The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. I., No. 2, April, 1889Various
History
The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. I., No. 2, April, 1889
Various
Geography -- Periodicals
Leaving Egypt, we pass an uninhabitable coast, until we come to the
French colonies of Algiers. It is nearly sixty years since the French
took possession of Algiers. There has been a large emigration from
France; but the climate, while excellent as a winter climate for
invalids and others, is unfavorable for a permanent habitation,
especially for infants. The births in one year have never equalled the
deaths. When Algeria was first conquered by the French, it was a
wilderness, but is now a garden. The cultivation of the grape has been
most successful, and extensive iron-mines have been opened. The French
are gradually pushing their way from Algiers across the desert to
Timbuctu, and also from Senegambia to Timbuctu. The expense of
maintaining Algeria has greatly exceeded any revenue derived from it.
Though many doubt the political wisdom of retaining it, yet the French
have too much pride to acknowledge that the enterprise has been in any
way a failure; and they will undoubtedly hold it, and perhaps found an
empire. Senegambia and the coast of Guinea, claimed by the French and
English, are low and moist, filled with swamps and lagoons, which will
prevent any European colonization.
South of the Kongo, the Portuguese claim a wide section of country
running across Africa. They have occupied this country over two hundred
years. They have done little towards colonizing, and only hold a few
trading-posts on the coast and in the interior, dealing principally in
slaves, ivory, and gold; and it may well be doubted whether they have
the stamina or ability to colonize this country, or to produce any
permanent impression upon it.
The south portion of Africa, from the 18th parallel on the Atlantic to
the 26th parallel on the Indian Ocean, is generally fertile; and the
climate is favorable to Europeans, and is capable of sustaining a large
population. The growth of Cape Colony has been very slow, but a more
rapid growth is anticipated. We believe it will be permanently occupied
by the English, who will dispossess the aborigines, and form a great
and permanent English State. The coast of Zanzibar, occupied by the
Germans and English, is rich and fertile, the climate unhealthy; but
when the mountain-ranges are crossed, and the elevated plateaus and
lake regions are reached, the interior resembles the Kongo region.
Massaua and Suakin, on the Red Sea, are unhealthy and worthless, unless
connected by railroad with the upper Nile.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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