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reappearance, instructed the political authorities at Kabul to communicate with him. By skilful negotiations a meeting was arranged, and after pressing in vain for treaty he was induced to assume charge of the country upon his recognition by the British as amir, with the understanding that he should have no relations with other foreign powers, and with a formal assurance from the viceroy of protection from foreign aggression, so long as he should unreservedly follow the advice of the British government in regard to his external affairs. The province of Kandahar was severed from the Kabul dominion; and the sirdar Shere Ali Khan, a member of the Barakzai family, was installed by the British representative as its independent ruler.

For the second time in the course of this war a conclusive settlement of Afghan affairs seemed now to have been attained; and again, as in 1879, it was immediately dissolved. In July 1880, a few days after the proclamation of Abdur Rahman as amir at Kabul, came news that Ayub Khan, Shere Ali's younger son, who had been holding Herat since his father's death, had marched upon Kandahar, had utterly defeated at Maiwand a British force that went out from Kandahar to oppose him, and was besieging that city. Sir Frederick Roberts at once set out from Kabul with 10,000 men to its relief, reached Kandahar after a rapid march of 313 miles, attacked and routed Ayub Khan's army on the 1st of September, and restored British authority in southern Afghanistan. As the British ministry had resolved to evacuate Kandahar, the sirdar Shere Ali Khan, who saw that he could not stand alone, resigned and withdrew to India, and the amir Abdur Rahman was invited to take possession of the province. But when Ayub Khan, who had meanwhile retreated to Herat, heard that the British forces had retired, early in 1881, to India, he mustered a fresh army and again approached Kandahar. In June the fort of Girishk, on the Helmund, was seized by his adherents; the amir's troops were defeated some days later in an engagement, and Ayub Khan took possession of Kandahar at the end of July. The amir Abdur Rahman, whose movements had hitherto been slow and uncertain, now acted with vigour and decision. He marched rapidly from Kabul at the head of a force, with which he encountered Ayub Khan under the walls of Kandahar, and routed his army on 22nd September, taking all his guns and equipage. Ayub Khan fled toward Herat, but as the place had meanwhile been occupied by one of the amir's generals he took refuge in Persia. By this victory Abdur Rahman's rulership was established.

In 1884 it was determined to resume the demarcation, by a joint commission of British and Russian officers, of the northern boundary of Afghanistan. The work went on with much difficulty and contention, until in March 1885, when the amir was at Rawalpindi for a conference with the viceroy of India, Lord Dufferin, the news came that at Panjdeh, a disputed place on the boundary held by the Afghans, the Russians had attacked and driven out with some loss the amir's troops. For the moment the consequences seemed likely to be serious; but the affair was arranged diplomatically, and the demarcation proceeded up to a point near the Oxus river, beyond which the commission were unable to settle an agreement.

During the ten years following his accession in 1880 Abdur Rahman employed himself in extending and consolidating his dominion over the whole country. Some local revolts among the tribes were rigorously suppressed; and two attempts to upset his rulership-the first by Ayub Khan, who entered Afghanistan from Persia, the second and more dangerous one by Ishak Khan, the amir's cousin, who rebelled against him in Afghan Turkestan-were defeated. By 1891 the amir had enforced his supreme authority throughout Afghanistan more completely than any of his predecessors. In 1895 the amir's troops entered Kafiristan, a wild mountainous tract on the north-east, inhabited by a peculiar race that had hitherto defied all efforts to subjugate them, but were now gradually reduced to submission. Meanwhile the delimitation of the northern frontier, up to the point where it meets Chinese territory on the east, was completed and fixed by arrangements between

the governments of Russia and Great Britain; and the eastern border of the Afghan territory, towards India, was also mapped out and partially laid down, in accordance with a convention between the two governments. The amir not only received a large annual subsidy of money from the British government, but he also obtained considerable supplies of war material; and he, moreover, availed himself very freely of facilities that were given him for the importation at his own cost of arms through India. With these resources, and with the advantage of an assurance from the British government that he would be aided against foreign aggression, he was able to establish an absolute military despin ism inside his kingdom, by breaking down the power of th warlike tribes which held in check, up to his time, the person autocracy of the Kabul rulers, and by organizing a regular army well furnished with European rifles and artillery. Taxation of all kinds was heavily increased, and systematically collected. The result was that whereas in former times the forces of an Afghan ruler consisted mainly of a militia, furnished by the chiefs of tribes who held land on condition of military service, and who stoutly resisted any attempt to commute this service for money payment, the amir had at his command a large standing army, and disposed of a substantial revenue paid direct to his treasury Abdur Rahman executed or exiled all those whose political influence he saw reason to fear, or of whose disaffection he had the slightest suspicion; his administration was severe and his punishments were cruel; but undoubtedly he put down disorder, stopped the petty tyranny of local chiefs and brought violent crime under some effective control in the districts. Travelling by the high roads during his reign was comparatively safe; although it must be added that the excessive exactions of dues and customs very seriously damaged the external trade. In short, Abdur Rahman's reign produced an important political revolution, or reformation, in Afghanistan, which rose from the condition of a country distracted by chronic civil wars, under rulers whose authority depended upon their power to hold down or conciliate fierce and semi-independent tribes in the outlying parts of the dominion, to the rank of a formidable military state governed autocratically. He established, for the first timè i the history of the Afghan kingdom, a powerfully centralize administration strong enough to maintain order and to enforce obedience over all the country which he had united under his dominion, supported by a force sufficiently armed and disciplined to put down attempts at resistance or revolt. His policy, consistently maintained, was to permit no kind of foreign interference, on any pretext, with the interior concerns or the economical conditions of his country. From the British government he accepted supplies of arms and subsidies of money; but he would make no concessions in return, and all projects of a strategical or commercial nature, such as railways and telegraphs, proposed either for the defence or the development of his possessions, seem to have been regarded by the amir with extreme distrust, as methods of what has been called pacific penetration -so that on these points he was immovable. It was probably due to the strength and solidity of the executive administration organized, during his lifetime, by Abdur Rahman that, for the first time in the records of the dynasty founded by Ahmad Shah in the latter part of the 18th century, his death was not followed by disputes over the succession or by civil war.

Succession of Habibullah.-The amir Abdur Rahman died the 1st of October 1901; and two days later his eldest s Habibullah, formally announced his accession to the rulershi He was recognized with acclamation by the army, by the religio bodies, by the principal tribal chiefs and by all classes of the people as their lawful sovereign; while a deputation of Indian Mahommedans was despatched to Kabul from India to convey the condolences and congratulations of the viceroy. The amir's first measures were designed to enhance his popularity and to improve his internal administration, particularly with regard to the relations of his government with the tribes, and to the system introduced by the late amir of compulsory military service, whereby each tribe was required to supply a proportionate number of recruits. With this object a council of state

for tribal affairs was established; and it was arranged that a representative of each tribe should be associated with the provincial governors for the adjudication of tribal cases.

In the important matter of foreign relations Habibullah showed a determination to adopt the policy of his father, to whom the British government had given an assurance of aid to roel foreign aggression, on the condition that the amir should folow the advice of that government in regard to external affars. This condition was loyally observed by the new amir, who referred to India all communications of an official kind received from the Russian authorities in the provinces bordering on Afghanistan. But toward the various questions left pending between the governments of India and Afghanistan the new amir maintained also his father's attitude. He gave no indications of a disposition to continue the discussion of them, or to entertain proposals for extending or altering his relations with the Indian government. An invitation from the viceroy to meet him in India, with the hope that these points might be settled in conference, was put aside by dilatory excuses, until at last the project was abandoned, and finally the amir agreed to receive at Kabul a diplomatic mission. The mission, whose chief was Sir. Louis Dane, foreign secretary to the Indian government, reached Kabul early in December 1904, and remained there four months in negotiation with the amir personally and with his representatives. It was found impossible, after many interviews, to obtain from Habibullah his consent to any addition to or variation of the terms of the assurance given by the British government in 1880, with which he professed himself entirely sfied, so that the treaty finally settled in March 1905 went no further than a formal confirmation of all engagements previously concluded with the amir's predecessor. It was felt in British circles at the time that a very considerable concession to Habibullah's independence of attitude was displayed in the fact that he was styled in the treaty " His Majesty "; but, in the circumstances, it seems to have been thought diplomatic to accede to the amir's determination to insist on this matter of style. But the rebuff show that it was desirable in the interests both of the British goverment and of Afghanistan that an opportunity should be made fornabling the amir to have personal acquaintance with the hhest Indian authorities. A further step, calculated to stregthen the relations of amity between the two governments, wa taken when it was arranged that the amir hould pay a vit to the viceroy, Lord Minto, in India, in January 1907; ad this visit took place with great cordiality and

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T he Anglo-ssian Convention, signed on the 31st of August 1907, ontaine the following important declarations with regard to Afghanist. Great Britain disclaimed any intention of altering thelitical status or (subject to the observance of the treaty of 1905) of interfering in the administration or annexing any territory of Afghanistan, and engaged to use her influence there in no manner threatening to Russia. Russia, on her part, recognized Afghanistan as outside her sphere of influence.

AUTHORITIES. -MacGregor, Gazetteer of Afghanistan (1871); Elphinstone, Account of the Kingdom of Kabul (1809); Ferrier, History of the Afghans (1858); Bellew, Afghanistan and the Afghans (1879); Baber's Memoirs (1844); Kaye, History of the War in Afghanistan (1878); Malleson, History of Afghanistan (1879); Heusman, The Afghan War (1881); Sir H. M. Durand, The First Afghan War (1879); Forbes, The Afghan Wars (1892); Rawlinson, England and Russia in the East (1875); Wyllie, Essays on the External Policy of India (1875); A. C. Yate, England and Russia Face to Face in Asia (1887); C. E. Yate, Northern Afghanistan (1888); Curzon, Problems of the Far East (1894); Robertson, The Kafir of the Hindu Kush (1896); Holdich, Indian Borderland (1901); Thorburn, Asiatic Neighbours (1895); Lord Roberts, Forty-one Years in India (1898); Lady Betty Balfour, Lord Lytton's Indian Administration (1899); Hanna, Second Afghan War (1899); Gray, At the Court of the Amir (1895); Sultan Mohammad Khan, Constitution and Laws of Afghanistan (1900); Life of Abdur Rahman (1900); Angus Hamilton, Afghanistan (1906). (H. Y.; A. C. L.). AFGHAN TURKESTAN, the most northern province of Afghanistan. It is bounded on the E. by Badakshan, on the N. y the Oxus river, on the N.W. and W. by Russia and the Hari d river, and on the S. by the Hindu Kush, the Koh-i-Baba

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and the northern watershed of the Hari Rud basin. Its northern frontier was decided by the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1873, and delimited by the Russo-Afghan boundary commission of 1885, which gave rise to the Panjdeh incident. The whole territory, from the junction of the Kokcha river with the Oxus on the north-east to the province of Herat on the south-west, is some 500 m. in length, with an average width from the Russian frontier to the Hindu Kush of 114 m. It thus comprises about 57,000 sq. m. or roughly two-ninths of the kingdom of Afghanistan. Except in the river valleys it is a poor territory, rough and mountainous towards the south, but subsiding into undulating wastes and pasture-lands towards the Turkman desert, and the Oxus riverain which is highly cultivated. The population, which is mostly agricultural, settled in and around its towns and villages, is estimated at 750,000. The province includes the khanates of Kunduz, Tashkurgan, Balkh with Akcha; the western khanates of Saripul, Shibarghan, Andkhui and Maimana, sometimes classed together as the Chahar Villayet, or "Four Domains"; and such parts of the Hazara tribes as lie north of the Hindu Kush and its prolongation. The principal town is Mazar-i-Sharif, which in modern times has supplanted the ancient city of Balkh; and Takhtapul, near Mazar, is the chief Afghan cantonment north of the Hindu Kush.

Ethnically and historically Afghan Turkestan is more connected with Bokhara than with Kabul, of which government it has been a dependency only since the time of Dost Mahommed. The bulk of the people of the cities are of Persian and Uzbeg stock, but interspersed with them are Mongol Hazaras and Hindus with Turkoman tribes in the Oxus plains. Over these races the Afghans rule as conquerors and there is no bond of racial unity between them. Ancient Balkh or Bactriana was a province of the Achaemenian empire, and probably was occupied in great measure by a race of Iranian blood. About 250 B.C. Diodotus (Theodotus), governor of Bactria under the Seleucidae, declared his independence, and commenced the history of the Greco-Bactrian dynasties, which succumbed to Parthian and nomadic movements about 126 B.C. After this came a Buddhist era which has left its traces in the gigantic sculptures at Bamian and the rock-cut topes of Haibak. The district was devastated by Jenghiz Khan, and has never since fully recovered its prosperity. For about a century it belonged to the Delhi empire, and then fell into Uzbeg hands. In the 18th century it formed part of the dominion of Ahmad Khan Durani, and so remained under his son Timur. fratricidal wars of Timur's sons the separate khanates fell back under the independent rule of various Uzbeg chiefs. At the beginning of the 19th century they belonged to Bokhara; but under the great amir Dost Mahommed the Afghans recovered Balkh and Tashkurgan in 1850, Akcha and the four western khanates in 1855, and Kunduz in 1859. The sovereignty over Andkhui, Shibarghan, Saripul and Maimana was in dispute between Bokhara and Kabul until settled by the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1873 in favour of the Afghan claim. Under the strong rule of Abdur Rahman these outlying territories were closely welded to Kabul; but after the accession of Habibullah the bonds once more relaxed. (T. H. H.*)

But under the

AFIUM-KARA-HISSAR (afium, opium), the popular name of Kara-hissar Sahib, a city of Asiatic Turkey, in the vilayet of Brusa, nearly 200 m. E. of Smyrna, and 50 m. S.S.E. of Kutaiah. Pop. 18,000 (Moslems, 13,000; Christians, 5000). Called Nicopolis by Leo III. after his victory over the Arabs in 740, its name was changed by the Seljuk Turks to Kara-hissar. It stands partly on level ground, partly on a declivity, and above it rises a precipitous trachytic rock (400 ft.) on the summit of which are the ruins of an ancient castle. From its situation on the route of the caravans between Smyrna and western Asia on the one hand, and Armenia, Georgia, &c., on the other, the city became a place of extensive trade, and its bazaars are well stocked with the merchandise of both Europe and the East Opium in large quantities is produced in its vicinity and for the staple article of its commerce; and there are, bes manufactures of black felts, carpets, arms and saddle

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contains several mosques (one of them a very handsome building), | tinent approximates closely to 2000 ft., which is roughly the
and is the seat of an Armenian bishop. The town is connected
by railway with Smyrna, Konia, Angora and Constantinople.
See V. Čuinet, Turquie d'Asie (Paris, 1894), vol. iv.

A FORTIORI (Lat. " from a stronger [reason]"), a term used of an argument which justifies a statement not itself specifically demonstrated by reference to a proved conclusion which includes it; thus, if A is proved less than B, and is known to be greater than C, it follows a fortiori that C is less than B without further proof. The argument is frequently based merely on a comparison of probabilities (cf. Matt. vi. 30), when it constitutes an appeal to common sense.

AFRANIUS, LUCIUS, Roman general, lived in the times of the Sertorian (79-72), third Mithradatic (74-61) and Civil Wars. Of humble origin (Cic. ad Att. i. 16. 20), from his early years he was a devoted adherent of Pompey. In 60, chiefly by Pompey's support, he was raised to the consulship, but in performing the duties of that office he showed an utter incapacity to manage civil affairs. In the following year, while governor of Cisalpine Gaul, he obtained the honour of a triumph, and on the allotment of Spain to Pompey (55), Afranius and Marcus Petreius were sent to take charge of the government. On the rupture between Caesar and Pompey they were compelled, after a short campaign in which they were at first successful, to surrender to Caesar at Ilerda (49), and were dismissed on promising not to serve again in the war. Afranius, regardless of his promise, joined Pompey at Dyrrhachium, and at the battle of Pharsalus (48) had charge of Pompey's camp. On the defeat of Pompey, Afranius, despairing of pardon from Caesar, went to Africa, and was present at the disastrous battle of Thapsus (46). Escaping from the field with a strong body of cavalry, he was afterwards taken prisoner, along with Faustus Sulla, by the troops of Sittius, and handed over to Caesar, whose veterans rose in tumult and put them to death.

See Hirtius, Bell. Afric. 95; Plutarch, Pompey; Dio Cassius xxxvii., xli.-xliii.; Caesar, B.C. i. 37-87; Appian, B.C. ii.; for the history of the period, articles on CAESAR and POMPEY.

94 B.C.

AFRANIUS, LUCIUS, Roman comic poet, flourished about His comedies chiefly dealt with everyday subjects from Roman middle-class life, and he himself tells us that he borrowed freely from Menander and others. His style was vigorous and correct; his moral tone that of the period.

Horace, Epp. ii. 1. 57; Cicero, Brutus, 45, de Fin. i. 3; Quintilian x. I. 100; fragments, about 400 lines, in Ribbeck, Scaenicae Romanorum Poesis Fragmenta, ii. (1898).

AFRICA, the name of a continent representing the largest of the three great southward projections from the main mass of It includes within its remarkably regular the earth's surface. outline an area, according to the most recent computations, of Separated from 11,262,000 sq. m., excluding the islands.1 Europe by the Mediterranean Sea, it is joined to Asia at its N.E. extremity by the Isthmus of Suez, 80 m. wide. From the most northerly point, Ras ben Sakka, a little west of Cape Blanc, in 37° 21' N., to the most southerly point, Cape Agulhas, 34° 51′ 15′′ S., is a distance approximately of 5000 m.; from Cape Verde, 17° 33′ 22′′ W., the westernmost point, to Ras Hafun, 51° 27′ 52" E., the most easterly projection, is a disThe length of coast-line is tance (also approximately) of 4600 m. 16,100 m. and the absence of deep indentations of the shore is shown by the fact that Europe, which covers only 3,760,000 sq. m., has a coast-line of 19,800 m.

I. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

The main structural lines of the continent show both the east-to-west direction characteristic, at least in the eastern hemisphere, of the more northern parts of the world, and the north-to-south direction seen in the southern peninsulas. Africa is thus composed of two segments at right angles, the northern running from east to west, the southern from north to south, the subordinate lines corresponding in the main to these two

directions.

Main Orographical Features.-The mean elevation of the con

1 With the islands, 11,498,000 sq. m.

elevation of both North and South America, but is considerably
less than that of Asia (3117 ft.). In contrast with the other
continents it is marked by the comparatively small area both of
very high and of very low ground, lands under 600 ft. occupying
an unusually small part of the surface; while not only are the
highest elevations inferior to those of Asia and South America,
but the area of land over 10,000 ft. is also quite insignificant,
being represented almost entirely by individual peaks and
mountain ranges. Moderately elevated tablelands are thus the
characteristic feature of the continent, though the surface of
these is broken by higher peaks and ridges. (So prevalent are
these isolated peaks and ridges that a special term [hselberg-
landschaft] has been adopted in Germany to describe this kind
of country, which is thought to be in great part the result of
wind action.) As a general rule, the higher tablelands lie to
the east and south, while a progressive diminution in altitude
towards the west and north is observable. Apart from the low-
lands and the Atlas range, the continent may be divided into
two regions of higher and lower plateaus, the dividing line
(somewhat concave to the north-west) running from the middle
of the Red Sea to about 6° S. on the west coast. We thus obtain
the following four main divisions of the continent:-(1) The
coast plains-often fringed seawards by mangrove swamps-
never stretching far from the coast, except on the lower courses
of streams. Recent alluvial flats are found chiefly in the delta
of the more important rivers. Elsewhere the coast lowlands
st of tl
merely form the lowest steps of the system of terraces which
constitutes the ascent to the inner plateaus. (2) The
the south by
range, which, orographically, is distinct from the rest
continent, being unconnected with any other area of hig! groun
and separated from the rest of the continent on
(3) The high southern and eastern plateaus, rarfy falling belo
depressed and desert area (the Sahara), in places 'elow sea-leve
2000 ft., and having a mean elevation of about 500 ft. (4) Th
north and west African plains, bordered and aversed by band
of higher ground, but generally below 200cft. This divisio
includes the great desert of the Sahara.

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The third and fourth divisions may again subdivided Thus the high plateaus include:-(a) The Sith African plateau as far as about 12° S., bounded east, west id south by bands of high ground which fall steeply to the coast On this acco South Africa has a general resemblance to inverted sau Due south the plateau rim is formed by three arallel steps w act of the Great Karroo, is a dry, barren region, an a large tra level ground between them. The largest of hese level ar the plateau proper is of a still more arid characy and is known as the Kalahari Desert. The South African plau is connected towards the north-east with (b) the East Africa plateau, with some distinct features. It is formed by a widening out of the probably a slightly greater average elevation, and marked by eastern axis of high ground, which becomes subdivided into turn of ranges, tablelands and depressions. The most striking a number of zones running north and south and consisting in feature is the existence of two great lines of depression, du largely to the subsidence of whole segments of the earth's crus the lowest parts of which are occupied by vast lakes. Toward the south the two lines converge and give place to one grea is less distinctly due to rifting and subsidence than the rest valley (occupied by Lake Nyasa), the southern part of whic the system. Farther north the western depression, sometime known as the Central African trough or Albertine rift-valley is occupied for more than half its length by water, forming th four lakes of Tanganyika, Kivu, Albert Edward and Alber the first-named over 400 m. long and the longest freshwate lake in the world. Associated with these great valleys are a number of volcanic peaks, the greatest of which occur on a meridional line east of the eastern trough. depression, known as the East African trough or rift-valley,

The eastern

contains much smaller lakes, many of them brackish and withou

being Lake Rudolf or Basso Norok. At no great distance outlet, the only one comparable to those of the western trou

Both in the east and west of the continent the bordering highlands are continued as strips of plateau parallel to the coast, the Abyssinian mountains being continued northwards along the Red Sea coast by a series of ridges reaching in places a height of 7000 ft. In the west the zone of high land is broader but somewhat lower. The most mountainous districts lie inland from the head of the Gulf of Guinea (Adamawa, &c.), where heights of 6000 to 8000 ft. are reached. Exactly at the head of the gulf the great peak of the Cameroon, on a line of volcanic action continued by the islands to the south-west, has a height of 13,370 ft., while Clarence Peak, in Fernando Po, the first of the line of islands, rises to over 9000. Towards the extreme west the Futa Jallon highlands form an important diverging point of rivers, but beyond this, as far as the Atlas chain, the elevated rim of the continent is almost wanting.

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of this rift-valley are Kilimanjaro with its two peaks Kibo distances on the interior highlands before breaking through the and Mawenzi, the former 19,321 ft., and the culminating point outer ranges. The main drainage of the continent is to the north of the whole continent—and Kenya (17,007 ft.). Hardly less and west, or towards the basin of the Atlantic Ocean. The high important is the Ruwenzori range (over 16,600 ft.), which lies lake plateau of East Africa contains the head-waters of the Nile east of the western trough. Other volcanic peaks rise from the and Congo: the former the longest, the latter the largest river floor of the valleys, some of the Kirunga (Mfumbiro) group, of the continent. The upper Nile receives its chief supplies north of Lake Kivu, being still partially active. (c) The third from the mountainous region adjoining the Central African division of the higher region of Africa is formed by the Abys- trough in the neighbourhood of the equator. Thence streams sinian highlands, a rugged mass of mountains forming the pour east to the Victoria Nyanza, the largest African lake largest continuous area of its altitude in the whole continent, (covering over 26,000 sq. m.), and west and north to the Albert little of its surface falling below 5000 ft., while the summits Edward and Albert Nyanzas, to the latter of which the effluents reach heights of 15,000 to 16,000 ft. This block of country of the other two lakes add their waters. Issuing from it the Nile lies just west of the line of the great East African trough, the flows north, and between 7° and 10° N. traverses a vast marshy northern continuation of which passes along its eastern escarp-level during which its course is liable to blocking by floating ment as it runs up to join the Red Sea. There is, however, in vegetation. After receiving the Bahr-el-Ghazal from the west the centre a circular basin occupied by Lake Tsana. and the Sobat, Blue Nile and Atbara from the Abyssinian highlands (the chief gathering ground of the flood-water), it crosses the great desert and enters the Mediterranean by a vast delta. The most remote head-stream of the Congo is the Chambezi, which flows south-west into the marshy Lake Bangweulu. From this lake issues the Congo, known in its upper course by various names. Flowing first south, it afterwards turns north through Lake Mweru and descends to the forest-clad basin of west equatorial Africa. Traversing this in a majestic northward curve and receiving vast supplies of water from many great tributaries, it finally turns south-west and cuts a way to the Atlantic Ocean through the western highlands. North of the Congo basin and separated from it by a broad undulation of the surface is the basin of Lake Chad—a flat-shored, shallow lake filled principally by the Shari coming from the south-east. West of this is the basin of the Niger, the third river of Africa, which, though flowing to the Atlantic, has its principal source in the far west, and reverses the direction of flow exhibited by the Nile and Congo. An important branch, however-the Benue-comes from the south-east. These four river-basins occupy the greater part of the lower plateaus of North and West Africa, the remainder consisting of arid regions watered only by intermittent streams which do not reach the sea. Of the remaining rivers of the Atlantic basin the Orange, in the extreme south, brings the drainage from the Drakensberg on the opposite side of the continent, while the Kunene, Kwanza, Ogowé and Sanaga drain the west coast highlands of the southern limb; the Volta, Komoe, Bandama, Gambia and Senegal the highlands of the western limb. North of the Senegal for over 1000 m. of coast the arid region reaches to the Atlantic. Farther north are the streams, with comparatively short courses, which reach the Atlantic and Mediterranean from the Atlas mountains.

The area between the east and west coast highlands, which north of 17° N. is mainly desert, is divided into separate basins by other bands of high ground, one of which runs nearly centrally through North Africa in a line corresponding roughly with the curved axis of the continent as a whole. The best marked of the basins so formed (the Congo basin) occupies a circular area bisected by the equator, once probably the site of an inland sea. The arid region, the Sahara-the largest desert in the world, covering 3,500,000 sq. m.-extends from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. Though generally of slight elevation it contains mountain ranges with peaks rising to 8000 ft. Bordered N.W. by the Atlas range, to the N.E. a rocky plateau separates it from the Mediterranean; this plateau gives place at the extreme east to the delta of the Nile. That river (see below) pierces the desert without modifying its character. The Atlas range, the north-westerly part of the continent, between its seaward and landward heights encloses elevated steppes in places 100 m. broad. From the inner slopes of the plateau numerous wadis take a direction towards the Sahara. The greater part of that now desert region is, indeed, furrowed by old water-channels. The following table gives the approximate altitudes of the chief mountains and lakes of the continent:

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Of the rivers flowing to the Indian Ocean the only one draining any large part of the interior plateaus is the Zambezi, whose western branches rise in the west coast highlands. The main stream has its rise in 11° 21′ 3′′ S. 24° 22′ E. at an elevation of 5000 ft. It flows west and south for a considerable distance before turning to the east. All the largest tributaries, including the Shiré, the outflow of Lake Nyasa, flow down the southern slopes of the band of high ground which stretches across the continent in 10° to 12° S. In the south-west the Zambezi system interlaces with that of the Taukhe (or Tioghe), from which it at times receives surplus water. The rest of the water of the Taukhe, known in its middle course as the Okavango, is lost in a system of swamps and saltpans which formerly centred in Lake Ngami, now dried up. Farther south the Limpopo drains a portion of the interior plateau but breaks through the bounding highlands on the side of the continent nearest its The Rovuma, Rufiji, Tana, Juba and Webi Shebeli principally drain the outer slopes of the East African highlands, the last named losing itself in the sands in close proximity to the sea. Another large stream, the Hawash, rising in the Gulf of Aden. Lastly, between the basins of the Atlantic and Abyssinian mountains, is lost in a saline depression near the Indian Oceans there is an area of inland drainage along the centre of the East African plateau, directed chiefly into the

source.

lakes in the great rift-valley. The largest river is the Omo, | north-west coast are the Canary and Cape Verde archipelagoes. which, fed by the rains of the Abyssinian highlands, carries which, like some small islands in the Gulf of Guinea, are of down a large body of water into Lake Rudolf. The rivers of volcanic origin. Africa are generally obstructed either by bars at their mouths or by cataracts at no great distance up-stream. But when these obstacles have been overcome the rivers and lakes afford a network of navigable waters of vast extent.

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The area of the Congo basin is greater than that of any other river except the Amazon, while the African inland drainage area is greater than that of any continent but Asia, in which the corresponding area is 4,900,000 sq. m.

The principal African lakes have been mentioned in the description of the East African plateau, but some of the phenomena connected with them may be spoken of more particularly here. As a rule the lakes which occupy portions of the great rift-valleys have steep sides and are very deep. This is the case with the two largest of the type, Tanganyika and Nyasa, the latter of which has depths of 430 fathoms. Others, however, are shallow, and hardly reach the steep sides of the valleys in the dry season. Such are Lake Rukwa, in a subsidiary depression north of Nyasa, and Eiassi and Manyara in the system of the eastern rift-valley. Lakes of the broad type are of moderate depth, the deepest sounding in Victoria Nyanza being under 50 fathoms. Apart from the seasonal variations of level, most of the lakes show periodic fluctuations, while a progressive desiccation of the whole region is said to be traceable, tending to the ultimate disappearance of the lakes. Such a drying up has been in progress during long geologic ages, but doubt exists as to its practical importance at the present time. The periodic fluctuations in the level of Lake Tanganyika are such that its outflow is intermittent. Besides the East African lakes the principal are:-Lake Chad, in the northern area of inland drainage; Bangweulu and Mweru, traversed by the head-stream of the Congo; and Leopold II. and Ntomba (Mantumba), within the great bend of that river. All, except possibly Mweru, are more or less shallow, and Chad appears to by drying up. The altitudes of the African lakes have already been stated.

Divergent opinions have been held as to the mode of origin of the East African lakes, especially Tanganyika, which some geologists have considered to represent an old arm of the sea, dating from a time when the whole central Congo basin was under water; others holding that the lake water has accumulated in a depression caused by subsidence. The former view is based on the existence in the lake of organisms of a decidedly marine type. They include a jelly-fish, molluscs, prawns, crabs, &c., and were at first considered to form an isolated group found in no other of the African lakes; but this supposition has been proved to be erroneous.

Islands.-With one exception-Madagascar-the African islands are small. Madagascar, with an area of 229,820 sq. m., is, after New Guinea and Borneo, the largest island of the world. It lies off the S.E. coast of the continent, from which it is separated by the deep Mozambique channel, 250 m. wide at its narrowest point. Madagascar in its general structure, as in flora and fauna, forms a connecting link between Africa and southern Asia. East of Madagascar are the small islands of Mauritius and Réunion. Sokotra lies E.N.E. of Cape Guardafui. Off the 1 The estimate of Capt. H. G. Lyons in 1905 was 1,107,227 sq. m. * Including waterless tracts naturally belonging to the river-basin.

Climate and Health.-Lying almost entirely within the tropics, and equally to north and south of the equator, Africa does not show excessive variations of temperature. Great heat is experienced in the lower plains and desert regions of North Africa, removed by the great width of the continent from the influence of the ocean, and here, too, the contrast between day and night, and between summer and winter, is greatest. (The rarity of the air and the great radiation during the night cause the temperature in the Sahara to fall occasionally to freezing point.) Farther south, the heat is to some extent modified by the moisture brought from the ocean, and by the greater elevation of a large part of the surface, especially in East Africa, where the range of temperature is wider than in the Congo basin or on the Guinea coast. In the extreme north and south the climate is a warm temperate one, the northern countries being on the whole hotter and drier than those in the southern zone; the south. of the continent being narrower than the north, the influence of the surrounding ocean is more felt. The most importart climatic differences are due to variations in the amount of rainfall. The wide heated plains of the Sahara, and in a lesser degree the corresponding zone of the Kalahari in the south, have an exceedingly scanty rainfall, the winds which blow over them from the ocean losing part of their moisture as they pass over the outer highlands, and becoming constantly drier owing to the heating effects of the burning soil of the interior; while the scarcity of mountain ranges in the more central parts likewise tends to prevent condensation. In the inter-tropical zone of summer precipitation, the rainfall is greatest when the sun is vertical or soon after. It is therefore greatest of all near the equator, where the sun is twice vertical, and less in the direction of both tropics. The rainfall zones are, however, somewhat deflected from a due west-to-east direction, the drier northern conditions extending southwards along the east coast, and those of the south northwards along the west. Within the equatorial zone certain areas, especially on the shores of the Gulf of Guinea and in the upper Nile basin, have an intensified rainfall, but this rarely approaches that of the rainiest regions of the world. The rainiest district in all Africa is a strip of coastland west of Mount Cameroon, where there is a mean annual rainfall of about 390 in. as compared with a mean of 458 in. at Cherrapunji, in Assam. The two distinct rainy seasons of the equatorial zone, where the sun is vertical at half-yearly intervals, become gradually merged into one in the direction of the tropics, where the sun is overhead but once. Snow falls on all the higher mountain ranges, and on the highest the climate is thoroughly Alpine. The countries bordering the Sahara are much exposed to a very dry wind, full of fine particles of sand, blowing from the desert towards the sea. Known in Egypt as the khamsin, on the Mediterranean as the sirocco, it is called on the Guinea coast the harmattan. This wind is not invariably hot; its great dryness causes so much evaporation that cold is not infrequently the result. Similar dry winds blow from the Kalahari in the south. On the eastern coast the monsoons of the Indian Ocean are regularly felt, and on the south-east hurricanes are occasionally experienced.

While the climate of the north and south, especially the south, is eminently healthy, and even the intensely heated Sahara is salubrious by reason of its dryness, the tropical zone as a whole is, for European races, the most unhealthy portion of the world. This is especially the case in the lower and moister regions, such as the west coast, where malarial fever is very prevalent and deadly; the most unfavourable factors being humidity with absence of climatic variation (daily or seasonal). The higher plateaus, where not only is the average temperature lower, but such variations are more extensive, are more healthy; and in certain localities (e.g. Abyssinia and parts of British East Africa) Europeans find the climate suitable for permanent residence. On tablelands over 6500 ft. above the sea, frost is not uncommon at night, even in places directly under the equator. The

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