Africa | The Meta-Encyclopedia

An Encyclopaedia of Occultism (1920)

2026 Editor's Note: This page uses language about race that was commonplace when the book was published and is offensive by today's standards. The text has been left exactly as it was printed, rather than cut or softened, so that the historical record — including how ordinary such language once was — is preserved. (Ed: ET 2026-07-22) (See Arabs , Egypt, Semites. The north of Africa is Mohammedan. This applies also to the Sudan and the Sahara. For Moorish Magic and Alchemy see Arabs. Instances of Arabic sorcery will also be found in the article "Semites." In West Africa Obeah is practised, for which see West Indies .) “ Magic in savage Africa is of the lower cultus, and chiefly of the kind known as sympathetic." (See Magic.) But spiritualistic influence shows itself in fetishism, the cult of the dead, ju-ju or witchcraft, and the cult of the witchdoctor. Bantu Tribes. Among the Zulu and other Bantu tribes the cult of witchcraft was practised, but in secret, for the results of detection were terrible. For the tracking of the witch, a caste of witch-finders was instituted, called "witchdoctors," whose duty it was to "smell out" the offenders. These were nearly all women. “ Africa ** It is not difficult to understand," says Lady Barker, bearing in mind the superstition and cruelty which existed in remote parts of England not so very long ago; how powerful such women become among a savage people, or how tempting an opportunity they could furnish of getting rid of an enemy. Of course they are exceptional individuals; more observant, more shrewd, and more dauntless than the average fat, hard-working Kaffir women, besides possessing the contradictory mixture of great physical powers and strong hysterical tendencies. They work themselves up to a pitch of frenzy, and get to believe as firmly in their own supernatural discernment as any individual among the trembling circle of Zulus to whom a touch from the whisk they carry is a sentence of instant death." The Zulu witch-finders are attended by a circle of black girls and women, who, like a Greek chorus, clap their hands together, and drone through a low monotonous chant, the measure and rhythm of which change at times with a stamp and a swing. Not less necessary is a ceremonial dress; for such things appeal directly to the imagination of the crowd, and prepare them to be readily influenced by the necromancer's devices. The Isinyanga," "Abangoma or “ " witch-finders," whom Lady Barker describes for us, were attired with an eye for effect which would have done credit to a London theatre. It will suffice to depict one of them, by name Nozinyanga. Her fierce face, spotted with gouts of red paint on cheek and brow, was partly overshadowed by a helmet-like plume of the tall feathers of the sakabula bird. In her right hand she carried a light sheaf of assegais or lances, and on her left arm was slung a small and pretty shield of dappled ox-hide. Her petticoat, made of a couple of large gay handkerchiefs, was worn kilt-wise. But if there were little decoration in her skirts, the deficiency was more than compensated by the bravery of the bead-necklaces, the goat's-hair fringes, and the scarlet tassels which covered her from coat to waist. Her ample chest rose and fell beneath the baldric of leopard skin, fastened across it with huge brazen knobs, while down her back hung a beautifully dried and flattened skin of an enormous boa-constrictor. When the community had resolved that a certain misfortune was due to the witches, the next step obviously would be to detect and punish them. For this purpose the king would summon a great meeting, and cause his subjects to sit on the ground in a ring or circle for four or five days. The witch-finders took their places in the centre, and as they gradually worked themselves up to a frantic state of frenzy, resembling demoniacal possession, they lightly switched with their quagga-tail one or other of the trembling spectators, who was immediately dragged away and butchered on the spot. And not only he, but all the living things in his hut-wives and children, dogs and cats-not one was left alive, nor was a stick left standing. Sometimes a whole kraal would be exterminated in this way, and the reader will perceive how terrible the cruel custom could be made to gratify private revenge or to work the king's tyrannical inclinations. A terrible little sorceress is described by Lady Barker under the name of Nozilwane, whose weird wistful glance had in it something uncanny and uncomfortable. She was dressed beautifully for her part, in lynx skins folded over and over from waist to knee, the upper part of her body being covered by strings of wild beasts' teeth and fangs, beads, skeins of gaily-coloured yarn, strips of snake's skin, and fringes of Angora goat fleece. This, as a decoration, was both graceful and effective; it was worn round the body and above each elbow, and fell in soft white flakes among the brilliant colouring and against the dusky skin. Lynx-tails depended like lappets on each side of " her face, which was over-shadowed and almost hidden by a profusion of sakabula feathers. This bird," says Lady Barker, "has a very beautiful plumage, and is sufficiently rare for the natives to attach a peculiar value and charm to the tail-feathers; they are like those of a young cock, curved and slender, and of a dark chesnut colour, with a white eye at the extreme tip of each feather." Among all this thick, floating plumage were interspersed small bladders, and skewers or pins wrought out of tusks. Each witch-finder wore her own hair, or rather wool, highly greased and twisted up with twine until it ceases to wear the appearance of hair, and hangs around the face like a thick fringe, dyed deep red. a Bent double, and with a creeping, cat-like gait, as if seeking a trail, out stepped Nozilwane. Every movement of her undulating body kept time to the beat of the girls' hands and their low crooning chant. Presently she pretended to find the thing she sought, and with a series of wild pirouettes, leaped into the air, shaking her spears and brandishing her little shield like a Bacchante. Nowamso, another of the party, was determined that her companion should not carry off all the applause, and she too, with a yell and a leap, sprang into the dance to the sound of louder grunts and harder hand-claps. Nowamso showed much anxiety to display her back, where a magnificent snake skin, studded in a regular pattern with brassheaded nails, floated like a stream. She was attired also in a splendid kilt of leopard skins, decorated with red rosettes, and her toilet was considered more careful and artistic than any of the others. Brighter her bangles, whiter her goat-fringes, and more elaborately painted her face. Nozilwane, however, had youth and a wonderful self-reliance on her side. The others, though they all joined in and hunted out an imaginary enemy, and in turn exulted over his discovery, soon became breathless and spent, and were glad when their attendants led them away to be anointed and to drink water. Central Africa. The magical beliefs of Central and Eastern Africa are but little known. They are for the most part connected with the cult of the dead and that of the fetish. As regards the first :- When the dead are weary of staying in the bush, they come for one of their people whom they most affect. And the spirit will say to the man : "I am tired of dwelling in the bush, please to build for me in the town a little house as close as possible to your own." And he tells him to dance and sing too, and accordingly the man assembles the women at night to join in dance and song. Then, next day, the people repair to the grave of the Obambo, or ghost, and make a rude idol, after which the bamboo bier, on which the body is conveyed to the grave, and some of the dust of the ground, are carried into a little hut erected near the house of the visited, and a white cloth is draped over the door. It is a curious fact, which seems to show that these people have a legend something like the old Greek myth of Charon and the Styx, that in one of the songs chanted during this ceremony occurs the following line: You are well dressed, but you have no canoe to carry you across to the other side." " Possession. Epileptic diseases, in almost all uncivilised countries, are assumed to be the result of demoniac possession. In Central Africa the sufferer is supposed to be possessed by Mbwiri, and he can be relieved only by the intervention of the medicine-man or fetish. In the middle of the street a hut is built for his accommodation, and there he resides until cured, or maddened, along with the priest and his disciples. There for ten days or a fortnight a continuous revel is held; much eating and drinking at the expense of the patient's relatives, and unending dances عد Africa to the sound of flute and drum. For obvious reasons the fetish gives out that Mbwiri regards good living with aversion. The patient dances, usually shamming madness, until the epileptic attack comes on, with all its dreadful concomitants-the frenzied stare, the convulsed limbs, the gnashing teeth, and the foam-flecked lips. The man's actions at this period are not ascribed to himself, but to the demon which has control of him. When a cure has been effected, real or pretended, the patient builds a little fetishhouse, avoids certain kinds of food, and performs certain duties. Sometimes the process terminates in the patient's insanity; he has been known to run away to the bush, hide from all human beings, and live on the roots and berries of the forest. ،، " These fetish-men," says Read, are priest doctors, like those of the ancient Germans. They have a profound knowledge of herbs, and also of human nature, for they always monopolise the real power in the state. But it is very doubtful whether they possess any secrets save that of extracting virtue and poison from plants. During the first trip which I made into the bush I sent for one of these doctors. At that time I was staying among the Shekani, who are celebrated for their fetish. He came attended by half-a-dozen disciples. He was a tall man dressed in white, with a girdle of leopard's skin, from which hung an iron bell, of the same shape as our sheep bells. He had two chalk marks over his eyes. I took some of my own hair, frizzled it with a burning glass, and gave it to him. He popped it with alacrity into his little grass bag; for white man's hair is fetish of the first order. Then I poured out some raspberry vinegar into a glass, drank a little of it first, country fashion, and offered it to him. telling him that it was blood from the brains of great doctors. Upon this he received it with great reverence, and dipping his fingers into it as if it was snap-dragon, sprinkled with it his forehead, both feet between the two first toes, and the ground behind his back. He then handed his glass to a disciple, who emptied it, and smacked his lips afterwards in a very secular manner. I then desired to see a little of his fetish. He drew on the ground with red chalk some hieroglyphics, among which I distinguished the circle, the cross, and the crescent. He said that if I would give him a fine 'dush,' he would tell me all about it. But as he would not take anything in reason, and as I knew that he would tell me nothing of very great importance in public, negotiations were suspended." The fetish-man seldom finds a native disposed to question his claim of supernatural powers. He is not only a doctor and a priest-two capacities in which his influence is necessarily very powerful-he is also a witch-finder, and this is an office which invests him with a truly formidable authority. When a man of worth dies, his death is invariably ascribed to witchcraft, and the aid of the fetishman is invoked to discover the witch. “ When a man is sick a long time, they call Ngembi, and if she cannot make him well, the fetish-man. He comes at night, in a white dress, with cock's feathers on his head, and having his bell and little glass. He calls two or three relations together into a room. He does not speak, but always looks in his glass. Then he tells them that the sickness is not of Mbwiri, nor of Obambo, nor of God, but What that it comes from a witch. They say to him, shall we do? He goes out and says, I have told you. I have no more to say." They give him a dollar's worth of cloth, and every night they gather together in the street, and they cry, "I know that man who bewitched my brother. It is good for you to make him well." Then the witch makes him well. But if the man do not recover they call the bush doctor from the Shekani country. He sings in the language of the bush. At night he goes into the street; دو all the people flock about him. With a tiger-cat skin in his hand, he walks to and fro, until, singing all the while, he lays the tiger-skin at the feet of the witch. At the conclusion of his song the people seize the witch, and put him or her in chains, saying, "If you don't restore our brother to health, we will kill you."

Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)

2026 Editor's Note: This page uses language about race that was commonplace when the book was published and is offensive by today's standards. The text has been left exactly as it was printed, rather than cut or softened, so that the historical record — including how ordinary such language once was — is preserved. (Ed: BR 2026-07-22) a grand division of the eastern continent extending toward the southwest. Like South America, it is a large peninsula. It is joined to the Asiatic mainland by the Isthmus of Suez, only eighty-seven miles in width. In outline Africa resembles South America. It tapers to a point at the south. A broad extension north of the equator gives the map a leg of mutton shape easily remembered by the schoolboy. The entire coast is remarkably regular, and may be drawn with easy curves, without a single deep gulf or bay to break the coast line. The entire shore line is 18,400 miles in length. The difference between the actual coast line and the shortest possible coast for the given area is less than that for any other grand division. Madagascar in the Indian Ocean is the only large island. PHYSICAL CONFIGURATION. If we except Australia, Africa has a more regular and even surface than any other grand division. A narrow fringe of low land runs around the coast; but in places, as at Cape Town and elsewhere, even this footing is crowded off into the ocean by precipitous sea walls. In general, the surface of the land is an elevated plateau. The Congo basin divides Africa into two parts. The region of the Sahara on the northwest lies at an elevation seldom, if ever, exceeding 2,000 feet. The rest of Africa seldom sinks below 2,000 feet in altitude. The average altitude of Africa is 4,000 feet. The principal mountain ranges are two. The Atlas Mountains run east and west opposite the Strait of Gibraltar,--greatest height 14,000 feet. The eastern highlands begin with the mountains of Abyssinia and continue with wide gaps southward to the vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope. In the Abyssinian region the highest peak is 19,000 feet above the sea. In the south the greatest altitude does not exceed 10,000 feet. Writers speak of a rift valley, a gigantic crack in the surface, occupied for the greater part of its course by the Nile River and the large lakes in which that river has its sources. It is along this valley that the "Cape to Cairo" railway is building. A second rift, parallel to the first named, lies between Abyssinia and the sea. Ancient volcanic cones, one of which is still active at times, may be found in these rifts. LAKES AND RIVERS. Of lakes, the largest are found in the great rift, 2,000 miles from the Mediterranean. The Niger, the Congo, the Nile with its tributaries, and shorter streams, as the Orange and the Senegal, carry nearly all the water of Africa ultimately to the Atlantic Ocean. The sole African river of volume emptying into the Indian Ocean is the Zambezi. TEMPERATURE. Africa lies so evenly balanced on the two sides of the equator that it has less variety of temperature than any other grand division. Traveling from the equator northward or southward the tropical heat indeed moderates, but if we exclude certain elevated regions which, by way of contrast, are delightfully cool, Africa as a whole is decidedly torrid. The variation in rainfall is extreme. The most northerly region, that of the Atlas Mountains, is well watered. The vegetation of this region includes the cork, oak, fig, olive, vine, and small grains. The brilliant flowers of this region make it a paradise for botanists. THE GREAT DESERT. The Sahara is the African end of a large desert region, the greatest in the world, reaching from the Atlantic eastward across Africa and two-thirds of Asia. Save where interrupted by the Nile and by oases, it is a dreary waste of rock and sand. Copious rains on the distant mountains sink into the earth and reappear far out in the desert in the form of springs, around which groves of dense green date palms spring up,--the grateful oases of the traveler. The valley of the Nile with its peculiar vegetation and animals crosses the eastern end of the region. EQUATORIAL AFRICA. The equatorial region from the Gulf of Guinea to the great rift is a region of heavy rains and dense forests. The waters are full of crocodiles and hippopotamuses. The forests are the home of the baboons and manlike apes and huge serpents. The elephant, once abundant, has been all but exterminated for the sake of its ivory tusks. THE PRAIRIE REGION. Extending from the Atlantic eastward to Abyssinia, quite around the forest region, and back to the Atlantic again, like a huge horseshoe, is a savanna or well-watered prairie region. This is the home of the solitary baobab tree and of luxuriant grasses. Giraffes, antelopes, gnus, zebras, and quaggas feed in the open parks. The savanna region is the home of the lion, the leopard, the hyena, and the jackal. Between the savannas and the Sahara is a semi-arid belt which reappears in the eastern angle of Africa and divides South Africa with the savannas. If one were to travel in a straight line south from Algiers to Cape Town, he would pass through shifting scenery. Leaving the shipping in the harbor and the city with its white walls and round-topped mosques, the traveler would journey between fields, orchards, and vineyards and through palm groves, until the blue Mediterranean lay far in the rear and he found himself threading the Atlas Mountains. Once over the slope, the country becomes dryer and the vegetation scantier. At the southern foot, thorny camel's shrubs or acacia bushes grow in clumps, while the scouring wind whirls the sand in eddies between them. Farther south from the mountains all signs of vegetation cease. For a thousand miles the eye would rest on a dreary waste of rocks and drifting sand without sign of life, save now and then a caravan trail marked by the accumulated bones of 2,000 years, and here and there a welcome oasis with its springs and palm groves, and the tents and flocks of the picturesque Arabs. Holding still a southward course across the Tropic of Cancer, the traveler would enter the fringe of an occasional shower from the equatorial regions. Clumps of thorny plants and palms would become more and more numerous until he encountered fruitful, grassy, flowery savannas, with herds of antelopes; then deep, equatorial forests and the majestic river Congo. South of the forests, the savannas again, and another region of stinted vegetation lead to the grassy upland of the Cape region. POPULATION. Roughly speaking, a line drawn from the Atlantic Ocean, along the southern border of the Sahara region, to Abyssinia, then dropping abruptly south to the Indian Ocean, separates the white people from the black. This division into races is based on the profile, the shape of the head, hair, build, language, and aspect, rather than on the complexion. The Berbers, Arabs, Egyptians, Abyssinians, and the coast tribes of Somaliland are of the white race. Immediately south of the Arab country a broad belt of territory, called by the Arabs the country of the Sudan or the blacks, runs westward from Abyssinia to the Atlantic. It is the region in which the Senegambian and Guinea negroes live. This is the region of untold atrocities perpetrated by merciless, marauding Arab chiefs and greedy Caucasian slavers. The ancestors of the negro population of the New World came chiefly from this region. The region immediately on the equator and southward is occupied by various negro tribes known collectively as Bantus. The extreme southwestern corner of the continent near Cape Town is the home of the degraded Bushmen and Hottentots. They are classified as black people, but are not negroes. None of the African peoples have shown capacity for holding together in organized governments. The Arabs, Somali, and Abyssinians are not without bravery, but are not natural rulers of themselves or of others. SPHERES OF INFLUENCE. With the exception of Abyssinia, protected by its mountain fastnesses, the Sahara, protected by its sands, and the republic of Liberia, Africa has been seized by foreign nations for the sake of trade. The kingdom of Morocco is nominally independent, but France holds a large part of the Mediterranean coast. Tripoli is held by Turkey. Egypt is nominally subject to Turkey, but is mortgaged to Great Britain and is governed virtually from London. The coasts of the Red Sea, of the Gulf of Aden, and of the Indian Ocean are parceled out among the Italians, Turks, Germans, British, and Portuguese. South Africa, with its farms, grazing lands, ostriches, antelopes, lions, hills, and diamonds, is under the British flag. Equatorial Africa has been placed under European protection in charge of the kingdom of Belgium. With slight exceptions the western coast has been taken over by England, France, Germany, Spain, and Portugal. France is a large African landholder, but, if Egypt be reckoned a virtual British holding, Great Britain owns not only the lion's share of the soil, but of the resources as well. With a total length of 5,000 miles and a width of 4,500 miles, an area of 11,520,000 square miles, a population of 175,000,000, enormous regions of fertile soil, the largest forests in the world, and unsurpassed natural resources, Africa, white and black, does not possess a single native nation worthy of the name. Foreigners--Europeans--are exterminating the game, driving out the natives, building railroads, stocking the ranges, claiming the lakes, laying out cities, and making themselves homes. Like America, Africa bids fair to become the seat of a European civilization. A clearer view of the partition of Africa, African islands included, may be had by comparing the following with a map: Independent-- Abyssinia, Morocco, Liberia. Under British Control or Ownership-- Ascension Island, Basutoland, Bechuanaland Protectorate, Cape of Good Hope Colony, East Africa Protectorate, Uganda, Zanzibar, Mauritius, Natal, Nyasaland, Orange River Colony, Rhodesia, St. Helena, Seychelles, Somaliland, The Transvaal, Northern Nigeria, Southern Nigeria, Gold Coast Colony, Sierra Leone, Gambia. Under German Control-- Togoland, Kamerun, German Southwest Africa, German East Africa. Under French Control-- Algeria, French Congo, Madagascar, Comoro Islands, Reunion, French Somali Coast, Sahara, Wadai, Senegal, French Guinea, Ivory Coast, Dahomey, Territories of Senegambia and of the Niger. Under Italian Control-- Eritrea, Italian Somaliland. Under Portuguese Control-- Cape Verde Islands, Guinea, Prince's and St. Thomas' Islands, Angola, East Africa. Under Spanish Control-- Rio de Oro and Adrar, Rio Muni and Cape San Juan, Fernando Po, Annabon, Carosco, Great Elobey, and Little Elobey. Under Turkish Control-- Tripoli including Benghazi, Crete. Under Belgian Control-- Congo Free State. Under British and Turkish Control-- Egypt, Sudan. Livingstone's Travels, Stanley's Through the Dark Continent, and Du Chaillu's volumes are excellent books relating to equatorial and southern Africa. See Livingstone; Stanley ; Speke ; Abyssinia ; Uganda ; Egypt ; Algeria ; Morocco ; Zambezi; Nile ; Niger ; Congo ; Hottentot; Bushmen ; Sahara ; Lion ; Elephant ; Giraffe ; Rhinoceros ; Hippopotamus; Gorilla ; Ostrich ; Palm ; Baobab ; Pigmy; Cape To Cairo Railway ; Diamonds; Boers David Livingstone. Henry M. Stanley. Africa George Schweinfurth. Africa Cape aardvark, South Africa Pangolin, Malaysia Three-banded armadillo. Animals frequently called anteaters

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

2026 Editor's Note: This page uses language about race that was commonplace when the book was published and is offensive by today's standards. The text has been left exactly as it was printed, rather than cut or softened, so that the historical record — including how ordinary such language once was — is preserved. (Ed: ET 2026-07-22) the name given to the continent lying S. of the Mediterranean; probably derived from the Punic Afrygah, a colony, with reference to Carthage, a Phœnician colony. Excepting Asia, Africa is the largest grand division of the world, being three times as large as Europe, and containing one-fifth of all the dry land on the globe. On the N. it is bounded by the Mediterranean, which separates it from Europe; on the S., by the Southern Ocean; on the E., by the Isthmus of Suez, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean; and on the W. by the Atlantic. Physical Features. - Its greatest length is nearly 5,000 miles; its breath, about 4,700 miles, and its area about 11,500,000 square miles. Since 1869, by the construction of the Suez canal, Africa has been an island. Its coast line is reckoned at more than 20,000 miles, and is marked by few indentations, and is generally characterized by narrow strips of lowlands. The surface is fairly well defined, as consisting of two divisions, the northern table lands of the Sahara, part of which is below sea-level, and the central and southern plateaus, broken plateaus, only by the valley of the Zambezi, beginning in north Abyssinia and extending S. as far as Cape Colony, with an average height of 4,000 feet. In Abyssinia is the main mass of mountains. reaching a maximum height of 15,000 feet. South of the equator are the extinct volcanoes Kilimanjaro (nearly 20,000 feet), and Kenia (18,500 feet), and the Drakenberg mountains of subtropical Africa (11,000). Other ranges of moutains are the Atlas, in Barbary, and the Kameruns, both reaching a maximum of 12,000 feet in height. On the borders of the Kongo Free State and the British and German spheres of influence, there is a line of active volcanoes, one of which, Mfumbiro, reaches 10,000 feet. In the southern plateaus are a number of fresh water lakes, Victoria Nyanza, Tanganyika, Bangweolo, and Nyassa. The first of these, which has an area of 30,000 square miles, is the source of the Nile. Lake Tanganyika, with an area of 16,000 square miles, is the source of the Kongo. Lake Tchad receives the waters of a basin in the central Sudan. Near Tajara, on the Red Sea, is Assal, a salt lake, 750 feet below sea-level. The Nile is the largest river of Africa (3,400 miles long), but the Kongo, 2,900 miles in length drains the larger area of 1,200,000 square miles. Other important rivers are the Niger; the Zambezi, with its great falls; the Shari, emptying into Lake Tchad, and the Limpopo. The Nile, the Kongo, and the Niger are great navigable rivers in most of their lower courses. The Zambezi and Limpopo, together with the Rovuma, Juba, and a few other coast streams, flow to the Indian Ocean; all the others, together with the Cunene Cunene, Koanza, Ogoway, Volta, Gambia, Tensift, Muluya, and Mejerdah, to the Atlantic, either directly or through the Mediterranean. The Makua-Welle is a tributary of the Kongo. Climate. The rainfall over most of Africa is very scant, with the exception of the W. equatorial area and parts of the S. and S. E. coasts. It reaches 130 inches annually in Monrovia, and varies from 5 inches to nothing in the Sahara and Somaliland. Fauna. The continent is rich in animal life, the most common kinds being antelopes, giraffes, zebras, and quaggas. Elephants, once numerous, have been killed for their tusks, and the species has been well-nigh exterminated. Africa is the home of the lion, and the rhinoceros, hippopotamus, crocodile, and hyena are abundant, as are also monkeys and apes, including the gorilla and the chimpanzee. The birds are remarkable for their brilliant plumage, among which the secretary bird, the sun-birds, parrots and bee-eaters are worthy of notice. The ostrich of south Africa is the largest of living birds. Of the insect world, the most remarkable is the south African tsetse, whose bite is fatal to horses and cattle. White ants are known as a destructive plague. Flora. In vegetation, the date palm, so useful as food in different ways, is the feature of the N., where a large part of the surface consists of treeless, grassy steppes. In the inland plateaus of the S. are numerous forests of heaths and the plants called Cycadaceæ. Euphorbias, aloes, and similar plants are abundant. Productions, Industry, and Trade. - Ivory was the principal product of the continent in the past, and it is still brought to the coast in great quantities. The central regions produce palm oil, palm kernels, caoutchouc, rubber, gums, cloves, sesame seeds, skins, and ebony and other woods. In the S., cattle, hides, wool, and grain are produced. In Liberia, coffee, cocoa, and bananas are grown. The Mediterranean coast supplies wines and olive oil, and Egypt is a large producer of cotton and cottonseed. In most parts of Africa, salt is an active object of internal trade. In the Niger territories and the Guinea coast, several of the tribes manufacture cotton and leather goods. ods. The mineral products of Africa are relatively small, with the exception of diamonds at Kimberley, in Cape Colony, and gold in the Transvaal. Copper is mined in Cape Colony and coal in the late Boer republics. History. The history of Africa reaches far back into antiquity. In Egypt, civilization is known to have existed as early as 5000 b. c.; 600 b. c., King Necho sent Phoenician ships on a voyage around Africa. Between 1100- 950 b. c. the Phoenicians founded as many as 300 colonies along the W. coast of Morocco. About 470 b. c. the elder Hanno of Carthage went with a fleet to what is now known as Sierra Leone. Herodotus described " " Ægypt" and other parts of Africa; Claudius Ptolemæus wrote the most detailed account of the country that has come down to us. The Roman generals penetrated far into the interior through the Sahara, and, in the time of Nero, Roman officers ascended the Nile. The Romans took possession of the whole of north Africa, including Egypt and Nubia. The conquest by the Arabs of the Roman possessions, as well as of Abyssinia, in the 1st century of the Hegira (7th century, A. D.), stimulated the Arab geographers to write about this great continent. Massudi, Ibn Hankal, Obeid el Bekri, who wrote the first geography of the negro country (1067), Ibn Chaldan, Ibn al Wardi, Abulfeda (1273-1332), Leo Africanus (1492-1526), who went to Timbuktu, Ibn Bakuta, who went to Zanzibar, and many others, visited and described Africa. The Church fathers conceived of the central country as a wilderness uninhabitable on account of the heat, and filled with all manner of mystery; but in the 13th and 14th centuries enterprising Italian merchants did much to make known the Nile Valley and Abyssinia; Marino Sanuto, Giovanni Leardo, Fra Mauro and others drew maps of much of north Africa hitherto unknown. In the 15th century the Portuguese explored the W. coast. By 1434 Cape Bojados had been doubled; in 1456 Cadamosto sailed round Cape Verde and reached Gambia: in 1472 São Thomé, Annobón and Principe were discovered. In 1848 Diego São reached the Kongo and sailed nearly 1,500 miles S. of the equator, and, in 1486, reached the Cape of Good Hope. Early in the 18th century excursions were made to the E. coast. After the discovery of America a great impetus was given to the slave trade, which had hitherto been carried on chiefly by the Arabs, and this led to an acquaintance with Senegambia and the Guinea coast. Exploration.- Not, however, till the latter part of the 18th century was systematic exploration begun, and since then more than 200 explorers have penetrated the unknown continent. In 1763-1768 James Bruce traveled from Massowah through Sennar to Egypt. In 1788 the African Association was founded in London to undertake the exploration of the Niger. In 1795-1797 Mungo Park reached the upper Niger, International Film Service A BRITISH ENCAMPMENT IN DAKKA, AFGHANISTAN Enc. Vol. 1-p. 58 Photo, Keystone View Company Photo, Paul Thompson