on the Gulf of Guinea the rainfall exceeds 350 inches, though in Somaliland there are almost rainless patches. Near the tropics, to which the sun comes only once a year, there is only a single rainy season, while in the central part of the zone, which the sun traverses twice in his passage between the tropics, there are two distinct rainy seasons, a greater and a less, according as the wind is in a direction which brings more or less moisture, except in some places in the interior, where the two rainy seasons are so protracted as to blend into one, lasting, as in the Manyuema country, from September to July, or in some other parts even longer. The rainy season usually begins soon after the sun has reached his zenith, but on the east coast the monsoon charged with the moisture of the Indian Ocean brings it earlier. In the deserts, as already observed, there is hardly any rain; and this applies also to Egypt, which but for the Nile would be no better than the Sahara. The chief cause of the rainlessness of the deserts is the direction of the winds, which causes the chief moisture-bearing currents to pass, before reaching them, over hot and thirsty regions which deprive them of their moisture; and especially the mountain screens which intercept the moisture of the winds both from northeast and southwest. Another cause is the want of elevated regions to attract the moisture actually contained in the atmosphere, as in the higher regions of the desert periodical rains do occur. The high mountains of the east plateau and the intervening tropical regions deprive the northeast monsoon of all its moisture before it reaches the Kalahari desert. Hence the apparently anomalous circumstance that the greatest heat is found after the equatorial region is passed. The rapid radiation of heat in the desert causes a very great fall of temperature after the sun is down, so that sometimes frosts are generated, and this in some measure supplies the want of rain by condensing the moisture in dew. In the desert, too, scorching winds are generated full of fine particles of sand, those of the north afflicting Egypt and the countries on the Mediterranean coast and those on the west coast known as the harmattan. The average summer temperature in the Sahara is 97 degrees or more; the hottest part is in Nubia, where the Arabs say the soil is like a fire and the wind like a flame. The coasts of tropical Africa, especially the west coast, where colonial settlements have been formed, have been found to have a deadly climate for foreigners.

Most

Geology and Minerals. The geology of Africa is little known. Very ancient crystalline rocks are found rising into mountain ranges and sometimes spread over large areas. of the rocks that overlie them belong to the older formations, so that the continent as a whole is supposed to be of very ancient date. The sands which cover so large an area are believed to be mainly of æolian origin, and not to have been formed by the action of water. The porous clay found so abundantly in West Africa is of comparatively recent date. The region around Tanganyika is of Jurassic origin. Around the great lakes are abundant evidences of enormous volcanic activity at no very remote date; and, as already mentioned, active volcanoes are not unknown. Tanganyika, according to

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recent views, may at one period have been connected with the sea. Salt is abundant, though often scarce from want of communication and working organization. Gold is found in abundance in southern Africa from the Transvaal region to the Zambezi, and a number of very productive mines opened up industries in the Transvaal and Mashonaland. Diamonds have been found in large numbers, and in apparently inexhaustible supply, on the Vaal River and its tributaries, in Cape Colony and Orange River Colony. In the southern central district, particularly the country of Katanga, iron and copper are found, and are worked in some districts in the countries bordering on the Lualaba. Copper is also found in Loanda, iron in Angola, and lead, tin, iron and copper in Great Namaqualand; iron, copper and coal are found in Natal and Cape Colony.

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Vegetation. The centre of Africa possesses, as already mentioned, an exuberant tropical vegetation. In the equatorial districts dense forests are found with trees of enormous size and luxuriant climbing plants. The open pastoral belt at the extremities of the tropics is distinguished by a rich and varied flora. special characteristic of the vegetation of the southern extremity of Africa is the remarkable variety, size and beauty of the heaths, some of which grow to 12 or 15 feet and form miniature forests. Cycadaceæ and bulbous and orchidaceous plants, aloes and other succulent plants also abound. The baobab or monkeybread tree, first discovered by Adanson in Senegal, is found from the Sudan to Lake Ngami. Acercias, Euphorbias and palms of one variety or another are diffused over almost every part of Africa. The date palm is the special characteristic of the desert, to which it is peculiarly adapted, and there it forms the principal means of subsistence. It is also cultivated as a garden plant in the northern coast regions. This district as well as Egypt has an ancient celebrity for its fertility in grain. Wheat and maize are cultivated, fruit trees also abound, and groves of oranges and olives relieve the landscape. The castor oil plant, the fig tree, the dwarf palm and the lotus, formerly an important article of food, are here characteristic forms. The common oak, the cork oak and the pine form the staple, and the cypress, myrtle, arbutus and fragrant tree heaths the ornaments of the woods. The pastoral tropical belt presents a different order of vegetation. Besides the baobab, the cabbage palm, the oil palm, the wax palm, the shea butter tree, the cotton tree, the African oak and the mangrove here prevail; rice and maize are cultivated; the principal fruits are the banana, pawpaw, custard apple, lemon, orange and tamarind. Many valuable timber trees and India-rubber plants are found in various forms, as trees and as climbing plants, in abundance both in east and west tropical Africa. The prevalent plants of this district are also found in the fertile parts of Nubia. To the northeast of this region frankincense, myrrh, cinnamon and cassia abound. The coffee plant is a native of the southern Abyssinian region, and also of western tropical Africa, where it forms thick woods. plant is supposed to have been transported from Africa to Arabia. Abyssinia, though coffee and spices are native products, possesses generally,

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from its elevation, the vegetation of a temperate region. The swamps of the tropical region abound with papyrus. The cassava, yam, pigeon-pea and ground-nut are cultivated as bread plants.

Animals. The fauna of Africa is extensive and varied, and numerous species of mammals are peculiar to the continent. According to a scientific view of the geographical distribution of animals, the northwest of Africa belongs to the Mediterranean sub-region, while the rest of the continent forms the Ethiopian region. Africa possesses numerous species of the order Quadrumana (apes and monkeys), all of which are peculiar to it. They abound especially in the tropics. The most remarkable are the chimpanzee and the gorilla. The lion is the typical carnivore of Africa. Latterly he has been driven from the coast settlements to the interior, where he still reigns king of the forest. There are three varieties, the Barbary, Senegal and Cape lions. The leopard and panther rank next to the lion among the carnivora. Hyenas of more than one species and jackals are found all over Africa. Elephants in large herds abound in the forests of the tropical regions, and their tusks form a leading article of commerce. These are larger and heavier than those of Asiatic elephants. The elephant is not a domestic animal in Africa as it is in Asia. The rhinoceros is found, like the elephant, in middle and southern Africa. Hippopotami abound in many of the large rivers and the lakes. The zebra and quagga were numerous in central and southern Africa, but the latter is said to be now entirely extinct. Of antelopes, the most numerous and characteristic of the ruminating animals of Africa, at least 50 species are considered peculiar to this continent, of which 23 used to occur in Cape Colony. The giraffe is found in the interior and is exclusively an African animal. Several species of wild buffaloes roam in the interior, and the Asiatic buffalo has been naturalized in the north. The camel, common in the north as a beast of burden, has no doubt been introduced from Asia. The horse and the ass are highly developed in the Barbary States. The cattle of Abyssinia and Bornu have horns of immense size but extremely light. In Barbary and the Cape of Good Hope the sheep are broadtailed; in Egypt and Nubia they are long-legged and short-tailed. Goats are in some parts more numerous than sheep, especially in the Sudan and in Abyssinia. Dogs are numerous, but cats rare, in Egypt and Barbary. The former in the northern towns serve as scavengers. Bears and foxes are found only in the north. The immense herds of game which formerly abounded in many parts of Africa were diminishing so rapidly that in 1900 measures for their protection were laid down by an international convention, and game reserves have been established in British Africa, Somaliland and elsewhere. The birds of northern Africa are almost identical with those of the south of Europe and the Asiatic countries bordering on the Mediterranean. In the rest of Africa they show more resemblance to those of Australasia. Many of the African birds are famed for the brilliancy of their plumage, such as the sunbirds, bee-eaters, rollers, plantain-eaters, parrots and kingfishers. The ostrich is found nearly all over Africa, but especially in the desert. A remarkable bird of southern Africa

is the secretary-bird or serpent-eater, which renders great service to the inhabitants by killing serpents. Another peculiar bird of South Africa is the little honey-guide (q.v.), which points out the nests of bees. The whale-headed stork, remarkable for its enormous beak, may also be mentioned. Owls, falcons, eagles and vultures are numerous. Water-fowl are abundant on the lakes and rivers, and there are many species of quails and partridges. One species of gallinaceous bird, the guinea-fowl, has been domesticated in other countries. Reptiles, owing to the dryness of the climate, are comparatively few. The largest is the crocodile, which abounds in the great rivers and tropical lakes. There are several species of venomous serpents, including the horned viper and the African cobra. The chameleon is common. The rivers and coasts abound with fish of numerous species, and some of them of the most brilliant coloring. Insects are numerous. Among the more troublesome species are the locust, tsetse and white ant.

Inhabitants, Civilization, etc.-There is a marked distinction between the races in the north and east of the great desert and those in central Sudan and the rest of Africa and the south. The main elements of the population of north Africa, including Egypt and Abyssinia, are Hamitic and Semitic, but in the north the Hamite Berbers are mingled with peoples of the same race as those of prehistoric southern Europe and other types of various origins, and in the east and southeast with peoples of the negro type. The Semitic Arabs are found all over the northern region, and even in the western Sahara and central Sudan, and far down the east coast as traders. The Somalis and Gallas are mainly Hamitic. In central Sudan and the whole of the country between the desert and the Gulf of Guinea the population is pure negro-people of the black, flat- or broad-nosed, thick-lipped type, with narrow heads, woolly hair, high cheekbones and prognathous jaws. Scattered among them are peoples of a probably Hamitic stock. Nearly the whole of the narrow southern section of Africa is inhabited by what are known as the Bantu races, of which the Zulu or Kaffir may be taken as the type. The languages of the Bantu peoples are all of the same structure, even though the physical type vary, some resembling the true negro and others having prominent noses and comparatively thin lips. The Bushmen of southern Africa are of a different type from the Bantu, probably the remains of an aboriginal population, while the Hottentots are apparently a mixture of Bushmen and Kaffirs. Scattered over central Africa, mainly in the forest regions, are pygmy tribes, who are generally supposed to be the remains of an aboriginal population. The bulk of the inhabitants of Madagascar are of Malay affinities. The total population is estimated at about 140,000,000.

As regards religion, a great proportion of the inhabitants are heathens of the lowest type. Mohammedanism possesses a large number of adherents in northern Africa and is rapidly spreading in the Sudan. Christianity prevails chiefly among the Copts of Egypt, the Abyssinians and the natives of Madagascar, the latter having been converted in recent times. Elsewhere the labors of the missionaries have been attended with promising success. It is estimated that about 1 2/5 per cent of the popu