Africa, the oldest of the continents, containing the earliest remains
of man, and the birthplace of European civilization, is the last to be
explored. Long before the temples of India or the palaces of Nineveh
were built, before the hanging garden of Babylon was planted, the
pyramids of Cheops and Cephren had been constructed, the temples of
Palmyra and Thebes filled with worshipers.
Greece owes its civilization to Egypt: its beautiful orders of
architecture came from the land of the Nile. The civilization of Egypt
had grown old, and was in its decay, when Rome was born. Think what a
vast abyss of time separates us from the days of Romulus and Remus! And
yet the pyramids of Egypt were then older by a thousand years than all
the centuries that have passed since then.
For ages upon ages, Africa has refused to reveal its secrets to
civilized man, and, though explorers have penetrated it from every
side, it remains to-day the dark continent. This isolation of Africa is
due to its position and formation. It is a vast, ill-formed triangle,
with few good harbors, without navigable rivers for ocean-vessels,
lying mainly in the torrid zone. A fringe of low scorched land, reeking
with malaria, extends in unbroken monotony all along the coast,
threatening death to the adventurous explorer. Our ignorance of Africa
is not in consequence of its situation under the equator, for South
America in the torrid zone has long been known. There the explorer
easily penetrates its recesses on its great rivers,--the Orinoco,
Amazon, and La Plata,--for they are navigable from the ocean far into
the interior. The Amazon, 3,000 miles from its mouth, is only 210 feet
above the ocean-level, and, with its branches, is navigable for 10,000
miles. Africa also has three great rivers,--one on each side of this
peninsula. On the north, the Nile, the river of the past, empties into
the Mediterranean Sea, but its navigation is soon interrupted by five
cataracts; so that the camel, the ship of the desert, bears the wares
of Europe from the foot of the first cataract far up the river, 800
miles, to Berber, whence they are again shipped by boat 2,000 miles to
Gondokoro, close to the lakes Albert and Victoria Nyanza, 4,000 feet
above the sea-level, 4,200 miles by water from the Mediterranean.
On the west, the Kongo, the river of the future, empties into the
Atlantic Ocean under the equatorial sun; but its navigation is also
impeded by successive falls extending from its mouth to Stanley Pool.
Then there is almost uninterrupted navigation on the river and its
tributaries for 10,000 miles. Far inland the head waters of its
north-eastern branches interlace with the waters of the Nile. Another
branch rises in Lake Tanganyika in eastern Africa, while the main river
finds its source higher up in the mountains, north of Lake Nyassa,
5,000 feet above the sea-level. On the east the Zambezi, the great
river of southern Africa, empties into the Indian Ocean opposite
Madagascar. The navigation of its main branch, the Shire, is
interrupted not far from the ocean. The Zambezi itself is navigable to
the rapids near Tete, 260 miles from its mouth; while one or two
hundred miles higher up are the mighty falls of Victoria, only exceeded
in volume of water by the Niagara, and nearly equal in height.
In whatever direction Europeans attempted to penetrate Africa, they
were met by insurmountable obstacles. Communication by water was
prevented by falls near the mouths of great rivers. The greater part of
the coast was very unhealthy, and, where not unhealthy, a desert was
behind it; but these obstacles, which formerly prevented exploration,
now stimulate the traveler. The modern explorations of Africa commenced
one hundred years ago, when Mungo Park crossed the Desert of Sahara,
and lost his life in descending the Niger. From that time to the
present, travelers in ever-increasing numbers have entered Africa from
every side. Some who have entered from the Atlantic or Pacific coasts
have been lost in its wilds, and two or three years after have emerged
on the opposite coast; others have passed from the coast, and have
never been heard from. Zanzibar has been a favorite starting-point for
the lake region of Central Africa. Stanley started from Zanzibar on his
search for Livingstone with two white men, but returned alone. Cameron
set out by the same path with two companions, but, upon reaching the
lake region, he was alone. Keith Johnson, two or three years ago,
started with two Europeans: within a couple of months he was gone.
Probably every second man, stricken down by fever or accident, has left
his bones to bleach along the road. Drummond, a recent explorer of
Africa, chose a route by the Zambezi and Shire Rivers as healthier and
more desirable. Let us hear his experience. Early in his journey, at
the missionary station of Livingstonia, on Lake Nyanza, he entered a
missionary home: it was spotlessly clean; English furniture in the
room, books lying about, dishes in the cupboards; but no missionary. He
went to the next house: it was the school; the benches and books were
there, but neither scholars nor teacher. Next, to the blacksmith shop:
there were the tools and anvil, but no blacksmith. And so on to the
next and the next, all in perfect order, but all empty. A little way
off, among the mimosa groves, under a huge granite mountain, were
graves: there were the missionaries.
The Niger is the only river in all Africa navigable by small steamers
from the ocean; but the Niger does not give access to the interior, as
it rises within 100 miles of the ocean, and, after making a great bend
around the mountains of the Guinea coast, empties into the ocean only
about five degrees south of its source, after a course of 2,500 miles.
Its main branch, the Benue (or "Mother of Waters"), is navigable 500 or
600 miles above its junction with the Niger. The country through which
it flows is thickly peopled and well cultivated; but the natives are
fierce and warlike, and have until recently prevented any exploration
of the Benue.