M o o r s and N e g r o e s : which latter is the more interesting, as it m a y b e termed a boundary in moral geography ; from the opposite qualities o f m ind, as we ll as o f b o d y , o f the Mo o rs and N e g ro e s : for that physical geography giv es r ise to, habits,¡which o ften determine,, national; character; must be allowed b y e v e ry person, who is a diligent ob serv er o f mankfnd. . It,mttst_bê.a£fcnin«k4g?dtthst the a b to b ffî e x ten t o f Mr.J ?a xkV g rq g re s s in A fr ica , compared with the amazing size o f that continent, appears but small, although it b e nearly 1 10 0 British miles in a direct line, reckoned from its western extremity, C ape V e rd . B u t considered in itself, it is no inconsiderable line o f travel; being more extensive than the usual southern tour o f Europe. B u t moreover, it affords, a triumph to the learned, in that it confirms .some, points o f fa c t , both o f geography and natural history, which h a v e appeared in ancient authors, but to which o u r own want o f knowledge has denied credit. I allude more p articularly to the course o f the N ig e r , and the history o f the Lo tqp ba gi. T h a t the G re eks and Romans , who had formed g ie a t establishments in A fr ica , and the latter in p articular, who had, penetrated to the N ig e r ,* should have had better opportunities o f knowiqg the interior part o f the coun try , than w e , who, liv e at a distance from it , and possess o n ly a few scattered factories near the sea coast, is n o t to be wondered at : b u t the p ro o f o f such facts should teach us to be less, hasty in decrying the authority o f ancient authors ; since the fault may arise from a want o f comprehension o n ou r parts, o r from an assumption o f false principles on theirs, F ew geographical fects have been more questioned in modern times, than the course o f the great inland riv e r o f A fr ic a , generally understood b y the name o f N i g e r ; some describing it to run to the west, others to the east ; b ut o f these opinions, I b e lie ve the former has been espoused b y the most numerous party b y fa r .t - A lth o u gh M r . P a rk ’s author ity, founded on o cu lar demonstration, sets this question fo r ever at rest, b y determining the course • Pliny, lib. v. c. 4. f M. J. Lalande, almost at the moment o f Mr. Park’s investigation, has determined its course to be to the west ; notwithstanding the forcible reasoning o f his countryman D’Anville. (Mémoire sur l’Intérieur de l ’Afrique.) Mr. Bruce was of the same opinion. V o l. iii. p. 720. 724. o f the river to, be from west to east, as M a jo r Houghton's information had p revious ly induced a belief of, y e t it may not b e amiss to trace the history o f the opinions, concerning the course o f this ce lebrated r iv e r , from the earliest date o f profane history. H e r o d o t u s , * more than twenty-two centuries a g o, describes,from the information o f the A fr ica n s , a great riv e r o f A fr ic a , far remo ved to the south o f the G rea t Desert, and abounding with crocodiles . T h a t it flowed from west to eas t, div idin g A fr ica , in lik e manner as the Dan ub e does E u rop e. T h a t the people from the borders o f the Mediterranean, who made the discovery, w ere carried to a great city on the banks o f the river in question ; and that the people o f this quarter were black ; that is, much b la ck e r than their visitors. O u r auth or , indeed, to o k this riv er to be the remote branch o f the Eg yptian N ile , and reasons on the circumstance, a c co rdin gly : but even this argument serves to express in a m ore fo rcible manner, the supposed direction o f its course. P l i n y also believed that the N i le came from the west : but he is far from identifying it with the N ig e r , which he describes as a distinct river. B u t we h ave at least his negative opinion respecting its western co u rse ; fo r he speaks o f the Bambotus r iv e r as running into the W e s te rn o cean; meaning to e x press b y it either the G am b ia or Senega l r iv e r, and not the N ig e r . t P t o l e m y is positive in describing the N ig e r as a separate stream from the Senegal and Gambia, which tw o rivers are designed b y him u n d e r the names o f Da ra d u s and S ta c b ir ; and they are b y no means ill expres sed; falling into the sea on different sides o f the A rs in arium promontory, o r C a p e V e rd . J T h e N ig e r o f P to lem y is made to extend from west to east, o v e r h a lf thé breadth o f A f r ic a , between the A tlan tic o cean , and the course o f the N ile . T h e s e may suffice for the ancient author ities, which in v e ry early times fixed the course o f the N ig e r in the systems o f geography, to be fr om west to east. W h o it was that first led the w a y , in the opposite opinion, I know n o t ; but we find E d r i s i , in the twelfth century, n o t on ly conducting the N i le o f the Negroes, o r N ig e r , westward, and into the A t la n t ic , but also * Euterpe, c. 32. f L ib .v . c. 9. Î Probably a corruption of Senbagi; or Assenbagi, as the early Portuguese discoverers write it. These were a great tribe.
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