was supposed to be somewhat inimical to the English, while Azim had distinguished himself by preventing the Afghans affording assistance to the Sepoy mutineers in 1857, which had been the popular desire. At first both these princes submitted to the disposition of their father, and before the end of the same year, the accession of Shere Ali was recognized by the British government. Disaffection, however, appeared even before quitting Herat, where all the brothers had been assembled. Two of Shere Ali's full brothers, Ameen Khan, governor of Candahar, and Shureef Khan, governor of Furrah and Ghirishk, first left the camp and withdrew to the strongest fortresses in their provinces; Azim Khan followed the example, departing for Khoorm. Shere Ali, suspecting a hostile intention, before proceeding to Cabul, appointed his son Yakoob governor of Herat, and marched with his army into Khoorm. Azim promptly tendered his submission, the brothers embraced, and Azim was confirmed in his former government. In the spring of 1864, Afzul Khan proclaimed himself Ameer of Afghanistan, and Azim was raising troops in Khoorm. Shere Ali promptly sent a force under one of his generals against Azim, who was compelled to flee, and in May sought the protection of the British government, which granted him an asylum. Against Afzul Khan the Ameer himself led an army, and the armies met near Bameean in the Hindoo Koosh. In June a sharp conflict took place in which Mohammed Ali, the heirapparent of the Ameer, greatly distinguished himself; and the force which had compelled the flight of Azim, arriving to reinforce the Ameer, Afzul found it necessary to sue for peace. The brothers were reconciled; the armies proceeded together to Balkh, where nearly the whole of Afzul's former government was restored to him in August. But Abdulrahman, Afzul's son, had married a daughter of the Sultan of Bokhara, and, on being summoned to attend the Ameer's court, refused, and withdrew to his father-in-law, whereupon his father was seized, thrown into prison, fettered, and his property confiscated. This arbitrary act excited much dissatisfaction among the Afghan chieftains, and sympathy with the prisoner. Some went to join Abdulrahman in Bokhara, others to Ameen Khan in Candahar; Shere Ali, however, was enabled to march into Balkh, and to substitute his nephew, Futteh Mahomed, as governor in place of his deposed brother. The sultan of Bokhara resolved to support his son-in-law, and during the winter Abdulrahman collected an army of 10,000 men, while in Candahar, Ameen Khan allied himself with his brother Shureef, and their nephew Jellad-ooddeen, to resist the Ameer; and in the spring of 1865 they laid siege to the fortress of Khelat, in Ghilzye, which they were forced to raise on March 26th. Azim Khan also left the British territory, and raised a force in his old government of Khoorm, which was dispersed by a force sent against him by Shere Ali, who with his son led an army against the confederates in Candahar. A battle took place near Khelat on June 6th; Ameen Khan and Shere Ali's son fought a single combat, both were killed, the Candahar army was defeated, Shureef and his nephew sued for pardon, and Shere Ali took possession of the city on June 14th. Although a conqueror, the loss of his favourite son evidently affected the mind of the Ameer; he seemed to have lost his usual sagacity and all his energy. He remained secluded in Candahar, while Abdulrahman, with his forces, advanced into Balkh, where many of the officers and troops declared in his favour, and Futteh Mahomed had to fly for his life to Cabul. Shere Ali had sent his son Ibrahim Khan, with an experienced general and some troops to govern and defend Cabul, but Ibrahim had little capacity, his measures for opposing the advance of Abdulrahman were ineffective; and he quarrelled with his assistant general, who marched out of the town and joined the hostile army, now not far distant. The Ameer roused a little on receiving this intelligence, and sent in November some reinforcements to Cabul, under Shureef Khan, his now reconciled brother, who, however, behaved with the most shameless treachery, shifting repeatedly from one side to the other. The Balkh army had been joined by Azim Khan, but the severity of the winter prevented active operations being taken against the town, although they were within 10 miles of it.

Ibrahim solicited an armistice, which was granted; the terms being that the Balkh army should remain undisturbed until Feb. 19th, 1866, Ibrahim in the meantime undertaking to solicit the release of Afzul Khan and the other prisoners, who were confined at Candahar. The term arrived, and a herald was sent from the Balkh army announcing that hostilities would recommence, as the prisoners were not delivered. When the forces advanced to the attack, post after post was treacherously

given up, and on Feb. 24th the city was in possession of the conquerors. Ibrahim retired to the Bala Hissar, where he capitulated, and was allowed to retire on March 24th.

These events seem to have roused Shere Ali from his desponding solitude. He raised an army in Candahar, and led it himself against his foes. His approach compelled them to raise the siege of Ghuznee, which they had commenced, and to retire to Sheckabad. Futteh Mahomed had raised a force in Jellalabad, and was advancing against Cabul to assist him, and dissensions had arisen between Azim and Abdulrahman, who was offended with his uncle's assumption of command. On May 9th the Ameer assaulted the camp of the Balkh army at Sheckabad, and for a time appeared to be successful, when at once a large portion of his troops passed over in a body to Ismail Khan, the son of Ameen, the former governor, who had joined the Azim party. This decided the affair, the Ameer fled toward Ghuznee, while all the camp equipage, and even most of the army, became the prize of the conquerors. Ghuznee also shut its gates against the flying monarch, and the garrison released the state-prisoners, who had been brought there; Abdulrahman advanced to meet them; Afzul-Khan acknowledged by all the assembled princes as the new Ameer, and all returned in triumph to Cabul, where Afzul was installed on May 21st.

was

No sooner was Afzul seated at Cabul than Azim Khan, in whose hands the government practically rested, made proposals for an alliance with the British government, to which Sir John Lawrence replied, on July 11th, that, without desiring to interfere in the internal arrangements of Afghanistan, the old treaty with Shere Ali must remain unbroken so long as he remained in actual possession of so large a part of his dominions. In fact, the rule of Afzul, whose long imprisonment had had an injurious effect by rendering him a confirmed drunkard, was confined to Cabul, Ghuznee, and the immediate districts; for Shere Ali still held Candahar, Furrah, and Khelat. His son, Yakoob Khan, also held Herat, which he governed with considerable ability. Fyz-Mahomed had declared himself independent in Balkh, and had strengthened his position at Tuktaphool, near Cabul. Early in 1867, however, Shere Ali was defeated in a battle, and compelled to fly to his son in Herat; and in February the Viceroy of India recognized Afzul Khan as Ameer of Afghanistan. Azim Khan, his brother, had been appointed to Candahar, with which he was not satisfied, but demanded to be acknowledged as heir-apparent. On Sept. 18th, 1867, the army of Shere Ali, under Fyz-Mahomed, formerly the vizir of Khodazar, khan of Khokand, was defeated by Abdulrahman, the son of Afzul, and its commander slain; while Yakoob Kush Bezi was strengthening himself beyond the Karakoram range, and becoming independent. In October, Afzul Khan died at Karkand, having annexed Kashgar, Khoten, and Akzu, and his son Azim was recognized as his successor, Abdulrahman continuing in command of the army; and Shere Ali withdrew to his son in Herat. Abdulrahman was almost immediately sent to oppose the adherents of Shere Ali in Balkh.

AFRICA. The interior of this great continent is continually revealing itself to our view through the exertions of enterprising travellers. It has been penetrated to considerable distances from various quarters, yet much remains to be ascertained; but enough is now known for us to be certain that it is not the burning and waterless desert that had been supposed. Though for the greater part still found hot and arid, the more recent discoveries have been of large bodies of water, of deep and often navigable rivers, of fertile and well-populated districts, of kingdoms and of peoples somewhat more civilized than many of those lying nearer the coasts with which we had been hitherto acquainted.

We take up the narrative of travel for the purpose of discovery by resuming the, at that time, incomplete account of Dr. Barth's exploration, given under AFRICA [E. C., vol. i., cols. 115-117]. It was not to Borgu that the travellers went in Sept. 1851, but to the district of Kanem, a flat and tolerably fertile district on the east of the lake, nominally subject to the Sheikh of Bornou, but subject to the attacks of predatory bands from every sidethe travellers themselves suffering on one of these occasions. On this expedition, Dr. Barth had a favourable opportunity of investigating Lake Tchad. It is a vast lagoon without any outlet, of little depth, and ever-varying extent. The circuit, when moderately full, is about 400 miles travelling distance, or 20 days' journey of about 20 miles a day. It receives only one perennial river, the Shary, which is very large,

and in the wet season pours in a large quantity of water. The Shary comes from the south, and enters Lake Tchad at the south end. Another considerable river, the Yeou, or Yow, comes from the west, and enters the lake on the west side. The Yow ceases to flow in the dry season. Many of the numerous islands in the lake are permanently inhabited. The swampy parts, near the shores, contain large numbers of crocodiles and hippopotami, and elephants are very numerous in the vicinity of the eastern side of the lake. On one occasion, Dr. Barth saw a herd of 95 elephants proceeding to the lake for the purpose of drinking. They were walking in a long line, like a regiment of soldiers the males being in the front, the young ones in the centre, and the females in the rear.

On Nov. 25th, 1851, Dr. Barth again left Kukawa-it is thus he now writes the name-in order to join a warlike expedition to the country called Mandara. The expedition started on the 8th of December, and on the 30th reached the village of Demmo, when Dr. Barth saw a broad watercourse, flowing slowly from S. W. to N. E., shallow, but deep enough for canoes, and more than two miles in width. This watercourse appears to join the Serbewel, or upper course of the river of Logón, which is the chief affluent of the river Shary. At Demmo a considerable number of females and children had been captured; the whole village destroyed by fire, and made desolate. Slaughtered men, with their limbs severed from their bodies, were seen lying about in all directions. The greater part of the men, however, escaped across the river. There was some fighting, and a few of the Bornou army were slain. The expedition reached Kukawa, on its return, Feb. 1st, 1852. On March 4th, 1852, Dr. Barth set out on an expedition to the kingdom of Bagirmi. On March 13th, he arrived at Logón Bírni, capital of the territory of Logón. It is situated in 11° 47′ N. lat., 14° 56' E. long., near the west bank of the river Logón, an affluent of the Shary, 350 or 400 yards wide. The population of Logón Bírni is about 15,000. On March 18th he reached the river Shary, 600 yards wide, and passed over in a large canoe. On April 27th, he arrived at Masseña, the capital of Bagirmi, in 11° 38′ N. lat., 16° E. long., and was not allowed to leave the place till Aug. 10th. The town of Masseña was formerly much larger, and the extent of the wall has been reduced, but is still much too large for the town, and in the utmost state of decay. The town extends over a circumference of about seven miles; but only one half of this area is inhabited, the principal quarter being in the centre, and on the north and west sides of the palace of the Sultan of Bagirmi. A deep trough-like depression intersects the town from east to west, which, during the rainy season, is filled with water, and in the dry season covered with the richest verdure. The surface within the wall is broken into many other hollows, which contain the wells.

On July 6th, Dr. Barth received despatches from the Foreign Office of the British government, which were forwarded to him from Kukawa, and which authorised him to carry out the objects of the expedition, and supplied him with the means. Lord Palmerston, in his despatch, allowed Dr. Barth, after he had completed the survey of Lake Tchad, either to proceed to the eastern coast of Africa, or westwards to Timbuctoo. He decided on making the journey to Timbuctoo.

On Aug. 10th, Dr. Barth was permitted to leave Masseña, and on Aug. 14th crossed the Shary on his return. The rains had then commenced, and the river was above 1000 yards wide, very deep, and flowing at a rate of about three miles an hour. He crossed the Logón river on Aug. 15th, and arrived at Kukawa on the 21st.

At Kukawa Dr. Barth met Dr. Overweg, who, however, was very unwell, and died on Sept. 27th. On Nov. 19th, Dr. Barth left Kukawa to visit Timbuctoo, proceeding through the hilly northwestern provinces of Bornou. The first part of his journey was again through a well-wooded and fertile country, abounding with guinea fowls, partridges, water-fowls of various sorts, several species of antelopes, elephants, monkeys, &c. He passed the gate of the ancient capital of the Bornou empire, Ghasreggomo, now in ruins, but encompassed by a wall 6 miles in circumference, with six or seven gates. It had been conquered and destroyed by the Nellatah. The ruins of the principal buildings that remain are of baked brick. Soon after he crossed the Komádugu at Zéngiri, 120 yards wide, running with a stream of three miles an hour towards Lake Tchad. Thence he passed on nearly in the direction that had been previously traversed by Denham and Clapperton, and some other travellers, through Kano to Timbuctoo. Some interesting spots were seen

by him as he frequently turned aside to visit anything noticeable. "The province of Múnigoó," he says, " exhibited a cheerful, homely, character, surrounded as it was by hills, and enlivened by herds of camels, horses, and cattle, which towards evening gathered round the well to be watered .... a little hilly country, which forms a very sharp wedge or triangle of considerable length, projecting from the heart of Negroland towards the border of the desert, and exhibiting fixed settlements, and a tolerably well-arranged government."

The inhabitants of this small province have been able to defend themselves from the incursions of their neighbours the Tuaricks, as well as from Bornou, while all the surrounding districts have been repeatedly subjected to their wasteful depredations. The capital, Guré, is pleasantly situated on the lower slope of a rocky hill, surrounded by a wall, with kitchengardens and cotton plantations in the immediate vicinity. On Dec. 22nd, he visited a singular natron lake near a village named Magájiri, a mile and a half in circumference, and joining to a fresh water lake somewhat larger. Both are surrounded by cotton plantations, and wells of fresh water are in the immediate vicinity. Zinder, which he reached on Dec. 25th, is one of the great commercial towns of Bornou, the seat of the salt trade, and "the gate of Soodan," a busy place in a fertile district, where the cultivation of tobacco and many garden vegetables is sedulously pursued.

Visiting several towns with populations of from 5000 to 10,000, Dr. Barth arrived, in March, 1853, at a village where he met the chief of Sackatoo, then on a warlike expedition. From this prince, who received him very kindly, he obtained "letters of franchise," a sort of treaty, "guaranteeing to all British merchants entire security for themselves and their property in visiting his dominions for trading purposes." He next reached Gando, the capital of another branch of the Fellatah race, whose predominance over a large portion of Africa is thought by Dr. Barth to be now on the decline. From the chief of Gando he obtained a similar charter of protection for British merchants. He reached the town of Say, on the Niger (13 S. lat. 2° 10′ E. long.), on June 20th. Crossing the river, he pursued a W.N.W. course, thus visiting the scarcely known country inhabited by independent tribes of the Songhays and Tuaricks. As he left the stream the land became hilly, but fertile, and occasionally well cultivated. Oxide of iron was found in the red sandstone of which the hills were composed, and the natives smelted the iron ore in a simple but effective manner. The Serba, an affluent of the Niger, 70 yards wide, had to be crossed, which was effected on rafts made of reeds. He halted at Doré, the capital of the province of Littako, the seat of a considerable market, and the south eastern limit of the commerce of Timbuctoo. From Doré the country became swampy, and the journey was obstructed by numerous streams and large pools of water, the difficulties being increased as it was now the rainy season, and the rain fell frequently and heavily. As he approached the province of Aribinda, the character of the country changed, numerous granite mounds and ridges rising around, with fertile pasturages between. With such alternations of swamp and rock, he came, on Aug. 7th, in sight of the mountain range of Hombori, of which the highest peaks do not exceed 800 feet above the plain; the peaks are numerous, sharply defined, and are greatly above the general level of the range, which extends nearly east and west, but the extent is not known. On Aug. 18th, at Bambara, he arrived at the commencement of the great network of lakes, creeks, and backwaters that extend thus far from the Niger at Timbuctoo, and on Sept. 1st, he embarked at Sarayamo in a boat which was to convey him to that city, and where he arrived on Sep. 7th.

Timbuctoo is situated on the left or north bank of the Niger at a distance of about six miles, in 17° 37' N. lat., and 3° 5' W. long. The plain on which it stands is but a few feet above the ordinary level of the river, and is tolerably fertile and well cultivated; but the soil is arid, and the fertility it has is due to the inundations of the Niger; as within a short distance, with the exception of a few oases, it is bounded on the north and east by the great desert of Sahara. The town is unwalled, but compactly built in the form of a triangle, its base being the southern side nearest the river. It is laid out in streets and winding lanes, with gravel roads, some of which are provided with gutters. It is about three miles in circumference, and contains about 13,000 inhabitants, with an addition of from 5000 to 10,000 traders, who arrive and depart between November and January. The houses are built of clay, generally of one storey, with terraced roofs on which occasionally an upper room is

sion of the slave trade, treated Dr. Livingstone with great kindness and hospitality.

On the 20th of September, 1854, Dr. Livingstone and his party of Makololo departed from Loanda on their return to Linyanti. They passed round to the mouth of the river Bengo, and ascending that river, arrived at Icollo i Bengo, and on the 28th of September at Kalungwembo, on the same path by which they came. There are plantations of fine coffee, and sugar is also cultivated. Dr. Livingstone proceeded in a canoe down the river Lucalla to Massangano. The river is about 85 yards wide, and navigable for canoes from its confluence with the Coanza to about six miles above the point where it receives the Luinha. Massangano stands on a tongue of rather high land formed by the left bank of the Lucalla and the right bank of the Coanza. It has more than 1000 inhabitants. The latitude is 9° 37′ 46" S. The fort is small, but in good repair. The lands on the north side of the Coanza belong to the Quisamas (Kisamas), an independent tribe whom the Portuguese have not been able to subdue. Returning to Golungo Alto he found several of his men ill of fever.

On the 14th of December, Dr. Livingstone and his men, having recovered from severe attacks of fever, proceeded to Ambacca, 9° 16′ 35′′ S. lat., 15° 23′ E. long. On crossing the Lucalla they made a detour to the south in order to visit the famous rocks of Pungo Adongo, the fort of which stands in 9° 42′ 14" S. lat., 15° 30 E. long. It is situated in the midst of a group of curious columnar-shaped rocks, each of which is upwards of 300 feet in height. They are composed of conglomerate in a matrix of dark red sandstone, and rest on a thick stratum of this sandstone, with very few of the pebbles in its substance. Cambambe, to which the navigation of the Coanza reaches, is reported to be thirty leagues below Pungo Adongo.

On the 1st of January, 1855, they departed from Pungo Adongo. Their path lay along the right bank of the Coanza. On reaching the confluence of the Lombe, they left the river, and proceeded in a north-easterly direction. Passing over the heights of Tala Memgongo, 9° 42′ 37′′ S. lat., 17° 27′ E. long. (Jan. 15th), they arrived again at Cassange.

On the 28th of January they crossed the Quango in canoes. Having reached the eastern side of the river, they ascended the eastern acclivity which bounds the Cassange valley, and found it to be 5000 feet above the level of the sea, the bottom of the valley being 3500 feet. They crossed the Loango, a deep but narrow stream, by a bridge. It is the boundary of Londa on the west. On the 25th of March they crossed the Chikapa, and then the Kamane, an affluent of the Chikapa, coming from the S.S.W. On the 30th of April they reached the Loajima, where they had to form a bridge to cross.

On the 7th of May they arrived at the Moamba, a stream 30 yards wide, which they crossed by canoes, and arrived at Cabango, a village on the banks of the Chiombo, in 9° 31′ S. lat., 20° 31′ E. long.

On the 24th of May they left Cabango, and on the 28th reached the village of the chief Bango, 12° 22′ 53′′ S. lat., 20° 58′ E. long. On the 30th of May they left the village of Bango, and proceeded to the river Loembwe, which flows to the N.N.E., 60 yards wide and 4 feet deep. Having passed the Loembwe, they reached (June 2nd) the village of Kawawa, who wished to detain them, but borrowing one of his hidden canoes by night, they crossed to the southern bank of the river Kasai.

After leaving the Kasai they entered upon the extensive level plains which they had formerly found flooded. On the 8th of June they forded the Lotembwa, there about a mile wide and three feet deep, and regained their former path. It is N.W. of Lake Dilolo, and seems to flow from it northwards, and enter the Kasai, whilst another river Lotembwa flows from the other end of the lake southwards. Thus, this little Lake Dilolo, by giving a portion of its contents to the Kasai, and another to the Zambesi, distributes its waters to the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. From these elevated plains all the rivers seem to unite in two main drains, the one flowing to the north, and the other to the south. The northern drain finds its way out by the Congo to the west, and the southern by the Zambesi to the east. Dr. Livingstone was thus on the watershed, or highest part, of those two great river-systems, but still not more than 4000 feet above the level of the sea, and 1000 feet lower than the top of the western ridge they had already crossed. Instead of lofty snow-clad mountains appearing to verify the conjectures of the speculative, there were extensive plains, over which a person may travel a month without seeing anything higher than an ant-hill or a tree.

Sir Roderick Murchison, in his Address, as President, to the Royal Geographical Society, in 1852, explains the peculiar geological structure of the African continent. "Such as South Africa is now, such have been her main features during countless past ages, anterior to the creation of the human race. For the old rocks which form her outer fringe unquestionably circled round an interior marshy or lacustrine country, in which the dicynodon flourished at a time when not a single animal was similar to any living thing which now inhabits the surface of our globe. The present central and meridian zone of waters, whether lakes or marshes, extending from Lake Tchad to Lake Ngami, with hippopotami on their banks, are therefore but the great modern residual geographical phenomena of those of a mesozoic age. The differences, however, between the geographical past of Africa and her present state are enormous. Since that primeval time the lands have been much elevated above the sealevel, eruptive rocks piercing in parts through them; deep rents and defiles have been suddenly formed in the subtending ridges through which some rivers escape outwards." Travellers will eventually ascertain whether the basin-shaped structure which is here announced as having been the great feature of the most ancient as it is of the actual geography of South Africa (that is, the primeval times to the present day), does or does not extend into Northern Africa. Looking at that much broader portion of the continent, we have some reason to surmise that the higher mountains there also form, in a general sense, its flanks only.

The elevated partition in the great central valley of Africa seems to be between 6° and 12° S. lat., and thence in all probability the head-waters of the great rivers of the Nile as well as the Zambesi, have their origin.

The Lake Dilolo is a fine sheet of water, six or eight miles long, and one or two broad, and somewhat of a triangular shape. A branch proceeds from the southern angle, and flows into the southern Lotembwa.

The town of the chief Shinte, which they left July 6, 1855, is in 12° 37′ 35′′ S. lat., 22° 47′ E. long. They descended the Leeba by canoes. The river seemed to be upwards of 200 yards wide. They reached Linyanti early in September.

Dr. Livingstone having resolved to make a journey to the east coast of Africa, two routes offered themselves, one in a direction N.E. by the town of Cazembe, and the southern end of the Lake Tanganyika to Zanzibar; the other nearly east by the course of the Zambesi. He chose the latter.

On the 3rd of November, 1855, he left Linyanti, and commenced his journey to the east coast. Having descended the river to the commencement of the rapids, and to a point where they intended to strike off to the north-east, Dr. Livingstone resolved to visit the Falls of Victoria, called by the natives Mosioatunya (Mosi oa tunya, "smoke sounds here"). This is the connecting point between the known and unknown portions of the Zambesi. The name Falls of Victoria is the only one which Dr. Livingstone affixed to any part of the country. After twenty minutes' sail they came in sight, for the first time, of the columns of vapour, appropriately called "smoke," rising at a distance of five or six miles, exactly as when large tracts of grass are burned in Africa. Five columns of vapour arose, and bending in the direction of the wind, they seemned placed against a low ridge covered with trees. The tops of the columns at that distance appeared to mingle with the clouds. They were white below, and higher up became dark, so as to resemble smoke very closely. The whole scene was extremely beautiful; but as Dr. Livingstone visited it more carefully in his later explorations, we reserve his description for that place.

Sekeletu and his large party having conveyed Dr. Livingstone thus far, and furnished him with 114 men to carry the elephants' tusks to the coast, on the 20th of November, 1855, he bade adieu to the Makololo, and proceeded northwards to the river Lekone. Both the Lekone and Unguesi flow back towards the centre of the country; so that it was obvious that they were then ascending the farther they went eastward. The country around was very beautiful, and was once well peopled with the tribes called Batoka, who possessed large herds of cattle. There is abundant evidence that a vast fresh water lake once existed in this part of Africa, extending from 17° to 21° S. lat., and to 22° to 26 E. long. The Barotse valley was another similar lake. These lakes were let out by means of cracks or fissures made in the subtending sides by the upheaval of the country. The fissure made at the Victoria Falls let out the water of this great valley, and left a small patch in what was probably its deepest part, and is now called Lake Ngami. The Falls of Gonye furnished an