Élisée Reclus

“ In East Haussa the slopes are so imperceptible that in many places it is difficult to determine to which basin belong the running and stagnant waters which persist throughout the dry season. But the region of the divide is strewn with numerous sharp or rounded granite rocks, between which the rich humus supports an exuberant vegetation of palms and leafy trees scattered in picturesque clusters amid a labyrinth of bluffs and boulders, from which the groups of huts or houses cannot always be easily distinguished. ”

“ How often during the physical history of the globe has the relief of the continents thus been modified, mere passing forms which arise and vanish like the clouds in the heavens!
Yet who shall relate all the vicissitudes of land and water in the valley of the tropical Atlantic even since Jurassic times? The Azores, Madeira, the Canaries, the Cape Verd archipelago, may themselves possibly be surviving fragments of the continental mass that once filled this oceanic region. ”

“ The beach is defended by formidable breakers, where the most skilful pilots alone can dare to venture ; the mouths of the estuaries are invisible from the sea, and the inner bays offer a thousand secret inlets on the densely wooded shores, in which it was easy to conceal the human merchandise. The caravans of dealers from the banks of the Niger, the troops escorting gangs of captives forwarded by the kings of Dahomey and Yoruba, were able to consign their victims under the shelter of the gloomy forests without exposing themselves on the open seaboard. ”

“ U-Guha is one of the most industrial centres in Africa, producing potteries, mats, cooperage, wicker-work, arms, implements iron and copper ornaments. Ruanda, the capital, situated in a plain to the north of the Lu-Kuga, contains at least four hundred huts disposed in regular wide streets, which are carefully scavangered. Stakes erected at intervals and surmounted by two-headed human effigies remind the people to look both to the past and future, to honour their forefathers' tutelar deities of the place, and at the same time love their children, future defenders of the nation. ”

“ Those who forget to present a black sheep and a white chicken to the demon of Mount Kabogo never return, a fierce gust from the mountain swooping down and engulfing' them. The scenery, at once grand and picturesque, is pleasantly varied by Cape Kabogo on the east side, and the numerous other headlands breaking the line of verdant slopes, red sandstone cliffs, white limestone walls, granite domes and towers. ”

“ They dwell between the Hubus and Kurankos in the picturesque region of hill and dale about the sources of the Scarcies, and thence to the Joliba. Like their neighbours, they speak a Mandingan idiom, and also resemble the Gambian Mandingans in their love of music. They wage incessant war against the Fulahs, decorating the great battle-drum round about with the beards of the slain, each inscribed with the name of its former bearer. Nevertheless the pagan Solimas are amongst the most polished peoples of West Africa. ”

“ Like nearly all the central African governments, that of Baghirmi knows no law except the ruler's whim, no limit except the power of rival neighbours. But to guard against dangerous enemies in his own household, the sultan, on ascending the throne, causes each of his brothers to be blinded of one eye, custom requiring the reigning sovereign to be free from any physical defect. His despotic powers are enforced by his numerous eunuchs and other functionaries, who impose the taxes and plunder the people at pleasure. ”

“ Many trade in caravans from village to village, even visiting the coast, in order to see with their own eyes the wonderful things of which they have heard. Few harbour hostile feelings towards the whites, with whom they willingly associate, and under whom they readily accept service by land and water. Thus combining the qualities of settled and nomad populations, and naturally of a cheerful buoyant temperament, they seem destined to become on the upper what the Wolofs are on the lower Senegal, the French of the colony. ”

“ The young Ba-Soko warriors also make a brave show on the water, manning their great war vessels, their heads gay with the crimson and grey feathers of the parrot, the long paddles decorated with ivory balls, every arm gleaming with ivory armlets, a thick fringe of white palm fibre streaming from the bows of the shapely and well-built barges. ”

“ Peligion is a mere system of ancestry worship. At a king's death tradition requires the sacrifice of a captive, whose body was formerly shared, like the funeral baked meats, between the dead and the living. Good and evil spirits rule over the earth, those of the forests and the sea being held in special awe. ”

“ Charges of witchcraft are at times so frequent that whole villages have to be abandoned, and the Isle of Ambas, in the inlet of the same name, near Victoria, has been depopulated, most of the inhabitants having poisoned each other off with their everlasting ordeals, and the few survivors ending by dreading the very air they breathe. Each Mo-Kwiri has his life regulated beforehand by the tribal code of magic. No chief can approach the sea under pain of death ; no woman dare eat an egg or a chicken, and in many places to touch mutton except on feast-days is a capital offence. ”

“ The fetishes have lost their credit in the Adele and Akabu territories, east of the middle Volta, where the native missionaries are proclaiming a new gospel, announcing that a " son has been born unto God, who has forbidden all work on the Lord's day." When the Portuguese spoke to them of a supreme God the coast populations regarded him as the great fetish of the European peoples. " Not he," they said, " but the earth gives us gold ; not he, but our work has given us maize and rice ; the sea yields us fish, and to you, Portuguese, we owe the fruit-trees." ”

“ Everywhere sharp angular bends in the gloomy defiles, rocky cirques filled with boiling waters, cascades, opposing currents, raging whirlpools, vast liquid masses tearing along at tremendous speed, tranquil bays with unruffled surface, followed by fresh rapids, where the mighty stream again plunges into the wild gorges of its rocky bed. Here depth and velocity have to compensate for a broader channel, the whole body of the Congo rushing along in some places at the fearful rate of 30 miles Villages. ”

“ In the morning, when the men start for their fishing-grounds, or accompany the women and children to the fields along the river banks, as many as two or three hundred canoes are at times assembled, preceded by a kind of admiral's war- vessel, on which is heard the roll of the battle-drum. No less populous are the banks of the Nghiri, between the U-Banghi and the Congo, where villages, banana and palm-groves, follow uninterruptedly for a space of over 100 miles. ”

“ Most of the Felups have the idea of a supreme being, who, for them, is at once the heaven, the rain, the wind, and the storm. Ruled by terror, they are a prey to the medicine-men, and nowhere else in Africa are the wizards more invoked and more hated. ”

“ The Arabs above all others have hitherto benefited by the European discoveries in the Upper Congo basin, where their caravans now penetrate victoriously into the vast region lying between the Nilotic lakes and the Lo-Mami river. But their trading stations scattered over the country deal not only in ivory and other local produce, but also and chiefly in slaves. Taking advantage of, and even fomenting the petty intertribal wars, they procure the captives on easy terms, distributing them as so much merchandise throughout the markets of the interior and even on the seaboard. ”

“ Amongst the Saras a tuft of grass or foliage placed upon the magician's head throws him into a divine frenzy, during which he reels, bounds, capers about, staggers as one overcome with drink, falling at last before one of the audience, who is forthwith devoted to death. ”

“ If left to itself, this little insular community might perhaps be able to subsist and develop, thanks to the uniform excellence of the climate. The families are said never to lose their children young, so that the natural increase by the excess of births over deaths is considerable. The natives, issue of Europeans, Americans, and Hollanders from the Cape, married to half-caste women from Saint Helena and South Africa, are a fine race, remarkable for the grace and harmony of their proportions. ”

“ Before Stanley's memorable expedition across the Continent, the Oman and Zanzibari Arabs had already trading settlements on the banks of the Congo, and their caravans traverse many districts not yet visited by Europeans. Their religious and social influence is dominant among the natives, and every Arab is surrounded by hundreds of more or less assimilated followers, speaking a few words of the language, and practising some of the rites of Islam. Their southernmost station in the upper basin is Kassongo, a little west of the river and not far from the falls at the head of the navigation. ”

“ Liberia has at least the advantage of being a colony in the true sense of the word. Its immigrant founders were not more passing travellers, but here took their permanent abode, and here their issue have continued the work begun by them. In speech, usages, and institutions they even represent European culture itself. Yet they are blacks like the natives, and, although too often keeping aloof from them in the fatal character of "civilised aristocrats," they have none the less, in the long run, exercised considerable influence on the tribes in whose domain they have taken up their abode. ”

“ Like the Nile, this river was a centre of culture, and its cities became famous throughout Northern Africa, and even beyond the continent. The kingdom of Ghana, whose name under the form of Guinea, has been so widely diffused along the western seaboard, was known to the Venetian traders long before it was visited by any European travellers, and for centuries Timbuktu figured in the imagination of the western peoples as a sort of remote African Babylon. The Niger affords a striking example in support of the law of primitive cultures, recently expounded by Leon Mechnikov. ”

“ The waters which bathe the west coast of South Africa may be regarded as a distinct basin, at least in the form of its bed, its system of currents, and the insular groups rising above its surface. Thanks to the numerous soundings that have been taken in the neighbourhood of the mainland and islands, and less frequently in the high southern latitudes towards the Antarctic regions, the relief of the marine bed may now be figured on our charts, if not with absolute precision, with sufficient accuracy to reproduce its most salient features. ”

“ The Upper Congo basin proper, below the Lua-Laba, Lua-Pula, and Lu-Kuga confluence, described by Livingstone as a land of supreme beauty, is occupied chiefly by the Vua-Ma-Nyema, or "Eaters of Flesh," who were till recently much dreaded by their western neighbours owing to their pronounced cannibalism.
Yet such repulsive tastes do not prevent the Ma-Nyema from surpassing most of the surrounding peoples in kindliness and even gentle dispositions. They are also noted for their physical beauty, the women especially being sought after by the Arabs for their graceful carriage and regular features. ”

“ Flying-fish are often seen darting from the crest of one wave to another, where they fall a prey to their enemies. The nautilus moves along like a tiny ship studded with white sails ; while below this upper fauna, which migrates northwards in summer, southwards in winter, naturalists are now studying a second fauna which has a far wider range, thanks to the greater uniformity of temperature at lower depths. ”

“ From the surrounding Negroes they are distinguished even more by their pastoral pursuits than hj their physical features. Less nomad than the Moors, they none the less readily change their abodes, even abandoning their hamlets for the sake of their herds, without any thought of returning. By thus following their zebus they have spread over the whole of West Africa, everywhere displaying a marvellous attachment to and knowledge of the habits of these animals. Taken as a whole, the race is distinguished by great intelligence, lofty ideas, a poetic tone, and dignity of speech. ”

“ Being mother of all she cannot have a husband, and the person chosen by her bears only the name of favourite slave. Nor can she have any children, so that all born to her are at once destroyed. Immediately after his nomination, the Muata Yamvo is presented with the insignia of authority : the iron sickle, the parrot-feather crown, the elephant-skin bracelet, the pearl and metal necklace, the grand carpet of the empire, and the order of the lukano, which corresponds to the orders of chivalry instituted by European sovereigns. ”