FEATURES, ANCIENT AND MODERN.
The fifth division of Africa borders on the Red Sea. It includes the
countries of Abyssinia, Nubia, and Egypt.
Between Abyssinia and the Mediterranean Sea is the low valley of the
Nile. This is separated from the Red Sea on the east by a bold,
mountainous region. A low ridge of limestone and sandstone hills
separates it from the Libyan Desert on the west.
Abyssinia, or _Habesh_, as the Arabs call it, is a large highland tract
in East Africa. It rises from the Red Sea, in a series of terraces,
towards the southwest.
Between the highlands of Abyssinia and the Red Sea, lies a flat tract of
country called Adal. This tract is very narrow at its northern
extremity, but gradually widens towards its southern extremity.
The plains of Nubia and Kordofan form the northern and western
boundaries of Abyssinia. There is comparatively little known of its
southern boundaries.
The general characteristics of the country are high table-lands,
intersected by deep ravines and steep terraces of sandstone.
These ravines have been formed by the action of the rivers upon the
rocks. Sandstone, being a comparatively soft rock, would, in the course
of ages, be gradually worn away as the waters flowed over it. No doubt
the terraces have been formed from the exposure of these rocks to the
elements for countless ages.
Above the table-lands rise numerous chains of mountains. These are
mostly of volcanic origin. Some of the highest of these summits rise to
a height of fifteen thousand feet above sea level. Many of the plains
lie at an elevation of from seven to ten thousand feet.
Abyssinia gives rise to numerous rivers. The largest of these are the
Blue Nile and the Takazzie, an affluent of the Nile. In the southern
part of the country is the Hawash. It flows eastward through a section
bearing the same name, and finally enters the salt lake, Assal.
The largest lake of Abyssinia is the Dembea. It is through this lake
that the Blue Nile flows.
In the elevated sections of Abyssinia the climate is temperate and
salubrious. Along the low coast sections, and in the sections at the
north and northwest, the heat is not only excessive but the climate is
most noxious.
Taken as a whole, Abyssinia is a very fertile country. It shows,
however, as great diversities of products as of climate. This is due to
the different degrees of elevation in the various sections.
Wheat and barley are cultivated to some extent, together with various
leguminous, or pod-bearing, plants, cotton, coffee, sugar cane, and
tobacco. The coffee plant grows wild to a great extent.
Nubia is the modern name of a country once subject to the Khedive of
Egypt. It was probably known to the ancients under the name Ethiopia.
The boundaries of Nubia are the Red Sea on the east, Egypt on the north,
Abyssinia on the south, and the Sahara on the west.
The country is traversed by the Blue Nile and the White Nile.
Nubia has an arid soil. In many places cultivation is possible only
along the banks of the Nile. Some portions of the soil consist only of
granite and sandstone.
The products of the cultivated sections are numerous. They comprise
maize, dates, tamarinds, gums, aloes, and senna. Among the various
exports may be noted musk, wax, myrrh, frankincense, black wool,
elephant and rhinoceros hides, and ivory. Ostrich feathers, ebony, gold
dust, saltpetre, salt, tobacco, coffee, and cotton are also exported to
Egypt.
Some curious customs prevail. Taxes are rated by the number of water
wheels a man uses to irrigate his land. The more water wheels he uses,
the more valuable his land, hence, the higher his taxes. There is no
national currency, but the coins of Egypt and Europe are used. The
Spanish dollar is also used to a great extent. Glass beads, coral,
shirts, and cloth are used in barter, and take the place of currency. In
Kordofan, the value of goods is reckoned by the number of cows they are
worth.
The most primitive system of measurement prevails. Maize is sold by the
handful; eighteen of these make what would correspond to one of our
larger measures. In measuring cloth, the distance from the elbow to the
fingers is employed as we would use a foot rule or a yardstick.
The costumes of the people are peculiar. They consist of turbans, and
linen and woolen garments. The men arm themselves with lances, and
shields made from the tough hide of the hippopotamus.
The customs of the people are somewhat singular. They are averse to
eating meat, and practice the rites of the Mohammedan faith. They live
in low huts built of mud or stone. They care little for strangers, and
do not wish to engage much in commerce. They are fond of music, and in
their leisure moments play upon a guitar of five strings. It is a simple
instrument, having a sounding-board made of the skin of a gazelle.
There are few attractions in Nubia beyond the numerous temples and other
ancient remains of the Egyptians.
Egypt occupies a position in Northeast Africa. It extends from the
Mediterranean Sea to the first cataract of the Nile. The name "Egypt"
was derived from the Greek. It is as old as the age of Homer. In the
ancient languages Egypt was called by a name signifying "Black Land."
This name was given to it, no doubt, from the color of the soil.
Egypt may be regarded as the bed of the Nile. The cultivated portions of
it extend only to the limits of the yearly inundation.
In the days of antiquity the Nile had several mouths. Five of these
mouths have, in the course of ages, become filled with silt. The whole
alluvial district which these mouths enclosed formed the ancient Delta.
The ancients believed that the whole of this alluvial deposit had been
gained from the sea.
The basin of the Nile, or Egypt proper, is formed by the ranges of the
Arabian hills on the east and the Libyan on the west. The eastern chain
of these mountains is about one thousand feet above the level of the
sea.
Egypt is separated from Nubia by a low hilly region. This region is
about fifty miles broad from north to south. It is composed of granite
rocks. The same formation of rocks extends up the shore of the Red Sea,
nearly to the opening of the Gulf of Suez. It stretches inland over a
tract of some thirty miles in extent.
In this section of Egypt the scenery is wild and picturesque. The course
of the Nile is frequently interrupted here by cliffs or broken masses of
granite rock. It is in this way that the magnificent, yet disastrous,
cataracts of the Nile are formed. The granite section of Egypt
terminates at Assouan. Much of the material used in building the great
monuments of Egypt must have been brought from this section.
Upper Egypt is bounded by two ranges of hills. Both these ranges run
northward. The Arabian range is on the right, the Libyan on the left, of
the river. Sandstone prevails to a great extent in both these ranges. It
is a durable rock, easily cut. It was used very extensively in the
erection of ancient temples. The ancient city of Thebes was built of
it.
The sandstone rocks in a large section of Egypt are covered with moving
desert sands. In the lands which border the Nile they are covered with
the alluvial deposit which the river brings down in its course.
[Illustration: PAPYRUS ON THE NILE.]
All along the valley of the Nile the scenery is tame and monotonous. The
sandstone is easily worn away by the action of the waters, and this in a
measure accounts for the table-lands, which are of frequent occurrence.
It would also account for the vast amount of alluvial deposit, most of
it being worn-out rocks.
The fertile valley of the Nile differs widely from the desert regions
which enclose it. This is true not only of the botanical life, but of
the zoological life as well.
Many of the European trees and plants are found in Egypt. The date palm,
sycamore, acacia, and tamarisk are some of the trees peculiar to its
climate. The papyrus, which the ancients used largely in the manufacture
of paper, and the lotus, or water lily of the Nile, are peculiar to
Egypt.
Of late years the cultivation of the papyrus plant has been neglected.
Specimens of it are now rather rare. Sugar cane, cotton, indigo, and
tobacco are cultivated in its place.
Gourds and melons are found in abundance. Wheat and barley were
extensively cultivated by the ancients. These are still cultivated, and
maize and durra have been added. The latter is a coarse, strong grass.
It grows to a height of from four to eight feet. It has thickly crowded
panicles. The grain is round, and about the size of a mustard seed.
Durra may be regarded as the principal corn plant of Africa. It yields
an abundant product. It is even more productive than maize, but the meal
from it does not make good bread. Used like rice, it makes an excellent
pudding, or may be used in other forms for food. The stalks and husks
are coarse, but make excellent fodder for horses and cattle. The grain,
too, is often given to them.
Egypt is very deficient in timber land. Pharaoh obtained cedar from
Lebanon and ebony from Ethiopia, as our Bible history tells us.
Space will not allow us to linger over either modern or ancient Egypt.
The latter is more fascinating than the former. It will be interesting
for us to take our Bibles and, looking over the Old Testament, acquaint
ourselves with the stories of Moses, Joseph, Pharaoh, and other
characters of the days of ancient history.
Did space permit, we might dwell upon the ancient occupations, as glass
blowing and pottery, and upon the various implements connected with
them. The bellows, siphons, chisels, presses, balances, levers, and
harpoons would awaken our interest and curiosity, if we could but look
into some museum of Egyptian relics.
The weapons of war, too,--the spears, clubs, maces, swords, daggers,
bows, and hatchets,--would seem to us not only strange, but formidable.
No less interesting would be the pictures of war boats, and the galleys
used upon the Nile.
We might delight to run our fingers over the ancient harps, lyres, and
guitars. The drums, flutes, cymbals, and tambourines would have
fascinations for most of us, making us wish to test our musical ear.
There are many books, however, that can satisfy our curiosity over the
lives of the ancient Egyptians, and we shall be fascinated by all we may
find time to read.