Élisée Reclus

“ Southwards the beach is everywhere low and destitute of harbours, whereas farther north the coast is deeply indented with creeks and inlets, while ramifying headlands, continued by islets, stretch far seawards. This striking contrast is explained by the action of the Mozambique current, combined with that of the coral-building polyps. The oceanic stream flows close in shore south of the Rovuma, eating away the foot of the cliffs, striking against the rocky promontories, and sweeping in rapid eddies round every inlet on the seaboard. ”

“ Nearly all these unhappy wretches have their feet shackled with two rings connected by an iron bar ; they eat nothing but refuse, yet they are compelled daily to drag themselves to the fields and till the land under the broiling sun. Every fault is punished with tortures, and under these circumstances it is not surprising that the slaves frequently seek in a voluntary death relief from their miserable existence. ”

“ Mozambique commands from its low islet a labyrinth of inner havens, followed northwards by Conducia Bay and the magnificent group of sheltered inlets presented by the Ferñao Vellozo or Masasima basin. Memba Bay, with those of Mwambi, Montepes, Ibo, Masimbwa, and Mayapa, not to speak of the many excellent anchorages formed by the islets off the coast, render this seaboard one of the most favourable for navigation in the whole world. At the same time the barrier reefs and the swift currents striking against them require great caution on the part of skippers frequenting these waters. ”

“ The region of the great divide where the headstreams of the Ku-Bango and Zambese take their rise is no more a parting-line for its human inhabitants than it is for the animal species. On both slopes dwell tribes of the same race and of the same speech, who migrate from one side to the other according to the vicissitudes of social life common to all. ”

“ They go bare-headed, whereas the men fold a sort of turban round their hair, or else part it into a multitude of ringlets decked with little clay balls in imitation of coral. Like those of most other African tribes, the Bunda solas, or chiefs, add to their usual dress the skin of a panther or of some other rapacious beast, this spoil of the chase baing regarded as an emblem of the terror by which royalty should ever be surrounded. ”

“ No other similar field of human industry presented a stronger spectacle than this vast cavity encircled by an intricate network of bright wires poising trucks of men and refuse in mid- air, and echoing with the constant din of human cries and grinding machinery. ”

“ In their eyes the European is almost a divine being, whom they would not dare to resist. Hence, they are ever on their guard against strangers, and creep stealthily down to the coast, where they venture amongst the breakers in quest of fish, and of the flotsam and jetsam of all kinds cast ashore by the waves. ”

“ But the Portuguese have no longer the field all to themselves. The restless spirit of enterprise which is impelling the growing populations of Austral Africa still northwards, irresistibly attracts traders, squatters, miners, and missionaries towards Zambeseland, and the most inviting points along the middle course of the mainstream have already been selected as centres of future enter- prise. One of these points is Sesheke, capital of the Barotse empire, standing in the middle of the basin formed by the junction of the Zambese with the Chobe above the Victoria Falls. ”

“ But in any case Delagoa Bay promises one day to acquire great importance as the natural outlet of the whole Limpopo basin and of the States on the South African plateau. The form of the coast-line, and the depth of this land-locked basin, which receives several streams navigable by light craft, give to this Portuguese possession quite an exceptional value, all the more highly appreciated by the shippers of Natal and Cape Colony that south of this splendid estuary there is not a single well-sheltered and commodious haven. ”

“ As peaceful travellers they now fearlessly penetrate into the very heart of the continent, and the pioneers of scientific exploration have already revealed the sources of the Nile, the Congo, and the Zambese. The European has himself put aside the old deep-rooted prejudice that slavery is the normal condition and inevitable destiny of the Negro race. He deigns now to look on the African as a fellow-man, and in return the African draws nearer to us and begins to regard us as his best friends. ”

“ As on the banks of the Kassai, the prevailing ornament amongst the Upper Zambese populations is brass wire. Great personages appear in public with their legs laden with this metallic encumbrance, the fashion requiring them to walk swaying heavily from side to side, as if a great effort were needed to raise the foot. Etiquette is strictly enforced amongst the excessively ceremonious Ba-Lunda people. On meeting a superior in social rank everyone hastens to fall on his knees and rub his breast and arms with dust. ”

“ This lip-ring is prepared by the husband himself for his wife, and the ornament thus becomes a symbol of love and fidelity, like the wedding-ring worn by married people in civilised countries. When the wife dies the husband religiously preserves her pelele, never forgetting to bring it with him when he visits her grave and pours libations to her memory. ”

“ The most productive coffee district in Angola is the basin of the river Lu-Calla, which flows parallel with the Cuanza some distance above the confluence of both streams. The coffee-plant grows wild in the forests of this region, and in many places rich natural plantations are formed merely by the simple process of clearing the ground round about the trees. But the great plantations of the Cazengo, of Golungo-Alto, and neighbouring districts, have been created by the Portuguese and Brazilian settlers, originally employing the labour of slaves who have since become free labourers. ”

“ Few other African lands present an equal degree of geographical unity, both as regards its main physical outlines and the homogeneous character of its unruly nomad populations. Taken as a whole, Somali Land constitutes a region of triangular shape, which is bounded on the north by the Gulf of Aden, on the east and south-east by the reefs and shores of the Indian Ocean as fur us the Tana estuary, and on the west, that is, landwards, by the little known and rarely visited mountain range which forms the outer escarpment of the inland plateaux from Mount Kenia to Wosho and the Ankober highlands. ”

“ Sections of road-work, such as those of Montague Pass and Southey's Pass, in the south- western division, and of the Catberg, between the Orange River and Graham's Town, are the glory of Cape Colony, and are shown to strangers with a pardonable feeling of pride. The lines of railway starting from the coast at Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Port Alfred, and East London, penetrate far into the interior, surmounting the successive mountain barriers at altitudes of several hundred, and even some thousand feet, in order to reach the Orange basin. ”

“ In certain parts of the Zambese region the fauna is still surprisingly rich both in numbers and diversity of forms. At the time of Livingstone's explorations, before the white man with his firearms had yet invaded the land, the multitudes of animals roaming over the riverain savannahs is described as " prodigious," and these countless herds still grazed fearlessly near the haunts of man. The elephant, buffalo, and wild boar had not yet learnt to avoid his presence, and the guinea-fowl in flocks of many hundreds perched confidently on the neighbouring trees. ”

“ The flora which has been developed under the favourable climatic conditions of Austral Africa, is one of the richest in the world. It would almost seem as if all the vegetable forms adapted for the temperate /one, right round the southern hemisphere, had been concentrated and crowded together by the continuous tapering of the African continent towards its southern extremity. According to Amiitage, the region of the Cape compriises at least about twelve thousand sixcies, that is to say, two or three times more than all the combined vegetable zones of Europe. ”

“ In some districts the friends of the departed hero pile round his grave as many blocks as the victims that have fallen to his prowess. But it is fair to state that if the Sonudi takes the life of his adversary without a pang, he is himself equally indilferent to the same fate. When wounded he suffers without a murmur, and holds out his arm unflinchingly to the native surgeon, who cauterises it in his primitive way with fire or a red-hot iron. ”

“ But Madagascar also possesses some indigenous species of palms, amongst others the sago-tree, a variety of the hijphmna akin to the dum-palm of the Nilotic regions, and the raphia, noted for its large, thickset trunk, its masses of minute foliage, and enormous bunches of fruit, weighing as much as three hundred pounds and upwards. The pandanus (rakoa) , with its spiral sword-shaped leaves, thrives on the more arid tracts along the seaboard, while the muddy estuaries and coast lagoons are everywhere overgrown with the widely diffused mangrove. ”

“ Limited eastwards by the course of the Kwango, the Angola region is traversed by numerous streams, which either flow through deep gorges across one or more of the outer terraces of the plateau, or else, like the Cuanza and the Cunene, force their way seawards through the whole breadth of the intervening uplands. In the northern section of the territory, where the annual rainfall is relatively heavier than in the south, every valley has its perennial stream, although these rivers are prevented by the disposition of the rugged surface from uniting in one large fluvial system. ”

“ Possessing for two centuries no book except the Bible, the South African Dutch communities, Afrikanders as they call them- selves, are fond of comparing their lot with that of the " chosen people." Going forth, like the Jews, in search of a "promised land," they never for a moment doubted that the native populations were specially created for their benefit. ”

“ This river, which rises not far from the east side of Nyassa, descends from the uplands in a far more precipitous channel than the Lujenda. Above the confluence it pierces a deep gorge flanked by granite walls, while the current is strewn with huge boulders as destitute of vegetation as are the cliffs themselves that here confine the stream in its stony bed. ”

“ On the uplands the changes of temperature are often very sudden. The heats, especially before the ruiny season, are most oppressive. A great change sets in with the cold southern breezes, and in the space of a few hours the glass will at times abruptly rise or fall as much as 50° or even 60° F. Thanks to the copious rainfall, the region of the inland plateaux is very fertile. Here the forests present a great variety of siiecies, whereas the low-lying plains offer but a scanty vegetation, far less varied than the animal kingdom. ”

“ Even small craft have to wait for the flow before venturing to penetrate up the inlet. On the other hand the port of Kishi-Kashi, towards the north-west extremity of the island, is deep enough to accommodate large vessels, which might here ride at anchor in perfect safety. But the narrow and dangerous channel through which it communicates with the sea has not yet been buoyed. The head of the Arab aristocracy in Pemba, a vassal rather than a subject of the Sultan of Zanzibar, has his residence at Kishi-Kashi. More than half of the inhabitants of this island are still in a state of slavery. ”

“ But like their kinsmen of the Ethiopian highlands, the eastern tribes shamefully mutilate the dead. These eastern tribes differ from the other branches of the Galla race only in a few trivial respects, and some customs borrowed from their Danakil, Somali, or Masai neighbours. In their physical appearance they show no inferiority, while their women display the same elegant proportions, the same graceful carriage, and occasionally even the same nobility of expression. ”