Africa—Table-Land—Cape of Good Hope and Eastern Coast—Western Coast—
Abyssinia—Senegambia—Low Lands and Deserts.
THE continent of Africa is 5000 miles long from the Cape of Good Hope to
its northern extremity, and as much between Cape Guardafuï, on the
Indian Ocean, and Cape Verde, on the Atlantic; but from the irregularity
of its figure it has an area of only 12,000,000 of square miles. It is
divided in two by the equator, consequently the greater part of it lies
under a tropical sun. The high and low lands of this portion of the old
continent are so distinctly separated by the Mountains of the Moon, or
rather of Komri, that, with the exception of the mountainous territory
of the Atlas, and the small table-land of Barca, it may be said to
consist of two parts only, a high country and a low.
An extensive, though not very elevated, table-land occupies all Southern
Africa, and even reaches to six or seven degrees north of the equator.
On three sides it shelves down in tiers of narrow parallel terraces to
the ocean, separated by mountain-chains which rise in height as they
recede from the coast; and there is reason to believe that the structure
of the northern declivity is similar, though its extremities only are
known—namely, Abyssinia on the east, and the high land of Senegambia on
the west; both of which project farther to the north than the central
part.
The borders of the table-land are very little known to Europeans, and
still less its surface, which no white man has crossed north of the
Tropic of Capricorn. A comparatively small part, north from the Cape of
Good Hope, has been explored by European travellers. Mr. Truter and Mr.
Somerville were the first white men whom the inhabitants of Litakoo had
seen. Of an expedition that followed their track, a few years after, no
one returned.
North of the Cape the land rises to 6000 feet above the sea; and the
Orange River, or Gareep, with its tributaries, may be more aptly said to
drain than to irrigate the arid country through which they flow; many of
the tributaries, indeed, are only the channels through which torrents,
from the periodical rains, are carried to the Orange River, and are
destitute of water many months in the year. The “Dry River,” the name of
one of these periodical streams, is in that country no misnomer. Their
margins are adorned with mimosas, and the sandy plains have furnished
treasures to the botanist; and, indeed, zoology is no less indebted to
the whole continent of Africa for the various animals it produces.
Dr. Smith crossed the Tropic of Capricorn in a journey from the Cape of
Good Hope, where the country had still the same arid character. North
from that there is a vast tract unexplored. In 1802 two native
travelling merchants crossed the continent, which is 1590 miles wide,
from Loando on the Atlantic to Zambeze on the Mozambique Channel. They
found various mercantile nations, considerably advanced in civilization,
who raise abundance of maize and millet, though the greater part of the
country is in a state of nature. Ridges of low hills, yielding copper,
the staple commodity of this country, run from S.E. to N.W. to the west
of the dominions of the Camleaze, a country full of rivers, morasses,
and extensive salt marshes which supply this part of the continent with
salt. The travellers crossed 102 rivers, most of them fordable. The
leading feature of this country is Lake N’yassi, of great, but unknown
length, and comparatively narrow. It begins 200 miles north from the
town of Tete, on the Zambeze, and extends from S.E. to N.W., flanked on
the east by a range of mountains of the same name, running in the same
direction, at the distance of 350 miles from the Mozambique Channel.
This is all we know from actual observation of the table-land of South
Africa, till about the 10th northern meridian, where Dr. Beke’s
Abyssinian journey terminated. It is evident, however, that there can be
no very high mountains covered with perpetual snow on the table-land,
for, if there were, Southern Africa would not be destitute of great
rivers; nevertheless, the height of the table-land, and of the mountains
of Komri on its northern edge, must be considerable, to supply the
perennial sources of the Nile, the Senegal, and the Niger.
The edges of the table-land are better known. At the Cape of Good Hope
the African continent is about 700 miles broad, and ends in three narrow
parallel ridges of mountains, the last of which is the highest, and
abuts on the table-land. All are cleft by precipitous deep ravines,
through which winter torrents flow to the ocean. The longitudinal
valleys, or koroos, that separate them, are tiers, or steps, by which
the plateau dips to the maritime plains. The descent is rapid, as both
these plains and the mountain-ranges are very narrow. On the western
side the mountains form a high group and end in steep promontories on
the coast, where Table Mountain, at Cape Town, 3582 feet high, forms a
conspicuous landmark for mariners.
Granite, which is the base of Southern Africa, rises to a considerable
height in many places, and is generally surmounted by vast horizontal
beds of sand-stone, which give that character of flatness peculiar to
the summits of many of the Cape mountains.
The koroos are arid deserts in the dry season, but soon after the rains
they are covered with verdure and a splendid flora. The maritime plains
partake of the same temporary aridity, though a large portion is rich in
cereal productions, vineyards, fruits, and pasture.
The most inland of the parallel ranges, about the 20th meridian east, is
10,000 feet high, and, though it sinks to some groups of hills at its
eastern extremity, it rises again, about the 27th meridian, in a truly
alpine and continuous chain—the Quotlamba mountains, which follow the
northerly direction of Natal, and are continued in the Lupata range of
hills, 80 miles inland, through Zanguebar.
At Natal the coast is grassy, with clumps of trees, like an English
park. The Zambeze, and other streams from the table-land, refresh the
plains on the Mozambique Channel and Zanguebar, where, though some parts
are marshy and covered with mangroves, groves of palm-trees adorn the
plains, which yield prodigious quantities of grain, and noble forests
cover the mountains; but from 4° N. latitude to Cape Guardafuï is a
continued desert. There is also a barren tract at the southern end of
the Lupata chain, where gold is found in masses and grains on the
surface and in the watercourses, which tempted the Portuguese to make
settlements on these unwholesome coasts.
The island of Madagascar, with its magnificent range of mountains, full
of tremendous precipices, and covered with primeval forests, is parallel
to the African coast, and only separated from it by the Mozambique
Channel, 300 miles broad, so it may be presumed that it rose from the
deep at the same time as the Lupata chain.
The contrast between the eastern and western coasts of South Africa is
very great. The escarped bold mountains round the Cape of Good Hope, and
its rocky coast, which extends a short way along the Atlantic to the
north, are succeeded by ranges of sandstone of small elevation, which
separate the internal sandy desert from the equally parched sandy shore.
The terraced dip of the Atlantic coast for 900 miles, between the Orange
River and Cape Negro, has not a drop of fresh water.
At Cape Negro, ranges of mountains, separated by long level tracts,
begin, and make a semicircular bend into the interior, leaving plains
along the coast 140 miles broad. In Benguela these plains are healthy
and cultivated; farther north there are monotonous grassy savannahs, and
forests of gigantic trees. The ground, in many places saturated with
water, bears a tangled crop of mangroves and tall reeds, which even
cover the shoals along the coasts; but pestilential vapours hang over
them, never dissipated by a breeze.
The country of Calbongos is the highest land on the coast, where a
magnificent group of mountains, covered almost to their tops with large
timber, lie not far inland. The low plains of Biafra and Benin, west of
them, and especially the delta of the Niger, consist entirely of swamps
loaded with rank vegetation.
The angel of Death, brooding over these regions in noisome exhalations,
guards the interior of that country from the aggressions of the
European, and has hitherto baffled his attempts to form settlements on
the banks of this magnificent river.
Many portions of North Guinea are so fertile that they might vie with
the valley of the Nile in cereal riches, besides various other
productions; and though the temperature is very high, the climate is not
very unhealthy.
No European has yet seen the high mountains of Komri, generally known as
the Mountains of the Moon, which are said to cross the continent along
the northern edge of the great plateau, between the two projections or
promontories of Abyssinia and Senegambia. This chain divides the
semi-civilized states of Soudan, Bornou, and Begharmi from the barbarous
nations on the table-land. It extends south of Abyssinia at one end, at
the other it joins the high land of Senegambia, and is continued in the
Kong range, which runs 1200 miles behind Dahomy and the Gold Coast, and
ends in the promontory of Sierra Leone.
The vast alpine promontory of Abyssinia or Ethiopia, 700 miles wide,
projects from the table-land for 300 miles into the low lands of North
Africa. It dips to a low swampy region on the north, to the plains of
Senaar and Kordofan on the west, and on the east sinks abruptly to the
coast at a short distance from the Red Sea. It is there from 800 to 900
feet high, but declines to the westward, so that in the 15th parallel of
N. latitude the eastern slope of the table-land towards the Red Sea is
nearly twenty times greater than the counter-slope towards the Nile; the
edge of the latter, however, is from 3000 to 4000 feet above the
plains.[38] The character of Abyssinia is in that respect like the
Deccan, or Southern India, where the Ghauts rise abruptly near the coast
of Malabar, and the surface falls gradually towards that of Coromandel.
The table-land of Abyssinia is a succession of undulating plains, broken
by higher insulated mountain-masses, which in Samien, Godjam, and in
Kaffa more to the south, attain an absolute altitude of from 11,000 to
15,000 feet. The plains are intersected by numerous streams which form
the Nile and its tributaries on the one hand, and the Hawásh and its
affluents, which flow into the Indian Ocean, on the other. The edge of
the table-land towards the Nile is steep; the streams run to the low
lands through valleys from 3000 to 4000 feet deep, so that a traveller
in ascending them might imagine that he is crossing a mountain-range,
whereas, on coming to the top, he finds himself on a high plain. This
elevated country has lakes, swamps, verdant meadows, and cultivated
land, producing various grains, and occasionally coffee. The plain of
the Dembia, the granary of the country, enjoys perpetual spring. Dr.
Beke, to whom we are indebted for so much valuable information with
regard to this part of Africa, travelled to within less than ten degrees
of the equator, and, from the accounts he received, the country south of
Abyssinia appears to be similar to those of Shoa and Godjam—extensive
undulating plains, with occasional mountain-masses, and traversed by
numerous streams; wide tracts must be 7000 or 8000 feet high, as they
only produce barley: the country towards Kaffa and the sources of the
Gojeb is still higher, and in some parts desert; but the caravan-road
between Wallega and Kaffa passes through a vast forest impervious to the
rays of the sun, which, according to the accounts of the merchants, is
not seen for four or five days successively; and west of the Dedhesa
there are immense grassy plains, the elephant-hunting grounds of the
Galla tribes.
The geological structure of Abyssinia is similar to that of the Cape of
Good Hope, the base being granite and the superstructure sandstone,
occasionally limestone, schist, and breccia. The granite comes to the
surface in the lower parts of Abyssinia, but sandstone predominates in
the upper parts, and assumes a tabular form, often lying on the tops of
the mountains in enormous flat masses, only accessible by steps cut in
the rocks or by ladders: such insulated spots are used as state prisons.
Large tracts are of ancient volcanic rocks, especially in Shoa.
Senegambia, the appendage to the western extremity of the table-land,
also projects far into the low lands, and is the watershed whence the
streams flow on one side to the plains of Soudan, where they join the
Joliba or Niger; and from the other side, the Gambia, Senegal, and other
rivers, run into the Atlantic over a rich cultivated plain, but
unhealthy from the rankness of the vegetation.
The moisture that descends from the northern edge of the table-land of
South Africa, under the fiery radiance of a tropical sun, fertilizes a
tract of country stretching from sea to sea across the continent, the
commencement of the African low lands. A great part of this region,
which contains many kingdoms and commercial cities, is a very productive
country. The abundance of water, the industry of the natives in
irrigating the ground, the periodical rains, and the tropical heat,
leave the soil no repose. Agriculture is in a rude state, but nature is
so bountiful that rice and millet are raised in sufficient quantity to
supply the wants of a numerous population. Gold is found in the
river-courses, and there are elephants in the forests; but man is the
staple of their commerce—a disgrace to the savage who sells his
fellow-creature, but a far greater disgrace to the more savage purchaser
who dares to assume the sacred name of Christian.
This long belt of never-failing vitality, which has its large lakes,
poisonous swamps, deep forests of gigantic trees, and vast solitudes in
which no white men ever trade, is of small width compared with its
length. In receding from the mountains, the moisture becomes less and
the soil gradually worse, sufficing only to produce grass for the flocks
of the wandering Bedouin. At last a hideous barren waste begins, which
extends northwards 800 miles in unvaried desolation to the grassy
steppes at the foot of the Atlas; and for 1000 miles between the
Atlantic and the Red Sea the nakedness of this blighted land is unbroken
but by the valley of the Nile and a few oases.
In the west about 760,000 miles, an area equal to that of the
Mediterranean Sea, and, in some parts, of a lower level, is covered by
the trackless sands of the Sahara desert, which is even prolonged for
miles into the Atlantic Ocean in the form of sandbanks. This desert is
alternately scorched by heat and pinched by cold. The wind blows from
the east nine months in the year; and at the equinoxes it rushes in a
hurricane, driving the sand in clouds before it, producing the darkness
of night at midday, and overwhelming caravans of men and animals in
common destruction. Then the sand is heaped up in waves ever varying
with the blast; even the atmosphere is of sand. The desolation of this
dreary waste, boundless to the eye as the ocean, is terrific and
sublime; the dry heated air is like a red vapour, the setting sun seems
to be a volcanic fire, and at times the burning wind of the desert is
the blast of death. There are many salt lakes to the north, and even the
springs are of brine; thick incrustations of dazzling salt cover the
ground, and the particles, carried aloft by whirlwinds, flash in the sun
like diamonds.
Sand is not the only character of the desert; tracts of gravel and low
bare rocks occur at times, not less barren and dreary; but on the
eastern and northern borders of the Sahara, fresh water rises near the
surface, and produces an occasional oasis where barrenness and vitality
meet. The oases are generally depressed below the level of the desert,
with an arenaceous or calcareous border enclosing their emerald verdure
like a frame. The smaller oases produce herbage, ferns, acacias, and
some shrubs; forests of date-palms grow in the larger, which are the
resort of lions, panthers, gazelles, reptiles, and a variety of birds.
In the Nubian and Libyan deserts, to the east of the Sahara, the
continent shelves down towards the Mediterranean in a series of
terraces, consisting of vast level sandy or gravelly deserts, lying east
and west, separated by low rocky ridges. This shelving country, which is
only 540 feet above the sea at the distance of 750 miles inland, is cut
transversely by the Nile, and by a deep furrow parallel to it, in which
there is a long line of oases. This furrow, the Nile, and the Red Sea,
nearly parallel to both, are flanked by rocky eminences which run north
from the table-land.
On the interminable sands and rocks of these deserts no animal—no
insect—breaks the dread silence; not a tree nor a shrub is to be seen in
this land without a shadow. In the glare of noon the air quivers with
the heat reflected from the red sand, and in the night it is chilled
under a clear sky sparkling with its host of stars. Strangely but
beautifully contrasted with these scorched solitudes is the narrow
valley of the Nile, threading the desert for 1000 miles in emerald
green, with its blue waters foaming in rapids among wild rocks, or
quietly spreading in a calm stream amidst fields of corn and the august
monuments of past ages.
At the distance of a few days’ journey west from the Nile, over a
hideous flinty plain, lies the furrow already mentioned, trending to the
north, and containing the oases of Darfour, Selime, the Great and Little
Oases, and the parallel valleys of the Natron Lakes, and Bahr-Belama or
the “Dry River.” The Great Oasis, or Oasis of Thebes, is 120 miles long
and 4 or 5 broad; the Lesser Oasis, separated from it by 40 miles of
desert, is of the same form. Both are rich in verdure and cultivation,
with villages amid palm-groves and fruit-trees, mixed with the ruins of
remote antiquity, offering scenes of peaceful and soft beauty contrasted
with the surrounding gloom. The Natron Lakes are in the northern part of
the Valley of Nitrùn, 35 miles west of the Nile; the southern part is a
beautiful quiet spot, that became the retreat of Christian monks in the
middle of the second century, and at one time contained 360 convents, of
which 4 only remain; from these some very valuable manuscripts of old
date have recently been obtained.
Another line of oases runs along the latitude of Cairo, with fresh-water
lakes—consequently no less fertile than the preceding. The ruins of the
Temple of Jupiter Ammon are in one of them.
Hundreds of miles on the northern edge of the desert, from the Atlantic
along the southern foot of the Atlas to the Great Syrtis, are
pasture-lands without a tree—an ocean of verdure. At the Great Syrtis
the Sahara comes to the shores of the Mediterranean; and, indeed, for
1100 miles between the termination of the Atlas and the little
table-land of Barca, the ground is so unprofitable that the population
only amounts to about 30,000, and these are mostly wandering tribes who
feed their flocks on the grassy steppes. Magnificent countries lie along
the Mediterranean coast north of the Atlas, susceptible of cultivation.
History, and the ruins of many great cities, attest their former
splendour; even now there are many populous commercial cities, and much
grain is raised, though a great part of these valuable kingdoms is badly
cultivated or not cultivated at all.
The base of the sandy parts of North Africa is stiff clay; in Lower
Nubia, between the parallels of Assouan and Esneh, red and white granite
prevail, followed by argillaceous sandstone; Middle Egypt is calcareous;
and, lower down, the alluvium of the Nile covers the surface.
It would appear that Southern Africa, though similar in its unbroken
surface and peninsular shape to South America, bears no resemblance to
it in other respects, but has a great analogy to the Deccan in its
triangular form, its elevated platform, and in the position of its
encompassing mountain-chains, if, as there is every reason to believe,
from the fertile region to the north, either that South Africa descends
in a succession of terraces to the low lands, or that the Komri
mountains have a real existence, and run directly across the continent.
From the connection already mentioned between external appearance and
internal structure, as well as from partial information, it is surmised
that the mountains surrounding the two triangles in question are of
corresponding constitution; that, if any secondary strata do exist in
this part of Africa, they must be exterior to these chains, and neither
on the summits of the high mountains nor in the interior; and that any
tertiary strata on the table-land must, as in the Deccan, have formed
the basins of fresh-water lakes.[39]
The prodigious extent of desert is one of the most extraordinary
circumstances in the structure of the old continent. A zone of almost
irretrievable desolation prevails from the Atlantic Ocean across Africa
and through central Asia almost to the Pacific Ocean, through at least
120 degrees of longitude. There are also many long districts of the same
sterile nature in Europe; and if to these sandy plains the deserts of
Siberia be added, together with all the barren and rocky mountain
tracts, the unproductive land in the Old World is prodigious. The
quantity of salt on the sandy plains is enormous, and proves that they
have been part of the bed of the ocean or of inland seas at no very
remote geological period. The low lands round the Black Sea and Caspian,
and the Lake of Aral, seem to have been the most recently reclaimed,
from the great proportion of shells in them identical with those now
existing in these seas. The same may be said of the Sahara desert, where
salt and recent shells are plentiful.