THE

YOUNG FOLKS' LIBRARY

FOR SCHOOL AND HOME.

EDITED BY

LARKIN DUNTON, LL.D.,

HEAD MASTER OF THE BOSTON NORMAL SCHOOL.

Volume XI.

THE

YOUNG FOLKS' LIBRARY,

Edited by LARKIN DUNTON, LL.D.,

HEAD MASTER OF THE BOSTON NORMAL SCHOOL.

Designed to supplement the ordinary school reading-books with valuable practice in reading, and at the same time to reënforce the instruction in special lines of school study with useful information and choice selections from the best literature.

Stories of Child Life.

Vol. 1. Book I.—AT HOME.

Vol. 2. Book II.—AT PLAY.

Vol. 3. Book III.—IN THE COUNTRY.

Vol. 4. Book IV.—AT SCHOOL.

The World and its People.

Vol. 5. Book I.—FIRST LESSONS.

Vol. 6. Book II.—GLIMPSES OF THE WORLD.

Vol. 7. Book III.—OUR OWN COUNTRY.

Vol. 8. Book IV.—OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS.

Vol. 9. Book V.—MODERN EUROPE.

Vol. 10. Book VI—LIFE IN ASIA.

Vol. 11. Book VII.—VIEWS IN AFRICA. Part One.
Book VII.—VIEWS IN AFRICA. Part Two.
Book VII.—VIEWS IN AFRICA. Complete.

Vol. 12. Book VIII.—AUSTRALIA AND THE ISLANDS OF THE SEA.

Vol. 13. Book IX.—HAWAII AND ITS PEOPLE.

THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE.

BOOK VII.

VIEWS IN AFRICA.

BY

ANNA B. BADLAM,

AUTHOR OF "STORIES OF CHILD LIFE."

EDITED BY
LARKIN DUNTON, LL.D.,
HEAD MASTER OF THE BOSTON NORMAL SCHOOL.

SILVER, BURDETT & COMPANY.
New York . . BOSTON . . Chicago.
1900

Copyright, 1895, 1896,
By SILVER, BURDETT & CO.

PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT.

It is now conceded by all educators that school instruction should be supplemented by reading matter suitable for use by the pupil both in the school and in the home. Whoever looks for such reading, however, must be struck at first with the abundance of what is offered to schools and parents, and then with its lack of systematic arrangement, and its consequent ill adaptation to the needs of young people.

It is for the purpose of supplying this defect, that the publishers have decided to issue a series of volumes, under the general title of the Young Folks' Library for School and Home.

These books are intended to meet the needs of all children and youth of school age; from those who have just mastered their first primer, to those who are about to finish the high school course. Some of the volumes will supplement the ordinary school readers, as a means of teaching reading; some will reënforce the instruction in geography, history, biography, and natural science; while others will be specially designed to cultivate a taste for good literature. All will serve to develop power in the use of the mother tongue.

The matter for the various volumes will be so carefully selected and so judiciously graded, that the various volumes will be adapted to the needs and capacities of all for whom they are designed; while their literary merit, it is hoped, will be sufficient to make them deserve a place upon the shelves of any well selected collection of juvenile works.

Each volume of the Young Folks' Library will be prepared by some one of our ablest writers for young people, and all will be carefully edited by Larkin Dunton, LL.D., Head Master of the Boston Normal School.

The publishers intend to make this Library at once attractive and instructive; they therefore commend these volumes, with confidence, to teachers, parents, and all others who are charged with the duty of directing the education of the young.

SILVER, BURDETT & CO.

PREFACE.

Africa is a vast continent inhabited, for the most part, by people who have not felt the influence of Christianity and modern civilization, and who, consequently, differ from us in character and habits of life.

To become intelligent in regard to the continent, so as to know it, with its rich flora and strange fauna, as a part of the world in which we live, is an important part of a child's education. But a close acquaintance with the people who inhabit it, and with their occupations, interests, homes, and modes of thought and feeling, is an essential condition of that broad sympathy with humanity and that strong unselfish patriotism which should be characteristic of every true American citizen; for we know our blessings only by contrast.

The elevating influence of civilization, both old and new, is made still more apparent by studying its manifestations in the northern and southern sections of the continent, where its power is set off in contrast with the uncivilized interior. This is especially true of the study of ancient and modern Egypt.

It is the purpose of the present volume to furnish the young people of this country an opportunity for such study and knowledge. Many books have been written about Africa for older folks; but this is an attempt to unlock the treasures of this hitherto inaccessible field for the special benefit of the young, and thus to contribute something towards enlightening their heads and warming their hearts.

The book should be read with a good map of Africa, and, so far as possible, with maps of the various sections of the country, constantly open before the reader.

Acknowledgment is here made of indebtedness to the following excellent works, which are cordially recommended to the readers of this book: "The Countries of the World," Vol. VI; "The Story of Nations," Vol. II; "Africa Illustrated"; "Famous African Explorers," Vols. I and II; "A Journey to Ashango-Land"; "Livingstone's Researches in South Africa"; "Travellers in Africa"; "Home Life on an Ostrich Farm"; "Geography, Physical, Historical, and Descriptive"; and "Polar and Tropical World."

The Editor.

CONTENTS.

Part I.

GLIMPSES OF THE DARK CONTINENT.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. A Bird's-eye View 13

II. Some Physical Features