been erected for houses and warehouses, schools have been provided, churches built, and a press been set up, from which is issued a respectably conducted newspaper. The native traders of the interior have visited the colony, and an active commerce is carried on partly in colonial shipping, and partly by American and European vessels. Palm oil, ivory, dye wood, hides, wax, and pepper, are among the articles of export, in addition to the productions before enumerated.

The Grain Coast, occupied mostly by Liberia, derived its name from Guineapepper, or grains of Paradise, a spice about the size of hemp-seed which was regarded by Europeans, when they first landed here, as a delicious luxury; but, after the aromatics of the east became familiar, it fell into disrepute.

The Ivory, including the Adoo or Quaqua Coast, extends from Cape Palmas to Apollonia, about 400 miles: the name is derived from the quantities of ivory obtained from the elephants on the sea-shore and in the interior. There are a number of small ports along the coast, at which European ships occasionally trade. The natives have been generally represented as very ferocious and rude, and have also been accused of cannibalism; but late observers speak of them in milder

terms.

The Gold Coast, to the east of the Ivory Coast, extends from Apollonia to the Volta River, about 280 miles. This region derives its designation from the highly prized commodity which its name indicates. The English, Dutch, and Danes, all have here trading settlements, or Forts. The chief of these, belonging to Great Britain, are Cape Coast Castle, a strong fortress, mounting 90 pieces of cannon; Dix Cove, Succondee, Winebah, Accarah, and others. Those of the Dutch are El Mina, or the Castle formerly belonging to the Portuguese, from whom it was captured in 1637; and 7 or 8 others. These are the most respectable settlements on the coast. The Danish forts are Christianburg, Ningo, and Quitta.

Eastward from the Volta River, and extending thence 330 miles to the Formoso River, is the Slave Coast, so named because slaves were formerly procured here in greater numbers than elsewhere, and of a more docile and tractable character than any other. It consisted originally of the kingdoms of Whidat and Ardrah, which formed the most populous and best cultivated parts of this region. In the beginning of the last century, they were conquered by Dahomey and incorporated into that kingdom, but have never regained their former state of prosperity.

In the interior and north of the Gold Coast is the kingdom of Ashantee, a power that has within a short period quadrupled its possessions and population. Its name had scarcely reached European ears when its armies were lately seen descending to the coast and subduing all before them. In military skill and valour, in arts and intelligence, they are decidedly superior to any other inhabitants in Western Africa. Large armies assemble at a short warning, which furnishes evidence of a dense population. The rude magnificence displayed in their camp when visited by the English, and the dignity and courtesy of deportment both of the king and his officers, indicate a degree of civilization much superior to that of the surrounding nations. There are, notwithstanding, features in the character and customs of this people, surpassing in barbarity almost any other except in the contiguous kingdom of Dahomey. On the death of the king or any of the royal family, human victims bleed in thousands; also when any of the great men wish to propitiate the manes of their ancestors, or when favourable omens are sought respecting any great projected enterprise.

The legal allowance of wives for the king is upwards of three thousand, selected from the fairest damsels in his dominions. These unfortunate beings are no better than slaves, and on any capricious disgust are treated with the greatest cruelty, and often put to death. Yet this barbarous monarch is not without a desire to civilize his subjects, and to adopt European arts and improvements. He

has occupied himself in erecting a palace of stone, in the European style, under the direction of an artist from El Mina, instead of the structures of earth and straw to which the architecture of Africa has hitherto been confined.

The only instrument of husbandry among the Ashantees is the hoe. They cultivate rice and the sugar-cane; fine cotton grows spontaneously, and tropical fruits are abundant. Their cattle are large and fine, and their horses mostly of a small breed. They are but indifferent horsemen, and sometimes ride on oxen. They use a loom similar to the European, and produce fine cloths with brilliant colours. They also work skilfully in metals and leather: their articles of gold are in particular very neatly made.

Coomassie, the capital, is said to contain a population of 80,000 or 100,000. The houses are well built and neat. The streets are all named, and are each under the charge of a captain or chief. The population of Ashantee proper is supposed to be about 1,000,000, but including its tributary states, probably four times that amount.

Dahomey, lying east of Ashantee, and north of the Slave Coast, extends into the interior upwards of 200 miles. The most arbitrary forms of despotism are mild compared with those of this country, founded in an idolatrous veneration for the king. Human sacrifices take place here on a greater scale than even in Ashantee, and the bodies of the victims, instead of being interred, are hung up on the walls and allowed to putrify. Human skulls make the favourite ornament of the palaces and temples, and the king has his sleeping apartment paved with them, and the roof ornamented with the jaw-bones of chiefs whom he has slain in battle.

Dahomey consists of an extensive and fertile plain, capable of every species of tropical culture. Little is, however, actually produced from it that is fitted for a foreign market. Abomey, the capital, contains about 24,000 inhabitants. Ardra, 25 miles from the coast, 10,000. Griwhee, the port of Abomey, about 7000, and Badagry about 5000.

Eastward of Dahomey is the country of Benin, which extends from east to west upwards of two hundred miles. This region is but little known. The country is low and flat; the soil on the banks of the rivers fertile; but for Europeans the climate is very unhealthy. The natives are active traders in slaves, ivory, and palm-oil. Large quantities of salt are made along the rivers, mostly for the interior trade. The king is not only absolute, but he is considered fetiche, or a God, in the eyes of his subjects, and all offences against him are punished in the most cruel and summary manner, not only as treason, but as impiety.

Waree, south of the Formosa river, is a much smaller state than Benin. The country is low, marshy, and covered with a thick forest. The capital, of the same name, is on a beautiful island somewhat elevated above the surrounding swamps and woods. Here, too, the king is absolute, and carries polygamy to a great extent. A late traveller, who happened to get a peep into the seraglio, saw about fifty queens busied in various employments, from the toilette to the washing-tub.

The whole of this region, from the River Formosa to Biafra, including part of Benin, Waree, Bonny, &c., comprises the Delta of the Niger, and is traversed by a great number of rivers. Of these, the Nun, by which the Messrs. Landers descended to the ocean, if not the largest, is at least the most direct. The Bonny, another large estuary, to the eastward of the Nun, has on its banks, a few miles from the sea, the towns of Bonny and New Calebar. They are situated in the midst of the morasses which overspread this country. The people support themselves by the trade in salt, slaves, and palm-oil. The old Calebar, Rio del Rey, and Cameroons, are important estuaries. On the first, about 60 miles from the sea, is Ephraim Town, with 6000 inhabitants, governed by a duke. These rivers are all very unhealthy, but yield a good deal of ivory and palm-oil. The continuity of that vast wooded and marshy flat which has extended along the coast for more than 200 miles, is now broken by some very lofty mountains, the prin|cipal of which is supposed to reach the height of 13,000 feet.

BIAFRA, &c.

THAT part of the western coast of Africa, commencing with Biafra, is sometimes called Lower Guinea, a term which is, however, by no means generally adopted; here, as in the region just described, the interior is but imperfectly known to the civilized world: the heat of the climate is extreme; the manners and customs of the people are rude and barbarous, and the forms of government are all characteristic of a low and unimproved state of society. South of the great river Niger, and extending towards Congo, are the Calebar, Cameroons, Malemba, Campo, Danger, Moondah, and Gaboon, rivers; these water the countries of Biafra, Calbongas, and Gaboon; they are all of them but little known, and but occasionally frequented; the country, with a few exceptions, being very unhealthy for Europeans, but yields some ivory and palm oil, which form almost the only inducement for visiting it.

LOANGO.-Loango, situated immediately north of the Zaire, or Congo River, extends along the coast about 400 miles: its interior limits and character are but vaguely and imperfectly known. The climate is described as fine, rain of rare occurrence, and never violent, but dews abundant. The soil in the vicinity of the sea-coast is fertile, yielding in profusion a great variety of tropical productions. Loango contains several districts, as Kilonga, Mayumba, &c. The slave trade, for which alone this part of Africa is most frequented, is chiefly carried on at Malemba and Cabenda, on the south part of this region, not far from the Zaire, or Congo River. Malemba is so pleasant and healthy as to be called the Montpelier of Africa, and Cabenda, near the mouth of the river of the same name, also a beautiful town, is known by the appellation of the paradise of the coast. It is a great mart for slaves, who are brought from the opposite territory of Sogno, in Congo; but the natives, contrary to their general character, in this region are rude and difficult to treat with.

CONGO, ANGOLA, &c.-The next division of Western Africa consists of Congo, Angola, Benguela, and Matemba: the coasts of the three first, which, and also those of Loango, are named by navigators the coast of Angola, or more simply the coast. The principal feature of this region is the Zaire, or Congo, a powerful and rapid river, which rushes by a single channel into the Atlantic; it was ascended by Captain Tuckey, in his unfortunate expedition, 280 miles, yet nothing was ascertained as to its origin and early course. The other principal rivers are the Ambriz, Dande, Coanza, Cuvo, and Cutambela: of these the Coanza is next to the Zaire, the most important stream; it is said by the Portuguese, on the report of the natives, to flow from a large lake far in the interior, in the country of the Cassanges, in which the Coango, the head tributary of the Zaire, also has its

source.

This region extends from the latter river to the Bembaroughe, the southernmost limit of Benguela, about 800 miles; and into the interior the distance is very uncertain, but is probably from 500 to 600 miles: over the whole of this territory the Portuguese claim sovereignty, but their authority is supposed to be merely nominal, except in the vicinity of their few forts, and in the immediate neighbourhood of the coast. The country was discovered by them in 1487, and soon afterwards visited by a number of missionaries: forts and factories were early established, and it was represented as very populous, but in the late expedition up the Zaire no evidence of this was apparent. The largest town on that river did not contain more than from 60 to 100 huts.

Congo, the largest division of the Portuguese territories on this coast, lies immediately south of the Zaire, and extends for several hundred miles in the interior: the eastern limits are uncertain, the inland parts being unknown. The chief town is St. Salvador, at which the Portuguese maintain a mission. Of this place no recent details have been received. In the natives of Congo the negro indolence is carried to its utmost excess; the little cultivation that exists, carried on entirely by the females, is nearly limited to the manioc root, which they are not

very skilful in preparing Their houses are put together of mats, made from the fibres of the palm tree, and their clothes and bedding consist merely of matted

grass.

The countries south of Congo are Angola and Benguela: of the former the chief settlement is at St. Paul de Loando, a large town in an elevated situation. It exports annually 18,000 to 20,000 slaves, mostly to Brazil. San Felipe de Benguela, in a marshy and unhealthy site, is now considerably declined, and its population does not exceed 3000, mostly free negroes and slaves. There is also a smaller port, called Nova Redonda. Far inland are the countries of Matemba and Cassange. In this interior region, two centuries ago, the Jagas, or Giagas, were celebrated by travellers as a formidable tribe, addicted to the most ferocious and revolting habits: they were constantly at war with the people around them, but are probably extinct or changed in their habits, as they appear now to be unknown.

CIMBEBAS, &c.

STRETCHING South of Benguela for several hundred miles, are the desert and dreary coasts of Cimbebas and Mampoor, along which water that can be drunk is very scarce, and only found in spots far distant from each other. The whole coast is a strip of sandy desert 40 or 50 miles in breadth, behind which the interior country becomes hilly and apparently well fitted for pasturage. Horned cattle constitute the riches of the inhabitants, who are clothed in ox hides, and appear to be a mild and inoffensive race. They are similar in appearance to the Hottentots, and are probably the same people. These coasts have been lately visited by some Americans, who have communicated with the natives at a few points and purchased good cattle from them at the low rate of one and two dollars a head.

SOUTHERN AFRICA.

SOUTHERN AFRICA is the term generally applied to the territory discovered and partly colonised by Europeans. It includes the Cape Colony, Caffraria, the country of the Hottentots, and that occupied by the Bechuanas. The coast line of this region, commencing at its western extremity and extending to the south, the east and the north, to Delagoa Bay, is upwards of 2000 miles; from north to south it is 750 and from east to west from 600 to 900 miles in extent.

The principal mountain ridge of Southern Africa is that called in different parts of its range by the names of Nieuwvelds Bergen, and Sneeuw Bergen, which divides mostly the waters of the Orange River from those flowing to the south in the Cape Colony, and those of Caffraria which run eastward into the Indian Ocean. This chain has not been explored in its whole range, but is thought to extend about 1100 miles in length; many parts of it are constantly covered with snow, and its highest peaks are about 10,000 feet in height. Much of the surface of this region is arid and unfit for cultivation, particularly that part of it in the colony south of the mountains called the Great Karroo, which is a level plain covered with a hard and impenetrable soil, almost all unfit for vegetation; it is 300 miles in length, and near 100 in breadth.

North of the mountains the territory is for some space bleak and sterile, but it gradually improves till it opens into the extensive pastoral plains occupied by the Bechuanas. So far as this has been explored to the northward, it becomes always more fertile, though to the west there has been observed a desert of very great extent. The eastern coast also consists chiefly of a fine pastoral plain, occupied by various Caffre tribes, and separated from the Bechuana country by the extending ranges of the Sneeuw Bergen chain, which have not yet been much explored.

The chief stream of this region is the Orange River, which, with its tributaries, drains a large extent of country north of the Snowy Mountains, and after a course which, with its windings, must considerably exceed 1000 miles, falls into the Southern Ocean in about 28° 30' S. Lat. Those in the colony, and south of the

great mountain chain, are the Oliphants River, flowing north-west, then running south are the Breede, Gaurits, Camtoos, Zoondag, and the Great Fish Rivers, which last, though the most considerable, has not a course of more than 200 miles. In Caffraria several estuaries open into the Indian Ocean, the early courses of which are little more than conjectured; the stream most known is the Great Kei, about 120 miles in length.

The population of a region of which the very boundaries are yet so undetermined, can hardly be made any thing more than a subject of mere conjecture. The classes of inhabitants in this part of Africa exhibit a considerable variety. They consist of 1st, The British, comprising the officers of government, the troops, and a few thousand agricultural emigrants, whose numbers are not, however, increasing. 2d, The Dutch, who farm most of the lands in the territory, and constitute the most numerous part of the population of Cape Town. 3d, The Hottentots, the native race, part of whom are reduced to a degrading bondage under the Dutch farmers; and of those still free of these, some lead a pastoral life in the regions north of the colony, and others, the wild Hottentots or Bushmen, a miserable and savage race, inhabit the mountainous districts, and carry on a constant predatory war against the settlers. 4th, The Caffres, a fierce pastoral race, inhabiting the country beyond the eastern limit of the colony, extending along the Indian Ocean. 5th, The Bechuanas, or Boshuanas, a pastoral, and partly agricultural race, of a different character, possessing the country that stretches northward from the region inhabited by the various Hottentot tribes.

COUNTRY OF THE HOTTENTOTS.

BETWEEN the Colony of the Cape and the Bechuana Territories, there is an extensive tract of country, extending from Caffraria westward to the Atlantic Ocean, which seems to be inhabited by various tribes, known under the general name of Hottentots. On the Atlantic coast are the Namaquas; their country, especially that on the north of the Orange River, is in many parts of it fine and fertile, and well adapted for pasturage. North-west of these are the Damaras, who are also pastoral in their habits. The Corannas occupy a central country of great extent, which rears cattle in abundance. They show in their buildings and dress some tendency to civilization.

The Bushmen, or wild Hottentots, inhabit the country in the vicinity and north of the Sneeuw Bergen, and appear to be in the last extreme of degradation to which human nature can descend. They are squat, and excessively lean, and possess a wild, unsteady, sinister expression of countenance. They have no settled place of residence, but wander about the country, singly or in small parties, and subsist on roots, berries, grasshoppers, mice, toads, and lizards; they always use poisoned arrows in war, or in destroying wild beasts; and it is singular that the sting of the scorpion, dangerous to every other person, has no effect on the savages. In the interior the tribes possess many cattle, and some of them seem to enjoy a tolerable existence. Covered by the skin of the sheep, the antelope, or the lion, besmeared with grease of a red or black colour, and armed with a short club, the savage Hottentot, singing and dancing, wanders about in the midst of herds, which form his riches.

The Colonial Hottentots, now all reduced to slavery, have a feminine appearance, with a complexion, when not concealed by grease and dirt, of a yellowish brown. They are fond of trinkets, and are indolent and dull, but harmless, honest, faithful, and affectionate. Among some of the tribes, particularly the Namaquas, Corannas, and Griquas, the missionaries have exercised the happiest influence. The Hottentots at the several missionary stations, now cultivate the fields, own large numbers of cattle, exercise various trades, and contribute liberally to the support of religious and charitable institutions, exhibiting a striking proof of the power of Christianity to elevate men from the lowest point of intellectual and moral depression.