The sugar-cane, clove, and nutmeg trees, have been introduced, but as yet with doubtful success. On the opposite coast, this prince holds control over a miserable village, scarce visited or known, which occupies the site of the once-famed emporium of Quiloa. There are still some interesting remains of the walls bosomed in trees, and the harbour is extremely fine. Mombaza, on a small island surrounded by coral reefs, has a still more perfect harbour, and its fort, though dilapidated, might be rendered impregnable. It now defends itself with difficulty against the imam, whose fleet Captain Owen found closely blockading it. The citizens had hoisted the English flag, and earnestly solicited permission to place themselves under its protection. He promised to transmit their application, and prevailed upon the commander of the besieging force to withdraw; but he had the mortification to learn, that as soon as the danger was past, all their inclination for British sovereignty vanished, and they showed little disposition to fulfil their engagements.

Patta, farther to the north, was attacked in 1817 by the imam, and captured after a brave resistance. Though fallen from its former importance, it still has an active traffic carried on by means of those long boats called dows. The Portuguese castle remains, though now in a very ruinous condition. Much of the trade has been transferred to Lamoo, a larger town, containing 5000 inhabitants, and defended by a modern fort. Mukdeesha, called often Magadoxo, is also a place of some importance, and mistress of a considerable territory. Being built of stone, and adorned with four minarets, it makes an imposing appearance from the sea; but the interior, as elsewhere, is composed only of thatched huts. This place appears still to hold out against the Arab chief. Melinda (or Maleenda) is now entirely possessed by the Galla, through dread of whom no one dares to approach its coast.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Social Condition of Africa.

Distinction between Native and Foreign Tribes-NativesAgriculture Manufactures-Internal Trade-Exports and Imports between Great Britain and Western AfricaDomestic Accommodation-Intellectual Character-Superstitions-War and Slavery-Amiable Features-Forms of Government Foreign Races - Mohammedan ConvertsEuropean Colonization-Cape of Good Hope-Albany District-Sierra Leone-Fernando Po-Proposed Settlements on the Niger-Liberia-Early Difficulties-Present Condition of the Colony.

HAVING commenced this work by a general survey of Africa as it came from Nature's hand, we shall conclude by giving a rapid sketch of the changes made by man, the societies formed on its immense surface; its arts, its industry, its social and moral institutions; and noticing, finally, the attempts of Britain and the United States to establish colonies within its borders.

A special distinction must be made in the outset between the native inhabitants and the several foreign races from Arabia and other Asiatic countries, by whom a very large portion of it 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 period 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 character 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 only elevated above the hunting or savage state by the power of 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, having generally fixed dwellings, to which they cling with the strongest 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 cultivating it; 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 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 is usually pretty extensive, where the houses are interspersed with cultivated fields, and the low roofs are seen rising amidst 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, deposits the grain. In most cases this duty is lightened, from being performed by all the inhabitants in common, when it appears less a scene of toil than of pastime. The village musician plays the most lively airs; the workers keep time to his tune; and a spectator at a little distance would suppose them to be dancing instead of labouring. Irrigation in all tropical climates is the chief 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 corn, and fitted less for bread than for paste or pottage. The dhourra is the most common, extending over all Eastern Africa; 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, especially in cleaning the ground round the plants; and

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.

Manufactures, in a country where men are contented with the simplest accommodations, cannot attain any high importance. There are, however, certain fine fabrics peculiar to Central Africa; of which the most general is cotton cloth, produced in several districts, of a beautiful texture, dyed blue with fine indigo, and receiving from the method employed a brilliant gloss. Leather in Houssa is dressed and dyed in the same rich soft style as is practised in Morocco; and probably, in both cases, the process is native. Mats, used for sitting