PORTUGUESE SETTLEMENTS.

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tives, who were always beaten; but the Europeans were so harassed by long marches and scarcity of provisions, that they returned in a very exhausted state, without establishing any permanent dominion over that vast country.

In

As the energy of the Portuguese government declined, its sway over these colonies was reduced within limits which always became narrower. 1631, the people of Mombaza rose, massacred the Europeans, and re-established their independence. About the end of the seventeenth century, the Imam of Mascat, a powerful Arabian prince, drove them out of Melinda and Quiloa. Their possessions are now confined to Mozambique and Sofala, and are maintained on a very reduced scale. The former station, when visited by Mr Salt in 1808, contained less than 3000 inhabitants, of whom only 500 were Portuguese; and the fortifications were in so neglected a state, that an Arabian chief assured the traveller that with 100 stout followers he could drive the subjects of Portugal out of this capital of Eastern Africa. Yet the government-house, in its interior arrangements, still exhibits some remains of the ancient splendour of the viceroys. The entertainment of tea, which is open every evening to all the respectable inhabitants, is set out in a service of pure gold; and the negroes in attendance are loaded with ornaments of that metal. Mozambique has still a considerable commerce in gold, ivory, and slaves, brought down from the regions of the Upper Zambezi. These captives, since Britain shut against them the markets of the Cape of Good Hope and Mauritius, have been, to the number of about 4000 in the year, sent chiefly to Brazil,

CHAPTER XVII.

Social Condition of Africa.

Distinction between Native and Foreign Tribes-Natives-Agriculture-Manufactures-Internal Trade-Exports and Imports between Great Britain and Western Africa-Domestic Accommodation-Intellectual Character-Superstitions-War and Slavery-Amiable Features-Forms of Government-Foreign Races -Mohammedan Converts-European Colonization-Cape of Good Hope-Albany District-Sierra Leone-Fernando Po-Liberia -Early Difficulties-Present prosperous Condition of the Colony. HAVING commenced this work by a general survey of Africa as it came from Nature's hand, we shall conclude with taking a rapid sketch of the changes made by man, the societies formed on its immense surface; its arts, its industry, its social and moral existence; noticing, finally, the attempts of Britain and the United States to establish colonies within its borders.

A grand distinction must be made in the outset between the native inhabitants and the several foreign races from Arabia and other Asiatic countries, by whom so large a portion of Africa has been occupied. This distinction we shall rest, not upon supposed resemblances of form and figure, or faint analogies between the language of distant nations, but upon the introduction, within the limits of authentic history, of a people, manners, and religion, belonging to another continent. The changes now mentioned were effected, in a great measure, by the inroads of the Arabs or Saracens, and afterwards by the conquests of the Turks,-events which have diffused over the northern half of Africa a social system

AGRICULTURE-PASTURAGE.

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every way different from that of the tribes by whom it was formerly inhabited. We shall begin, however, by considering the native races who at present people this quarter of the globe.

Generally speaking, they still exist in that stage of society which is denominated barbarian; being elevated above the hunting or savage state by the power of taming and subjecting the lower animals, and by a certain rude agriculture which the fertility of the soil renders productive. Yet few of them are nomadic like the Arabs or the Tartars: they generally have fixed dwellings, to which they cling with strong attachment. Even the tenants of the desert, who roam to a great extent in pursuit of plunder, have their little watered valleys, or a circuit of hills, in which they make their permanent abode.

Agriculture, including pasturage, forms the most important branch of industry in every society, and more especially in one where all the finer arts are yet in their infancy. In Africa, however, the extent of cultivation is still limited, while the processes employed are extremely imperfect. This is manifest from the fact that no private property in land has yet been any where established. Every city or village is encircled by an extensive common, which, being marked by no individual appropriation, may be said to belong to the king or the state, and of which a portion is granted to any one who will undertake the labour and expense of cultivation; while the remainder is pasture-ground, on which all the inhabitants have the liberty of feeding their cattle, which must be watched by night as well as by day. There are no country-seats, no rural farms, such as embellish the aspect of a European landscape; and which, in fact, could not exist in safety, where

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each little state is begirt with hostile neighbours, and so many predatory bands are moving in every direction. The population is collected in towns or large villages, which are surrounded with such fortifications as may ward off the attack of a rude enemy. The space within the walls forms a pretty wide district, where the houses are interspersed with cultivated fields, and the low roofs are seen rising amid ears of corn. All the processes of preparing the ground, sowing, and reaping, are slight and simple. The plough has not passed the limits of Barbary; and perhaps, in tropical climates, the deep furrow which it lays open might expose the soil too much to the parching effects of a burning sun. Grain is raised only by means of profuse moisture, which of itself softens the earth. After the periodical floods have deluged the ground, and when the temporary riverinundation has retired, the labourers walk forth; one slightly stirs the earth with a hoe, while another, close behind, deposites the grain. Frequently this toil is lightened, from being performed by the whole village in common, when it appears less a scene of labour than a gay festival. The village musician plays the most lively airs; the labourers keep time to his tune; and a spectator at a little distance would suppose them to be dancing instead of working. Irrigation in all tropical climates is the grand source of fertility; and wherever industry has made any progress pains are taken to collect and distribute the waters, which either fall in rain or are conveyed by river-channels.

In all the more arid regions, the prevailing grains are of inferior character, coarse and small,—rather, as Jobson says, like seeds than grains, and fitted less for bread than for paste or pottage. The dhourra `is the most common, extending over all Eastern Af

rica; while millet in the west, and teff in Abyssinia, are productions nearly similar. In the latter country and Houssa, both wheat and rice are raised, but only in favourable situations, and for the tables of the more opulent. Perhaps the greatest exertion of agricultural industry is that bestowed upon the culture of the manioc, which is the main article of food in Congo and some of the insular territories. Considerable care is required in rearing it, and cleaning the ground round the plants; after the root, which is the valuable part, has been dug up, it must be ground in a species of mill, and dried in small furnaces, before it can be used as flour. The process is represented in the accompanying plate.