The World and Its People Part 33

The condition of the Bushmen has been very much changed by the circ.u.mstances which have governed their lives. Every one's hand has seemed against them, and theirs raised against every one. Like partridges in the mountains, they have been hunted for generations.

Deprived of all that the bountiful hand of Nature had given them, they became at first desperate, then rebellious, wild, and fierce in their characters.

Truly, their condition is a most degraded one, yet it is not hopeless.

The civilization of this people seems not only practicable, but there are reasons for feeling that it might be easily accomplished.

The Bushmen are not lacking in intellect, are moved by kindness, and manifest grat.i.tude for favors. They are trustworthy if any service is expected of them, and ready and willing to receive instruction. Under proper management and through the right spirit there is little doubt that they could be easily persuaded to exchange their barbarous way of living for a life offering civilization and comfort.

Just west of the Kalahari we find the extensive countries of the Nama Hottentots and of the Damara tribes. These reach over the hilly border lands of the continent down to the arid sh.o.r.es of this part of the Atlantic.

Namaqualand may, generally speaking, be considered a dreary region, affording but a scanty vegetation of gra.s.ses and p.r.i.c.kly shrubs. The land is furrowed by water channels. These flow for only a short time after the scanty showers have fallen. The coast land is of a sandy character and dest.i.tute of water. It is rendered still more disagreeable by an almost constant haze which overhangs it.

Damaraland is a little farther to the north. It has an aspect a little more favorable, on account of its hill slopes. Still, it, too, lacks any permanently flowing rivers.

Copper has been found in considerable deposits, and doubtless gold lies yet undiscovered.

Of the animal kingdom we find the ostrich in large numbers, and many specimens of cattle are seen.

The people of Damaraland are princ.i.p.ally of two tribes, the Cattle Damaras, who probably migrated from the valley of the Zambesi, and a black, negro-like people, or aboriginal tribe. The latter were once slaves of the Namaquas, and adopted the Hottentot language. A few Bushmen and Griquas, together with German missionaries, are the remaining population.

There is but one highway, or regular track into Namaqualand from the Atlantic. This leads from Angra Pequena Bay to the mission station of Bethany on the plateau. It was formerly visited by guano ships. Recently it has been occupied by a German trading company. From Walfish Bay there are tracks which lead inland to a mission station in Damaraland.

Just north of Damaraland there are a number of tribes that bear a strong resemblance to the Damaras. These are cla.s.sed together as Ovampos. They occupy the fertile tract of country south of the Cunene River, or the province of Mossamedes, belonging to the Portuguese.

We must not forget that most of these lands occupied by native tribes are, in a measure, governed by the nation to which they have been ceded; and hence these tribes, in many instances, come under the protection of Great Britain, Germany, or Portugal, as the case may be.

PART TWO.

_BROADER VIEWS OF THE CONTINENT._

CHAPTER XLVII.

VIEWS OF WESTERN AFRICA.

Western Africa comprises the west coast of the continent from the borders of the Great Desert to the Nourse River, together with a considerable amount of inland territory.

This inland territory varies considerably in its extent from the sh.o.r.es; and, in fact, is quite undefined as to its limits within the interior of the continent.

Senegambia is the country drained, you will remember, by the Senegal and Gambia, hence its name. It is generally understood to include the tract of country from the Senegal southward to the promontory of Sierra Leone.

The French, Portuguese, and British have settlements. France has the largest possessions. They extend all along the left bank of the lower Senegal River, and along the coast past Cape Verd to near the Gambia.

The seat of government of the French is St. Louis. It is situated at the mouth of the Senegal. The chief commercial town is Dakir. It is situated on the peninsula of Cape Verd. The islet fortress of Goric stands guard over it.

Farther to the south there are a number of smaller, isolated possessions. These, too, belong to the French. There are also several stations on the banks of the various smaller rivers.

Since 1880 these scattered possessions of the French have become consolidated. Several native states have placed themselves under a French protectorate. Thus no little progress has been made in consolidating the French possessions in Senegambia with those on the coast of Guinea.

Quite a large extent of seacoast is nominally claimed by the Portuguese; but their actual possessions are exceedingly small.

The Gambia River is navigable for three hundred miles up from the sea.

The greater part of the river is held by the British. They have an important little colony at the mouth of the river, and several smaller stations higher up the stream.

Sherboro Island lies fifty miles south of the British colony, Sierra Leone. This island and the coast line as far as Liberia form a part of the British possessions.

The inhabitants of Senegambia, if we except the Europeans and the traders living in the towns and trading stations, are mainly native negroes. All are black in color and have good figures.

We find here, too, representatives of a remarkable people, called the Fellatah. They belong to a much more advanced family than the negro.

They differ from the true negro type in their red-brown color, their finer features, slim figures, and less woolly hair. These Fellatah are to be found, also, considerably farther inland. In the Soudan they are very zealous advocates of the Mohammedan faith.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NATIVES OF SENEGAMBIA.]

The western portion of Senegambia is very flat. The Great Desert, its near neighbor, affects it by the dry, hot winds; hence the atmosphere is often loaded with fine sand, and dark with clouds of locusts.

The eastern portion of the country is diversified by hills and elevated land. There are a great many rivers, the Senegal, Gambia, and Rio Grande being the most important.

In the heat of its climate Senegambia ranks with Egypt and Nubia. During the rainy season the heat is most oppressive. Then, from June to November, the country is completely drenched by the enormous fall of rain. During this season the prevailing wind is from the southwest; during the dry season it blows from the east.

The vegetation of Senegambia is very luxuriant and vigorous. The baobab, or monkey-bread tree, is found here. The cottonwood trees, a species of poplar, are very numerous. They rank among the loftiest trees in the world.

The chief trade of Senegambia is in the gums which the acacia forests yield. These forests cover the entire country north of the Senegal.

Farther south we find the factories for the manufacture of palm oil.

These are all conducted by Europeans. The palm oil is exported to English ports and is used largely in the manufacture of a superior toilet soap.

The interior sections yield abundant quant.i.ties of groundnuts, hides, and wax. These are sent down the rivers and shipped from the coast. Many valuable products, as ginger, pepper, arrowroot, coffee, and rice, are capable of cultivation.

So great is the production of cotton that great quant.i.ties can be shipped to England at any time when the supply from other countries is so small as to raise the market price. No matter how extortionate the price may have been before the arrival of the Senegambia supply, it must soon become reasonable when the African cargo reaches English ports.

The west coast of Africa, from Senegambia to the Nourse River, is called the Guinea Coast. This name was derived from the Portuguese language.

The coast line is, generally speaking, very low. Navigators approaching it are obliged to make the tree tops along the sh.o.r.e their sailing guides until quite close to land; for only then is the outline of the coast visible.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GUINEA COAST NATIVE.]

Just north of the equator, in the Bight of Benin, the coast loses this marked characteristic and becomes high and bold, with the Cameroon Mountains for a background. Again, near Sierra Leone it presents a bold front to the sea.

These rugged features in the coast line are, however, noticeable exceptions to its general character. Frequently it presents a dead level, which extends from thirty to fifty miles inland.

"The heights which skirt the northern coast line of the Gulf of Guinea, and which stretch as far as the head waters of the Senegal and Gambia, and in the inner slopes of which the Niger also has its sources, may be considered as an extension of the Great South African Plateau. But they are of less general elevation; and that best known part of the ridge, which has the name of the Kong Mountains, is, apparently, not higher than from two thousand to three thousand feet."

This, perhaps, will help us to understand more clearly why one authentic author has stated that "the supposed Kong Mountains do not exist."

Doubtless, he does not consider the ridge of a lofty enough elevation to be designated as a mountain range.