep black. With the exthe front; forehead low, narrow, and slanting; ception of thick lips and a nose much rounded at cheek bones prominent; jaws narrow and pro- the end, their features make some approach to jecting; upper front teeth oblique; chin reced- the European. The hair is crisp and woolly, ing; eyes prominent; nose broad, thick, flat, and the stature tall, and the figure good. To the confused with the extended jaw; lips, particularly south of the Gambia, and extending to Cape the upper one, very thick; palms of the hand Palmas, we find the race called Feloups, of a and soles of the feet flat; tibia and fibula con- deep black colour; with longish woolly hair; vex; pelvis narrow; knees turned in, toes turned features so regular as to be thought to bear some out. The stature and physical strength are equal resemblance to the Hindoo; and of slight and to that of the European, while the latter exceeds short stature, but much agility. These are nearly that of any other race. Many of the Negro in a savage state. To the south of the Felcups nations have made considerable progress in the are the Papals, a race of very ugly Negroes, of necessary and useful arts, a progress which, dull, gross, and ferocious aspect, with very flat it may be safely affirmed, greatly surpasses that noses, and of a dirty livid colour. These and made by any native nation of America. They some other races resembling them are followed cultivate many useful grains, roots, and fruits; in proceeding southward by the Bullom, &c., of have appropriated the services of the most useful a fine black colour, of good features, and well of the domestic animals, such as the ox, horse, made, with persons above the mean stature. ass, camel, goat, sheep, and hog, all of which Proceeding southward, and more to the Gold appear to be indigenous. It is singular, how-coast and the country lying inland from it, we ever, that no Negro nation, nor even any native find the Intor, Fantee, and Ashantee nations, African nation, has ever had the ingenuity to which appear to constitute another distinct tame and train the elephant, a service to civiliza- variety of the Negro race. It is of the mean tion which has been performed by almost every stature, and well proportioned. The face is of Asiatic nation to whose country this animal is an oval form; the eyebrows lofty and thick; indigenous, and which there is abundant evidence the lips fresh, red, and not hanging down as in to show was done by the Carthaginian and Roman the extreme forms of the Negro; and the nose not settlers in Africa. so flat. The hair is rather curled than woolly, and occasionally so long as to reach to the It is a still more striking fact that no Negro, and indeed no African nation, save the Egyp-shoulders. tians, Abyssinians, and partially the Numidians, ever possessed a literature, or had ingenuity to invent any alphabet, however rude. Now and then are to be seen examples rather Asiatic than African. No nation of this variety has ever possessed the art of writing, either springing up among themselves or The general character thus sketched belongs borrowed from strangers; and, although they have with more or less intensity to the whole Negro all made considerable progress in several of the race within the limits we have assigned to common arts of life, they are in the habitual perit; but it is not at the same time to be for-petration of cruel and ferocious rites, not to be gotten that there is much variety a greater paralleled by any other race of mankind. From perhaps than exists among the European or any the Bight of Biafra down to 20° S. latitude, where other family. We shall endeavour to describe a we encounter the Kaffers, there is comparatively few of the most remarkable and best ascertained little variation from our general description of the of these. The Mandingos are a numerous peo- Negro family. In the interior of Africa lying ple, occupying the mountainous country on the between the Mountains of the Moon, which west side of the continent which lies towards the cross, or are supposed to cross, the entire consources of the rivers Senegal and Gambia. They tinent in about 10° of N. latitude, and the great possess the true Negro features, but not in an desert, we have, as far as our very imperfect exaggerated form. The colour is black, with a information extends, little variety from the mixture of yellow; the person strong, symme- common type of the Negro. This is the country trical, and above the middle stature. Of all the which the Arabs call Soudan; a word which Negro races the Mandingos have exhibited the means the country of "black men," and is exgreatest aptitude for improvement. They are actly equivalent to the Persian word Hindostan. industrious, enterprising, and, compared with On the east coast of Africa, between the Kaffer their neighbours, of an open and generous cha- and Nubian races, we have nothing but true racter. They have adopted the Mohammedan Negroes. It is, however, to be observed of these, religion, and with it the letters and literature of that although the woolly head, black skin, flat Arabia. The Foulahs, or Paules, inhabit the nose, thick lips, and projecting jaws are never same portion of Africa. The colour of the skin absent, their excess which is found in general on with this race is a sort of reddish black. Their the western coast does not exist. Under the same countenances are regular, and their hair longer denomination, though shorter and feebler, is to |
