.The'- A rabs
Southern
Africa. -
caravans in every diredrion : it is alfo-'probaMe that tbef? -mountains are
covered with thick forefts, ^m P ^ b iffth or n-y" underwood frequent in
Africa, fometimes inhabited by aboriginal tribes o f the greateft cruelty1
and ferocity, and a t others fwarming with lions, tigers, and panthers.
I t would-have been moft beneficial to the natives ify as -in Afia and
Europe,-vi&orious-armies had eftabfiffied wide empires; and, at the expence
o f temporary deftnidtion, had fecured lafting intereourfe and general
advantages.
T h e continual wars between petty tribes Feera alfo to' conlpire with
a ridge o f impaflablc mountains, called Lupata, or the Spine o f the
Worlds to prevent difeoveries in the interior o f fouthern Africa, where
the map o f D ’Anville, half a century ago, prefents every thing that is
known with any degree o f certainty at the prefent day.^ By ajiMgs-
larifatality Africa, th e leaft known o f a ll tte 'c o n tin e n ts, has become the
portion o f the Portuguefe, the moft ignorant o f all the European nations.
In the hands even o f the Ruffians confiderable light Would have
.been dHfufed, while the Portuguefe darknefs renders all furrounding
objea&S as vagufe and obfcure, as i f f hey belonged to th e twelfth century.
Befides the chain o f mountains pervading this part o f Africa from N. to
S., or perhaps two chains at a confiderable diftance, fupportlng an upland
terrace in th e centre, whence there are no rivers pf-prodigious fize as in
"South America, the-chief feature yet known feems to be a lake o f great
extent, called Maravi, laid down by D ’Anville as more than 3Vo B.
miles in length, but o f inadequate breadth. ' T h is lake may perhaps,
like that o f Baikal, lie at the foot o f the table-land on one fide, as th a t
;of Aqmhmda o f far fmaller extent does on fhe bthef. T h e rivers o f
Barbela in Congo, and Zambezi in Mocaranga, are alfo grand features;
.which feem to be delineated by D ’Anville in his general map o f Africa,
and his particular maps o f Congo, Angola, and Mocaranga, 1731, with
as much Pare and precifion as his Portuguefe materials Would' adm it
T h e navigation o f the Zambezi is interrupted for about twenty leagues,
by catarafts or violent rapids, about the diftance o f 140 leagues from
-* On the E. of Congo are the .mountains.of Cryftal, and thofe of the Sun, the latter being
naked alpine precipices. See Pigafetta’ s Congo, &c.
*3 the
m
the fea. T o the -N. ,are,- or were, the M u p $ & a race o f S n ib a l s , who
with the Zimbas and f%ag e ^ q fij-etqna.I cruelty, have'defoliated a
■great part q f foutherir.Africa* 'Should-the Bdltu^iefe retain th ê irpof-
^^feffions, it is-Jikely tha tthe 'da rkpe fsi|nay5he- the.fame in the year 2002
as it bfdn i$&2, when it isffiftle better than it ,was" fn ^ 6 0 2 ’, fdme ac-
j’fo u n ts having been then- f f | | p e z ' ‘;and: -Philip; - PigafeSta. It
, is to be regretted that in our ftridtflllghce' w i th lM ^ g ^ w e - d o not in-
yfiigate that government to u& ïb ’me P e a h s, geography
o ffo u th e rn Africa; and La;fp u z& ffiap ,o £S b ü th America ffioqld operate
as a ftimu-luspnd-1 example. „ l ^ ^ r o b a M ^ that th é 'co u n try is as
fe rtile in c ite precious,-metals as the o th ^ c o n tin e n t, and it is .wholly
-unaccountable, and a tr u ly - f i^ u la r ^ftihfV^ifh^iAW&rca Ihqhld be
filled with European colonies, while Afripa.is.negleded. ; l |t h p natives"
o f the Weftern continent were not fpared, humanity wouM have, M e
caufe to regret the extirpation o f th e Mumbss and jagits, and the eo n -'
,% u e n t deliverance o f the" more gentle; and civilized tribes from th V jn i/
ceafing deftrudtipm inflided by thefé cannibals. -Small colonies on,the
fhores will effe<ft nothing in fuch' a country, and the wro’ngs o f Africa
can only b e ’terminated by a powerful European colmiyf ah enterprize
- p o r th y o f any "great European nation, a ’fc e ^ è'o f new and vaft ambition,
and among the few warfares which-would efientially contribute to
th e eventual interefts o f humanity, and raife a degraded-continent tp its
" due tank in tfte'jcivllized world.
1 Meanwhile it is mhre c.phfonant with the-- tenor and purpofe p f the**;
prefent work to exprefs a humbler Wifh, th a t fpirited travellers' would
explore thefe regions, as the fame o f fcienpe is fuperior to that o f a rm s:
and i f we cannot diffufe civilization^ and the bleffiiigs-of ftablp ahd"fub-;
ordinate fociety,"we may at leaft, by comparifon, Team cfaly1 tp-prize
their advantages.
* From Cavazzi’ s Account of Conjjo, IJoldgna, 1687, fol.- it-would fceto that- the Jagas are
the Tatars of central Africa, chiefly confifting-d®wandering tribe! who range from ihfe'fouth of
Abyffinia to the confines o f Congo W. and of Mocaranga E. It would alfo appear that between
the ranges of mountains there are valt fandy deferts.
5 G
Southern
A frica. ,
VOI» I I . APPEN