less with Hamites, giving rise to the Bantu-speaking peoples. To these elements of the native population must be added the curious Pygmies in the equatorial districts, together with the Hottentots and Bushmen in the extreme south.1

Little more than the Mediterranean shore of Africa was known in antiquity. Here were Egypt, the first home of civilization, and Carthage, Rome's most formidable rival for supremacy. During the earlier Middle Ages all North Africa fell under Arab domination. The vast extent of the continent was revealed

Africa in historic times

to Europeans by the Portuguese discoveries in the fifteenth century, but three hundred years elapsed before anything like systematic exploration of the interior began.

The penetration of Africa has been mainly accom

four great rivers. In the last decade of the eighteenth century the African Association, then recently founded, sent Mungo Park to the Niger. He and his immediate successors explored the basin of that river and revealed the existence of the mysterious city of Timbuktu, an Arab capital never previously visited by Europeans. The determination of the sources of the Nile a problem which had interested, the ancients-met with success shortly after the middle of the nineteenth century. Captain Speke first saw the waters of the lake which he named Victoria Nyanza, in honor of England's queen, and Sir Samuel Baker found the smaller lake called by him Albert Nyanza,

1 See the map, page 637.

in honor of the Prince Consort. The discovery of snow-clad mountains in this part of Africa confirmed what Greek geographers had taught regarding the "Mountains of the Moon."

Basins of the Zambesi and the Congo

Meanwhile, an intrepid Scotch missionary, David Livingstone, had traced the course of the Zambesi. Starting from the Cape, he worked his way northward, found the wonderful Victoria Falls, and crossed the continent from sea to sea. Livingstone's work was carried further by Henry M. Stanley, a newspaper correspondent who became one of the eminent explorers of modern times. He discovered Lake Albert Edward Nyanza, showed that Lake Tanganyika drained into the Congo, and followed that mighty stream all the way to its mouth. Stanley's fascinating narrative of his travels 1 did much to arouse European interest in Africa.

212. The Partition of Africa

The Spanish and Portuguese in

The division of Africa among European powers followed promptly upon its exploration. Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, and Great Britain all profited by the scramble for African territory. The Spanish possessions are small, compared with those of the other powers, and, except for the northern coast of Morocco, not of great importance. however, controls the two valuable regions of Angola and Portuguese East Africa.

Africa

Portugal,

The possessions of Belgium grew directly out of Stanley's discoveries. He realized what sources of wealth might be tapped in the rubber, ivory, and palm-oil of the The Belgians vast Congo basin and persuaded Leopold II, in Africa king of the Belgians, to supply the funds for the establishment of trading stations in that part of Africa. The Congo Free State, which thus came into being, formed practically Leopold's private property. The forced labor demanded of the natives and the cruel punishments inflicted upon them stirred up so

1 Especially How I Found Livingstone (1872), Through the Dark Continent (1878), and In Darkest Africa (1890).

much criticism in Europe and America that Leopold finally converted his African holdings into a colony now called the Belgian Congo.

Soon after Germany attained national unity, she made her appearance among colonial powers. Treaties with the native The Germans chiefs and arbitrary annexations during the years in Africa 1884-1885 resulted in the acquisition of extensive territories in Southwest Africa, East Africa, and the Cameroons. All these possessions, however, were conquered by the Allies during the World War.

in Africa

Italy was another late-comer on the African scene. She secured Eritrea on the Red Sea and Italian Somaliland. An The Italians Italian attempt to annex Abyssinia ended disastrously, and that ancient Christian "empire" still keeps its independence. Italy's most important African colony is Libya,1 conquered from Turkey in 1911-1912. The country in Turkish hands was misgoverned and undeveloped, but its fertile coast is well adapted to agriculture, and even the barren interior may become valuable through irrigation.

in Africa

The beginnings of French dominion in Africa reach back to the seventeenth century, when Louis XIV began to acquire The French trading posts along the western coast and in Madagascar. It was not until the nineteenth century, however, that the French entered seriously upon the work of colonization. The reign of Louis Philippe saw the difficult conquest of Algeria from the warlike Turks, Arabs, and Berbers. In 1881 France annexed Tunis, just east of Algeria, and since 1912 she has exercised a protectorate over most of Morocco. A glance at the map shows that in area the French possessions exceed those of any other power, but they include the Sahara desert.

Cape Colony

Great Britain has secured, if not the lion's share, at any rate the most valuable share of Africa. Besides various possessions on the west coast, she holds a solid block of territory all the way from the Cape of Good Hope to Lake Tanganyika. Cape Colony was captured from the 1 Made up of the two former Turkish provinces of Tripoli and Cyrenaica.

Dutch during the Napoleonic wars. Though small in extent, it had great importance as a half-way station on the route to both India and Australia and also as a convenient basis for expansion northward into the African continent.

Natal, Orange
Free State,

and the

Transvaal

The Dutch farmers, or Boers, did not take readily to British rule. Many of them, with their families and flocks, moved from Cape Colony into the unknown country beyond. This wholesale emigration the "Great Trek" resulted in the formation of the Boer republics of Natal, Orange Free State, and the Transvaal. Natal was soon annexed by Great Britain, but the other two republics remained independent. The discovery of the world's richest gold mines in the Transvaal led to a large influx of Englishmen, who, since they paid taxes, demanded a share in the government. The Dutch settlers, under the lead of President Kruger of the Transvaal, were just as determined to keep the

PAUL KRUGER

government in their own hands. Disputes between the two peoples culminated in the South African War (1899-1902), in which the Boers were overcome by sheer weight of numbers.

The war had a happy outcome. Great Britain showed a wise liberality toward her former foes and granted them selfgovernment. Cape Colony, Natal, Orange Free

Union of

1909-1910

State, and the Transvaal soon came together in South Africa, the Union of South Africa. The Union has a Governor-General appointed by the British Crown, a common

1 See pages 444 and 546.

parliament, and a responsible ministry. Cape Town and Pretoria are the two capitals, and both English and Dutch are official languages. The loyalty of the majority of Boers to Great Britain was demonstrated during the World War.

The Union will ultimately include the other British possessions in South Africa. Their acquisition was largely due to Bechuanaland Cecil Rhodes, an Oxford student who found riches and Rhodesia in the Kimberley diamond fields and rose to be prime minister of Cape Colony. Rhodes helped to make Bechuanaland a British pro

British East
Africa and
Uganda

CECIL RHODES

tectorate and secured the imperial domain now called after him Rhodesia.

One of Cecil Rhodes's cherished dreams seems likely to be soon realized. This is the construction of a trans-conThe Cape-to-tinental railway Cairo Railway connecting the British possessions in South Africa with Egypt. The line starts from Cape Town, crosses Bechuanaland and Rhodesia, and now penetrates the Belgian Congo. Farther north it will link up

with the line already in operation between Cairo and Khartum. Beyond Rhodesia to the north are British East Africa and the Uganda Protectorate. Both districts contain much fertile land and because of their generally healthy climate offer a promising field for European colonization.

Uganda forms the connecting link with the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. All this region of the Upper Nile was conquered by The Sudan General Kitchener in the last decade of the nineand Egypt teenth century. Egypt has been practically a British possession since 1882, though it remained nominally