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The Continent of Africa: Egyptians

VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. - Groves of oranges and olives abound in the extreme N., while here also are plains covered with cereals, forests of evergreen, oak, pine, and cork trees, which are intermixed with fig trees, cypress, arbutus, and myrtle. Papyrus, cotton, doum palm, acacia, onion, lotus, tamarind, wheat and rice are among the indigenous and cultivated plants of Egypt. In the arid region S. of the Atlas mountains and along the Sahara the date palm is abundant. Palms of different species are found in nearly all parts of the continent. In the extreme S, however, they do not grow. The coffee tree is cultivated in Benguela, Liberia, and Abyssinia. The latter is its native country. Oranges, lemons, and peaches are also grown in these regions. On the W. coast among the valuable productions may be mentioned the cotton tree, coffee, the cabbage palm, butter tree, banana, gum copal, yam, pawpaw, peanut, tamarind, and custard apple. Frankincense, myrrh, cinnamon, and other spices grow in N.-E. Africa. S. Africa has a very striking and peculiar vegetation.

POPULATION AND RACES.-That portion of the continent lying between the Mediterranean Sea and lat. 20º N. is settled principally by tribes not indigenous, such as Arabs, Turks, Moors, and Frenchman. These have gained possession of the country by conquest. Egypt is partly peopled by Copts, supposed to be descended from the ancient Egyptians, but they are probable a mixed race. The greater portion of the African population belongs to two races-the Berbers and the Negroes of Ethiopia. The former are nomadic, occupying the mountainous regions of Barbary and the Sahara. They are sometimes called the Kabyles. The Berber nation is one of great antiquity. They are warlike and predatory. Their religion is Mohammedanism.

In S. Africa there are many Hottentots, entirely different from all the negro race. Central Africa is inhabited by the Ethiopic race. Mohammedanism and Fetishism are the prevailing religions of the continent. Some tribes offer human sacrifices. The principal negro nations are the Mandingoes, the Foolahs, the Yolofs, and the Ashantees. Intellectual development is in a very low state. It is estimated by some writers that 150 languages are spoken in Africa, and that the population is between 180,000,000 and 200,000,000. POLITICAL DIVISIONS.-The principal division of the continent are as follows: Algeria, Tripoli, Morocco, Tunis, Bambara, Senegambia, Liberia, Ashantee, Dahomey, Gando, Bornoo, Adamawa, Baghirmi, Loango, Congo, Angola, Benguela, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Madagascar, Mozambique, Zanguebar, Adel, Cazembe, Abyssinia, Darfoor, Kordofan. Waday, Soudan, Sennar, Nubia, Egypt, and Houssa. The section known as Algeria, on the Mediterranean, is a French colony, and the French nation also has possession in Senegal and Gambia. The British Government has possessions at the Cape of Good Hope, Sierra Leone, Natal, and on the Gold Coast. Liberia, a republic, was founded by the American Colonization Society for emancipated negroes, and great efforts have been made to influence the negroes of the United States to emigrate thereto. On the E. coast, in Mozambique, and on the W. coast, in Angola and Benguela, the Portuguese have dependencies. The Canary Islands are the property of Spain, which also has colonies at Fernando Po and Annobon.

HISTORY. All of this continent except Egypt and the N. coast was known to the ancients as Libya. There are traditions of Carthaginian explorations far inland, while Herodotus relates that a voyage of circumnavigation of the continent was made during the reign of Pharaoh Necho. But in the 15th century, when the Portuguese navigators began their voyages, nothing was known of the continent beyond its N. line. Vasco da Gama was the first of these discoverers, and was the first to double the Cape of Good Hope. In the 17th century the French began colonizing the W. coast, and the Dutch established their first post at the Cape in 1650. In 1750 the British African Company located at the Cape. In 1772 Bruce, a Scotch traveller, visited the sources of the Blue Nile. Mungo Park, also a Scotchman, explored the Niger somewhat, and was killed in 1806, after reaching Timbuctoo. Then began a series of explorations towards the source of the Nile, which gradually brought to light the hidden mysteries of that region. Central Africa has been aptly termed the heart of the Dark Continent, as it has only been of recent years that any intelligible accounts of its natural characteristics have been presented to the public. Adventuresome explorers have one after another endeavored to fathom the mysteries of the almost impenetrable region, in their laudable desire to add to the knowledge of mankind, but one after another have they been baffled when almost within reach of the goal they so dearly coveted. The great Nile, which sends its volume of water down from the equatorial region, where all was supposed to be a sterile wilderness, became a great puzzle to scientists.

Dr. Livingstone was the first to make an exploration of the Zambesi, and found a labyrinthine network of rivers lying between the 10th and 20th parallels. From there his attention was directed further W., and the great water courses and water-sheds of the equatorial region will for ever link his name with history. Speke, Baker and Burton played their important part in unravelling the mysteries of the unexplored region. Livingstone verified and added to their discoveries, and later on, the American journalist, Stanley, traversed the region never before familiar to white men, and traced the Congo from its source.

EGYPT.

Khedive-Abbas, born July 14, 1874, succeeded on death of his father. At the N.-E. extremity of the continent of Africa, and bounded N. by the Mediterranean Sea, S. by Nubia, E. by Palestine, and W. by the Great Desert, lies Egypt-the ancient land of Mizraim, a country whose early existence is shrouded in mystery, and which has played one of the most important roles in the civilization of the world.

The Egypt of to-day embraces properly the lowest and most N. division of the valley of the Nile, from the last cataracts in that river, lat. 24° 3', to the Mediterranean Sea, at lat. 31° 55′. Measuring the country on the meridian, it is about 450 m. in extent, but taking the valley of the Nile, a meandering stream, and which is really the habitable section, the country is fully 600 m. from N. to S. This valley will average only about 8 m. in width, while its greatest breadth is at the Delta, between Alexandria and the ruins of Pelusium, 160 m. The N. coast has no special features, being low and barren, and consisting of sand hills and rocky points. Behind these are desolate marshy tracts or extensive salt lakes, and beyond the fertile country a wide plain, the surface of which is broken only by mounds of ancient towns and those on which stand the modern clusters of habitations. The deserts which enclose the plain on either side are rocky tracts of very slight elevation, with surface overspread with sand and other debris. The general appearance of Egypt is uniform. In Upper Egypt the valley of the Nile is in a rich state of cultivation, but narrow and bounded by mountains of no great height. These form the edge of the desert, on either side of the valley, which has been cut through a rocky tableland by the river. In form the landscape varies little, and is not remarkable.

The climate is equable and wholesome for those who can stand great heat and who avoid the unwholsome tracts at the N. along the low salt marshes. Upper Egypt is the most healthy section. On the coast of the Mediterranean rain is frequent, but unusual in other sections of the country. At the best a storm occurs but about once in four years, and light rain almost as rarely. One of the most interesting phenomena of Egypt is the mirage, which is frequently seen both in the desert and the waste tracts of uncultivated land near the Mediterranean.

THE NILE AND OTHER WATER-COURSES.-The chief natural feature of Egypt is the Nile, the only river, and the great phenomenon of the country the yearly inundation, which often causes much damage. During this period the river rises, above the First Cataract, 40 ft., 36 ft. at Thebes, and 25 ft. at Cairo. These inundations, when the rise is not so great as to cause damage to property, are the great source of the people's prosperity. The cultivable land of this country has been deposited along the valley by these yearly overflowings.

Egypt is famous for its lakes, and those of Boheyret-Maryoot, Aboo-Keer, Atko, El-Burullus, Boheyret-el-Menzaleh (the largest of all), Serbonis, the Bitter Lakes (salt marshes between Suez and Lake Menzaleh); in N. Egypt, El-Karn and Lake Mæris, the latter one of the most noted, historically. Besides the river Nile, whose waters naturally feed the growing crops along the valley, there are a great many canals in Egypt, used both for the purpose of irrigation and for commerce in uniting the branches of the Delta and affording communication with the Red Sea.

VEGETATION. There are neither woods nor forests in Egypt. In this it differs from most other countries. Except in Lower Egypt nothing but palm is seen; but in the latter region, acacias, sycamore, fig trees, olive, and the mulberry are frequently planted by the roadside in the neighborhood of Cairo. In gardens and plantations the myrtle, the elm, and the weeping-willow are found. Dates and grapes are produced in abundance, while pomegranates, figs, citrons, lemons, limes, and bananas, which are believed to be the fruits of Paradise (being always in season), melons of all kinds, olives, the fruit of lotus, and mulberries abound. The cactus bearing the Indian fig, or prickly pear, is common, and is used as a hedge for gardens and plantations. There is an abundance of vegetables, such as beans, lentils, lupins, fenugreek, mallows, spinach, leeks, onions, garlics, celery, parsley, chicory, gourds, cucumbers, tomatoes, egg-fruit, carraway, coriander, aniseed, red pepper, etc. The reeds which once abounded in Egypt have, as Isaiah prophesied, "faded away." The famous byblus, or papyrus, from which paper was manufactured, appears to be nearly, if not quite, extinct. The lotus is still found, but is not common.

ANIMALS AND BIRDS.-The zoology of Egypt is not remarkable. There is an absence of beasts of prey, and there are few birds of beautiful plumage. One of the most characteristic of the animals is the camel, more at home here than elsewhere out of his native deserts. The Egyptian camel is the one-humped kind, erroneously called the dromedary. In the days of the Pharaohs the horses of Egypt were famous, and surrounding empires drew therefrom their supplies of this animal for war purposes. To-day the horses here are of a very indifferent breed, the best being brought from Arabia and Syria. The finest Arabs are kept in the background. The ass is common, and is largely used for burden in the narrow streets of the cities. Short-horned cattle, buffaloes, sheep, and goats are abundant, and swine are rarely kept, the flesh is considered unwholesome in this hot climate. Wolves, foxes, jackals, and hyenas inhabit the deserts and lurk in the ancient tombs and deserted quarries. Antelopes, the wild ass, gazelles, and the wild boar constitute the beasts of the chase. The hippopotamus, once common, has retreated above the First Cataract, the S. boundary of Egypt. Birds of prey are numerous, such as the vulture, eagle, falcon, buzzard, and hawk. Of reptiles, crocodiles occupy the first place, while the serpents include the deadly cerastes and the cobra di capello. Scorpions and spiders are numerous, and fleas and bugs generally are so plentiful as to become pests.

AREA AND POPULATION. - The territories which are under the rule of the sovereign of Egypt, including those on the upper Nile and Central Africa, conquered in 1874-75, are roughly estimated to embrace an area of 1,406,250 sq. m., and to contain a population of nearly 17,000,000. Of these about one-third are in Egypt proper. The geographical divisions of the country are Lower, Middle, and Upper Egypt, designations drawn from the course of the Nile. These districts are subdivided into 11 administrative provinces. The area of Egypt proper is estimated to comprise 175,- 130 sq. m., the annexed and conquered districts, including Nubia, the former kingdom of Ethiopia, and Darfur; being estimated at 1,231,120 sq. m., and having 11,435,000 r